Village life summed up on Kenagh wall

The surrounds of St Dominic's National School Kenagh will never be the same again after Cecily Mellon and the pupils of the primary school recently gave the surrounds a makeover by paint. The idea for the makeover of the wall that is located in the car park of the school came from Olive McKeogh after seeing how Cecily transformed the playground with her artwork three years previously. Cecily, who was a teacher in the school for a year and a half decided to paint the playground as a going away present for the school in which she loved teaching. "The idea was for the wall to be brightened up and to make it cheerful and colourful," Cecily explained. Previously the walkway was dull and lacking in life but the area is now full of vibrancy and colour thanks to Cecily's eye for detail and colour. Cecily described the wall as long and narrow meaning it was difficult to get perspective and depth into the painting, however with the help of the children this problem was easy to overcome. "The children were asked to write down what they wanted to put in the painting and we incorporated as much as possible into the project." The village art depicts a rural scene and incorporates life in the village through the eyes of the children. Some of the children's houses even managed to creep into the painting. Three or four children at a time from most of the classes were given an opportunity to help Cecily in painting the wall. Cecily outlined the picture on the wall while the children painted it using a mixture of acrylic and masonry paint so that the children's fine work could survive in all types of weather. The painting on the wall was sponsored by Kenagh and District Development Association and it could never have been done without the help of the teachers in the school. Funding was provided under the anti-litter and graffiti grant by the Environment Section of Longford County Council.