Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré welcomes Mr Phobal!

Meet the tortoise who is improving young peoples’ mental health in Roscrea

Mr Phobal is the resident support tortoise at Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré. Mr Phobal calls into the school every day and students are free to come down and feed him, stroke his shell and rake his enclosure. Coláiste Phobal’s Chaplain, Fr Lorcan Kenny, is the man behind the tortoise. He says he started planting the idea of a tortoise support pet for the school in October, but now wishes he had thought of the idea sooner: “If I had known the effect he was going to have, I would have brought Mr Phobal in long ago.” “We had a musical in the school, the Wizard of Oz. Three dogs played the part of Toto, and when they came onstage, the students’ faces just lit up. I started doing more research and realised that pets are being used in nursing homes across New Zealand, and in America they have court room assistance dogs. There are major health benefits to having these therapy pets,” the chaplain explains.

Fr Kenny says he started reading more about reptiles being used as therapy pets after he realised that having a dog in the school might not be practical. The priest himself is no stranger to reptiles, he has two corn snakes at home called Blaise and Zelda. “Some people don’t do furry. Two girls came to me and said they were afraid of dogs, so I then decided a tortoise would be ideal for the school.” “Tortoises are very symbolic. They take small steps, they don’t carry anything they don’t need… we could learn a lot from them. Even their slow movement is helpful for us. We say that the day moves slowly, but it doesn’t. We are always in a rush,” Fr Kenny says.

Mr Phobal belonged to a couple whose living circumstances changed, meaning they were no longer able to look after him. They are very happy that Mr Phobal is now helping young people cope with anxiety. “Mental health is a huge issue among young people. I decided to take one concrete action to help our students,” Fr Kenny says.

Mr Phobal is quite the personality. “He’s like a Young Offender,” Fr Kenny jokes. “He is so funny, he will put on a show for the students who come to see him, he makes them laugh by knocking over the ladders in his enclosure.”

Mr Phobal can also be helpful to students who are stressed. “He knows when someone is sad or upset. Often students come to me who aren’t able to verbalise their feelings. They can find comfort in watching Mr Phobal’s slow movement, they can feed him lettuce or strawberries, they can rake his pathway, stroke his head and shell… it can be very calming,” Fr Kenny explains.

“Mr Phobal is a curious mixture of gentleness and fun. He is a Hermann tortoise, so he is relatively small, can recognise faces and has a good temperament. I also think that the lads are more inclined to spend time with him. If we had a support kitten, they might not be seen interacting with something so cute. Tortoises are more unusual, so maybe they have a bit more street cred,” Fr Kenny explains.

Mr Phobal has his own enclosure in Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré that was made by three girls in Transition Year, with some help from a few boys in their class. Mr Haugh, a former student of the school who now teaches woodwork, supervised the project. The enclosure has a space for the tortoise to roam around, has a natural design, and has positive sayings written on the sides.

Mr Phobal stays in Fr Kenny’s office and students can visit him there in their own time. Two TY students have also made a poster about Mr Phobal which hangs outside the school’s front office. “The poster explains who he is to visitors to the school, that we are grateful to his former family for giving him to us, and how he helps us,” says Fr Kenny.

“One of the things that students see when they look at Mr Phobal is that he only carries what he needs on his back, and what he doesn’t need, he doesn’t carry. This idea is vital when it comes to managing anxiety. We need to be able to unburden ourselves from worry and stress,” Fr Kenny concludes.

To see Mr Phobal’s weekly tweets, visit Coláiste Phobal Ros Cre’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/cproscr

By: Áine Kenny

Athletics News

The East Munster Schools Girls Track and Field Championships were held in Waterford R.S.C. on Wednesday May 2nd.

It was another very successful day for the girls from Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré. Nicole Brooks was the first to collect a medal. She came 3rd in the junior high jump with a jump of 1.48m. Nicole also won silver in the 75m hurdles. Khya Lynch was next on the podium with 3rd place in the minor 75m hurdles. Alannah Dunford jumped consistently well and came 3rd in the minor long jump with a fantastic jump of 4.22m. Alannah was extremely unlucky to finish in 3rd place in the 100m heat, as only 2 qualified for the final. However, Kelsey Wing came 2nd in her heat and also finished 2nd in the final.

We had some fine performances from Kelly Delahunty in the minor long jump and 200m, Jessica Lally who came 4th in the intermediate shot and Elizabeth O Keefe also putted well in the junior shot.

The highlight of the day was the minor girls relay who ran a terrific race and finished in 1st place. Mollie Dooley got off to a great start and handed over the baton to Alannah Delahunty who made fantastic ground on the 2nd leg. Khya Lynch took the bend at speed and had a great handover to Kelsey Wing who sped home in 1st place. There were 2 heats with the fastest times deciding the overall winners. After an anxious wait, after the 2nd heat, the announcement came that Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré were outright winners. A tremendous achievement for the girls. They will now take part in the Munster Final in Castleisland on May 19th.

We wish the boys the best of luck in their East Munsters on May 10th in Templemore.