Buy Our Illustrated Book
This handsome, illustrated gift book will be welcomed and enjoyed by those associated with Sullivan Upper and indeed by everyone in the wider Holywood community.
It is not a history book, although there is plenty of history in it; it is essentially a book of celebration. It tells many of the stories of the people who have attended the school, taught and worked in it or who have been associated with it, down through the years and up to the present day. There are numerous photographs, some showing the way things used to be and many taken by present day pupils showing the school as it is today.
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This is a book to be treasured and enjoyed, read and re-read, as it tells of the genuine affection and regard in which the school is held by generations of people for whom it has been a hugely positive and influential part of their lives. From the introduction by Dermot Murnaghan to the importance of nicknames for Mark Simpson and early golfing success for Rory McIlroy, there is much here to discover through the recollections and reminiscences of the famous and not-so famous.
The book was launched Thursday 24 September 2009.
The Sullivan Upper School gift-book was finally unveiled on 24 September 2009, at a launch party hosted by BBC Ireland correspondent and Sullivan old-boy, Mark Simpson.
As in the book, current pupils were heavily involved in the evening. Music was provided by Donnchadh Greene, Joel McMordie, Robbie Montgomery, Lor Costecalde and Sonny Robb and the latest addition to the curriculum was show-cased by Sullivan’s first ever GCSE Drama class.
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There was a short word of thanks from Mr Stevenson and an address by the publisher, Claude Costecalde. They spoke of the book as a marriage of the old and the new, with both current and historical accounts of the school as a pillar of the local community. Mr Costecalde was especially emphatic about Sullivan’s history as an institution which supports diversity through uniformity and opposes conformity.
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All that remains to be said is to remind you all, in the words of Mark Simpson, that when you think of the book, try to remember also that its nearly Christmas!
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Jill Luke
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September 2009