Former classmates reunite to open 30-year-old TY time capsule

There were laughs, memories and more than a little curiosity at Elphin Community College recently when members of the school’s 1995-96 Transition Year class returned to unearth a time capsule they had buried almost 30 years ago.

Former students Nicola Lynch, Karol McKenna, John O’Connor, Kenneth Martin and John Brady were joined for the occasion by their former TY coordinator and science teacher John Martin, former principal Elma Nerney, and Cllr Valerie Byrne.

Two classmates, Paul Rogers and Andrew Tynan, were unable to attend, but their former classmates ensured the moment was marked in the spirit in which the capsule had first been buried.

The capsule was originally buried as part of the European Conservation Nature Year “2020 Vision” Time Capsule project, which had invited students to look ahead to the year 2020. The plan had been for the class to return to the school six years ago, but the pandemic meant the reunion had to wait.

“The project was called the 2020 Project, and we were meant to return to the school in 2020. Then Covid and everything prevented that,” recalled Mr Brady.

Instead, the 30-year milestone felt like the right time to complete the project. “I reached out to the school this year in January because it had been 30 years. I spoke to the deputy principal Paul Noone, who was a teacher when we were in school,” he said.

Mr Noone invited former principal Ms Elma Nerney to attend, along with Cllr Byrne, whose late husband Gene had taught at Elphin Community College.

Mr Brady said it was important that former TY coordinator Mr Martin was also part of the day, describing him as “instrumental in all the projects we did in 1996”.

There had been some concern about what condition the contents would be in, particularly after a monument above the burial site was damaged during Storm Éowyn.

The items placed inside included newspaper clippings, VHS and cassette tapes, a Kodak camera and photographs from the time.

The group gathered shortly before 2 p.m. in the staff room as anticipation built before retiring caretaker Gary Brennan, who has served the school for 25 years, uncovered the capsule.

Moments later, the Class of ’96 gathered around as the capsule was opened, revealing that the contents had survived three decades underground in remarkably good condition.

Back in the staff room, the former students began sifting through their teenage messages, school projects and mementos, with old letters read aloud and familiar banter quickly returning.

Among the projects revisited were studies on the rise in drug-related deaths, the price of pints in local villages — including the discovery that a pint was two pence dearer in Ballinagare than in Frenchpark — and shares in Tullow Oil that the students had invested in at the time.

Mr Brennan also provided a cassette player, allowing the group to listen back to their own recorded news bulletins and some of the top hits from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

One of the finds that drew particular interest was a near-perfect edition of the Roscommon Herald from December 15th, 1978, which Mr Martin examined closely.

The paper’s headlines included a report marking Mrs Rose McDonagh from Boyle’s 101st birthday, as well as an article comparing the consequences of alcoholism to the Famine.

Reflecting on the day, Mr Martin said the students may not have realised at the time just how much sentimental value the project would hold three decades later.

He also suggested that the Class of ’96 could help inspire a new generation by working with Elphin’s incoming TY students on a similar time capsule project in September.