THE Duchess of Cornwall spoke in Ulster Irish to the 220 pupils and their teachers during a visit to Ballyraine National School in Letterkenny.
In an unplanned short speech in the assembly hall at the end of a tour of the school she began: “Cad é mar atá sibh?” (How are you?”.
The Duchess said she and Prince Charles always looked forward to visiting Ireland and looked forward to returning again soon.
“We love coming back to Ireland and are always surprised by the warmth of the welcome we get here and can’t wait to come back again,” she said.
The Duchess had earlier watched a short musical production of ‘Chicken Licken’ before moving outside and going into the chicken coop to feed the school chickens.
The coop had been renamed ‘Cluckingham Palace’.
The Duchess also spent time meeting pupils of sixth class and some parents who are involved with the Pushkin Trust, a cross-border creative writing inititative founded by the Duchess of Abercorn who was also part of the visiting delegation.
Isabelle Fisher (12) read from her piece on the after-effects of a hurricane.
“The Duchess was so lovely. She told me I should keep writing and enter a competition in England and I might win it,” said Isabelle.
Her teacher Donna McMullan said the visit by the Duchess had inspired her Year Six class.
“The work of the Pushkin Trust has been invaluable in our school and to have the Duchess here today has been really exciting for everyone,” she said.
Principal David Oliver said the Duchess had been impressed with the school’s organic herb and vegetable gardens.
“We have been planning for the visit for weeks and I cannot thank the teachers and pupils enough for making the visit such a success,” said Mr Oliver.
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