All that glitters may not be gold when you’re taking part in a clean-up of your community.
But don’t try and tell that to the young pupils of Gartan National School.
The young scholars at the stunningly located school overlooking the Gartan Lake today took part in the An Taisce National Spring Clean in conjunction with Donegal County Council.
There was great excitement as the young students along with teachers Ms Ann Gourley and Ms Claire Murray rolled up their sleeves and pulled on their gloves to make the environment around the 20 pupil school just that little bit cleaner.
But that excitement turned to delight when the pupils discovered some real “treasure.”
For amongst the discarded sweet papers and crisp bags, was a sparking ring.
And it turned out not to be just any old ring but what appears to be a lost engagement ring.
Múinteoir Ann told Donegal Daily that the children were so excited by their find but even more challenged now that they have a genuine mystery on their hands.
She said “We had a lovely day getting stuck into the clean-up and the children were terrific. But you can imagine excitement when we found this real-life treasure.
“However, we really want to find the person who lost the ring and reunited them with it.
“That would be the perfect end to the story for the children.”
Ms Gourley said she does not wan to give away too much about the ring but said it has been well preserved.
It had one large stone which is unfortunately missing but it is set against a number of others stones which are still connected to the ring.
Ann added “Somebody is missing the ring and we would dearly love to get it back to them.”
She added that the children learned a real lesson on their day out trying to make their local area a cleaner place.
“They truly proved that if you don’t drop litter, Gartan will glitter! Their efforts show that even small actions can make a big difference- and sometimes, cleaning up rubbish can uncover hidden treasure.
“Well done to all our wonderful students who helped make our community cleaner, greener, and just a little bit more glittery.”
If you think the lost engagement ring may be yours, you can contact the school by emailing gartanns@live.com
Delight as Gartan clean-up uncovers real treasure for school pupils was last modified: March 26th, 2026 by Staff Writer
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