2010spring

GLNL Spring10 PRINT 22/2/10 11:32 PM Page 1

4 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2010

Habitat for Humanity (Zambia) I

n recent years I have travelled with the housing charity “Habitat for Humanity” to Zambia to work with their Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s programme. While there, I helped to build houses and support families for those afflicted, lost and bereaved by the AIDS virus, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Polio and desperate heart-wrenching poverty.

While in Zambia I stayed in a house in the village the same as everyone else with no water or electricity or shower or toilet or cooking facilities or furniture. I met mostly women and small children. There were very few men in the village and not many teenagers because in a place like this many children just do not live that long.

Before travelling, I feared how I would cope with the disease, death and misery which I anticipated I would encounter. I

imagined that it is one thing to see all of this on the back of a Trocaire box, but something else entirely to see it in the eyes of people who stand before you.

Having survived, I can only tell you that my fear was misplaced and I have been to one of the happiest places on earth.

Despite all, I only met immensely kind and happy people. It was infectious. I cannot explain why these people have all the ingredients of misery, and yet live in such happiness. All of the rules and indicators for happiness which I have ever learnt simply do not apply.

These people are sick, bereaved and poor beyond your comprehension, but they are not sad. Perhaps they simply decided that they do not want to be sad. Perhaps it is as simple as that.

Meeting these people was humbling.

For most of my days, I laboured with local builders on building houses. In

“Size2shoes ... fits all!”

the evenings, I chatted and socialised in the darkness in a manner which is no longer possible in our electrified and television-distracted world. Day by day I became a part of this community, and it was wonderful.

It is true that there were times when things did not go well, but this does not mean that at any time things were bad.

We were frustrated when things did not work out but we tried to accept these events and move on. When something broke, we fixed it. When we had illness, we had an opportunity for kindness and support and bonding. When one of our team learnt that his father had died and he broke down and we prayed together, the feelings of grief were all the more poignant because of where we were and yet, like the people of Zambia, we went straight back to work.

There were moments too when I held back tears, but I did not cry. I could not cry when all around me the people were so happy, so I held back tears and tried to understand. I have cried those tears since I came home. I stood in Bwafwano orphanage, with 11,484 children under its care and I talked with those children. They showed me their school copybooks, with lessons of AIDS, Malaria, Polio and Tuberculosis and they were only eight years old. One small boy in our village told me that his sister would not be coming out to play any more, because she had malaria.

And late one night a young, gaunt sick boy called Sam told me that he was going to the shop “one last time” before he had to “go away for a long time”.

I miss the joy of Zambia so much that I am going back again next June. I have learnt a lot from these people and I regard my trips to Zambia as among the best in my life. I have seen how anyone can intervene and make a difference if you have the willingness to venture and try. This project is hugely worthy and it changes lives. The magic which it works in the people in Zambia is immense, and the magic which it works in those who go out from Ireland is no less. Carpe diem.

by Michael Nugent (75-80)

Wedding Bells William Leahy (1989) & Rachel Dobson

Eoin & Moley O Súilleabháin – story page 2

Edited by Andrew Nugent osb Layout & Print by INTYPE Ltd.

www.myubique.com info@myubique.com

PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY t the AGM of the Glenstal Society (Old Boys) held on April 5th 2009, a group of four ex-Presidents was constituted to designate the next President of the Society. This electoral conclave has enthusiastically and unanimously chosen Abbot Celestine Cullen to be President of the Society, with immediate effect, until the AGM of 2011. Abbot Celestine, with his customary diffidence, was mildly bemused by this appointment but has accepted the nomination with good grace.

A

Abbot Celestine (Brian) Cullen is uniquely qualified for the position. He has lived and worked in Glenstal for all of seventy years. At school from 1939 to 1945, he was Captain of the School in his final year. A monk since 1946, an inspirational teacher of French and Christian Doctrine to Senior classes, he was Headmaster for eigheen years. He was then elected, and re-elected Abbot of Glenstal, and subsequently Abbot President of our Benedictine Congregation. Perhaps slightly older than some of you will remember him, Celo is still very much a force to be reckoned with. A truly dynamic and inspirational figure, he will lead the Society towards Pastures New.

Grace to a beat – The GOBS London Dinner in Soho House

F

r Andrew has said grace in many places, but this was the first time with a dancefloor tune in the background – perhaps to be expected now that GOBS has moved its annual London dinner to the trendy surrounds of Soho House, one of London’s most exclusive members’ clubs. Thanks entirely to the hard work of Ian Lynam (’96), despite his having been seriously unwell for several weeks preceding the dinner, a fine evening was had there by approximately 25 Old Boys and members of the Community on Friday November 20th.

After our musical grace, the brief speeches, as always, included a special word for Fr Athanasius, and this time also remembered Eddie Barber, the man responsible for restarting the London Dinner series, who sadly passed away shortly after the last one.

The conversation flowed, and we managed to tear ourselves away from the all-too-easy topic of Thierry Henri, still a fresh wound at the time, as the “Finance Club” of the younger generation - David Canty (’90), Edgar Senior (’93), James Macnamara (’94), Jonny

Hayes (‘97) and Rupert McCann (’00) – tried to out-do each other with financial jargon. At the other end of the table, we had the pleasure of the company of no fewer than three McGraths (Declan ’59, Leo ’62 and Timothy ‘64).

All three courses arrived in large platters to pass around, testing everyone’s Benedictine upbringing of charity and modesty, with only a few scuffles breaking out! Leo reminded us that the only rule was to keep at least one foot on the ground at all times. The first course was seafood with big plates of smoked salmon, tuna and potted shrimps, and the main course gave us an immense choice of roast beef, risotto and cod. Together with a fresh white wine, a hearty red Bordeaux, and some Port to finish us off, everyone was very happy with how the evening turned out – with the possible exception of Paddy Egan (’70), whose jacket was accidentally taken by someone who left early. When the rest of us were on the way out just before midnight, he and Pat Bradley (’67) were still there, possibly using the missing jacket as an excuse to continue with the drinks.

Edgar Senior (’93)

A.G.M. GLENSTAL SOCIETY Sunday April 18th 2010 ■ 10.00 Mass with Community ■ 11.15 Coffee ■ 11.45 AGM ■ Lunch 2.00 COME FOR ALL – OR ANY PART OF THE DAY. PLEASE NOTIFY IF COMING FOR LUNCH

UBIQUE 2010

ALERT!!

IT IS OUR FIRM INTENTION TO BRING OUT A NEW PRINT EDITION OF UBIQUE BEFORE THE END OF 2010. PLEASE VISIT MYUBIQUE.COM AND CHECK THAT YOUR DETAILS ARE CORRECT ON OUR DATA BASE. IF THEY ARE NOT, PLEASE CHANGE THEM YOURSELF, OR E-MAIL THE CORRECT VERSION TO ME AT

andrew@glenstal.org BEFORE JUNE 30th 2010

Money! Money!

We Need Money!

We are too refined ever to ask for money – which simply means that we are being unfair to the people who do generously subscribe to the Old Boys Society and pay all the bills for the rest of us. In the next twelve months, we will have heavy expenses: About €5,000 for printing and posting two newsletters, €20,000 for printing and posting Ubique 2010, €6,000 for overhaul of MyUbique Website – and then the ‘Hardship Fund’ where we try to give some small help to those who are having a difficult time. Would you be prepared to make an annual, quarterly, or monthly Banker’s Order in favour of the Society? (details on demand). Or please be conscious that any subscriptions – even at odd intervals – will be very useful and much appreciated.

Make them payable to ‘Ubique’ in any currency.

GLNL Spring10 PRINT 22/2/10 11:32 PM Page 2

2 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2010

Spring 2010 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER 3

Singers Eoin (’98) & Moley (’02) O Súilleabháin have seen amazing success since they released their debut album under the name ‘Size2shoes’. They got their first break from Riverdance composer Bill Whelan when he produced their first demo. Since then they have performed with The Chieftains, Brian Kennedy, Bobby McFerrin, violinist Nigel Kennedy and actor Russell Crowe. Even Steven Spielberg saw the guys play and said of them, “Size2shoes ... fits all!”

Russell Crowe has invited size2shoes to record their 2nd album in his home studio in Australia next summer. They bumped into Russell at the unveiling of the Richard Harris statue at Kilkee three years ago. The Hollywood star is a singer and songwriter himself, and invited Eoin & Moley over to London last summer where the lads performed for Michael Parkinson and Ben Elton, who described the performance as, “pure genius”.

The lads managed to achieve all this without the suppor t of record companies. At present ‘unsigned’ they are looking for a financial backer. So, any old-boys out there who want to take a flutter on the music industry – Well, here’s your chance! www.size2shoes.com

Novelist

Brain Eaters. He was cameraman on Conor McMahon’s zombie thriller Dead Meat. His most recent creation Chronoscope is narrated by Jeremy Irons. It is a 20 minute short about a scientist in the 1930s who invents a machine that can see the past. Hitler gets interested – but the machine doesn’t show the past like he wants it to be.

Terrific: you will be stuck to your seats!

Poet & Publisher ‘It’s an old story,’ says Peter Fallon. (’67) ‘When I heard it first, it centred on the ‘stone mad’ sculptor Seamus Murphy when one of the schoolkids who gathered around his workshop in Cork asked, ‘How did you know that girl was in that piece of rock?’

At school, I loved what we called ‘hutting’ and liked woodwork. We sawed and planed and polished next door to the studio of Benedict Tutty, one of the monks, who was, we heard, an artist whose liturgical art, I know now, adorns many sacred places. I never spoke to him or entered that room. But I peered through cracks to see common materials – wood, stone, iron – and ordinary tools – mallets, files, chisels.

From my tentative foothold in the world I sensed something otherworldly about that half-lit space.

s t r A

Peter Cunningham (’64) began writing for money at the age of fourteen. ‘From Glenstal I sold ghost stories to the Evening Press for ten shillings and short stories to Woman’s Own for two guineas. These stories were submitted under a female pseudonym, which presented problems for Matron Anne O’Reilly when the payment came in. She wondered who exactly Mary Cunningham was.

I was nearly forty before I wrote a novel and since then I’ve written fourteen. I would call the process I engage in organic, for want of a better explanation. Plots I hate, the older I get. Life is seldom that coherent and whatever else God is, I doubt she’s a best selling novelist.

The ability to look critically at my own writing has been hard won, but the process started forty-five years ago in the visitor’s parlour to the right of the arch working under the kind and skilled eye of Columba Breen O.S.B.’

Film maker Andrew Legge (‘94) was chosen as one of six participants in the Autumn session of the prestgious Cannes Residence running from 1 October 2009 to 15 February 2010.

Selected out of 170 candidates worldwide by The Cannes Film Festival President Gilles Jacob and his jury, Andrew joined with the other successful candidates from China, Romania, Iran, South Africa, and Costa Rica in Paris to develop their scripts and meet with industry executives.

He made his debut in 2001 with the horror short, The

For more than forty years now I have wandered at ease between the mundane and the mysterious. Both the chrysalis of the everyday and the butterfly of art that emerges from it have been my life since I started writing all those years ago, a boy in the pleasure grounds of Glenstal.

Henry Tierney (1938-1941) Henry had the distinction of being the first President of the Glenstal Old Boys Society. In the words of Abbot Celestine at his funeral Mass, ‘He was one whose ways were both vigorous and gentle, whose natural buoyancy of spirit and good humour carried others in its wake.’

Abbot Celestine added, ‘Our Mass is principally a prayer of thanksgiving for a long and fruitful life – a life of absolute integrity in his professional affairs, a style of life reflected in Psalm 14 which St. Benedict proposed as a model for his monks and followers:

Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent and dwell on your holy mountain?

Let us Remember

Publications

John Darcy (46-48) Martin Owens (62-67) Francis De Freyne (42-45) Henry Tierney (38-41) Frank Smyth (46-52) William Lacy (42-47) Denis Peart, Father of Michael Mary Healy, Wife of Noel, Mother of Dan Ulla O’Malley, Mother of Ronan & Peter Patrick Meade, Father of Jonathan, Patrick, Felim.

Mary Richardson, Wife of Brian.

Marie O’Sullivan, Mother of Charles Angela Coleman, Mother of Eoin, Marc, Rori, and Ronan

Richard Kearney, Anatheism: Returning to God After God (Columbia U.P.).

and speaks the truth from his heart; who does no wrong to his brother, Who casts no slur on his neighbour, but honours those who fear the Lord, He who keeps his pledge, come what may: such a man will stand firm forever.

‘Such a man was Henry Tierney.’

Peter Cunningham, The Sea and The Silence (New Island).

Peter Fallon’s translation of The Georgics of Virgil is published by Oxford in its World Classics Series. His most recent book of poems is The Company of Horses. (Gallery Press).

Mark Twain famously observed that his death had been much exaggerated. Patrick Stokes (1943-1948) writes very mildly to assure us that he is alive and well. In the Autumn ’09 Newsletter a Patrick Stokes appears in the list of the dear departed. This refers to an elder cousin who did not in fact attend Glenstal at all. So, a double confusion! I apologise to Patrick for this unfortunate mistake. (Ed.).

REUNION of the class of 1976

Opera Singer Howard Reddy (’95) asks, ‘Why do certain arias and songs survive the test of time ? Nessun dorma, would be an example, or Danny Boy. It is the creative space,’ he explains, ‘that the composer affords each performer to make it their own. More often than not the brilliance of music lies in its’ simplicity. Discovering and connecting with a great melody, recreating words and music, giving something of myself in order to connect with the listener is what it is all about. There are great melodies and stories from many genres of music: Opera, art song, sacred, broadway, cabaret, jazz, folk or pop. As a singer, I strive to mean what I say and say what I mean. In opera the demands are more specific. There, you are a singing actor.

Not only must you adhere to the composer and libretto but also be open to the interpretation being presented by the director. This creates an even greater challenge as you filter your life experience through the interpretation of another and apply it to your character. We are so lucky that the singing voice can carry human emotion like no other instrument. Our body, mind and soul is the instrument. Whether it be in opera, on the concert stage, or in any other setting, welcoming an audience into your world for a time is both a challenge and a privilege.

He who walks without fault; he who acts with justice;

eventeen survivors of the class of 1976 ate shoe-sole beef or tired salmon at a west Dublin hotel, in a barnlike room that Father Andrew charitably described as “airy”. But none of that mattered; some of the large class formerly known as “the Bulge” were together again to mark a third of a century since we survived Glenstal. A message from Fr Celestine wished us well in all our endeavors and hoped that since we had survived five years of boarding school, we could surely all weather five years (his prediction) of recession. As former rugby captain and scrum-half, Paul Murphy, said later it was

S

strange to have to introduce ourselves to each other like strangers, but the years fell away fast and we were soon chatting away as if we were still eighteen.

But towards the end of the evening, a teenage waitress must have been puzzled at the sight of a whole lot of fifty-one-year-olds standing around looking at dog-eared school magazines with black-and-white photos of teenage sports days, funfairs and pillow-fights. It didn’t take her too long to understand, “Long time?” she said.

Dominic Berridge (’76).

GLNL Spring10 PRINT 22/2/10 11:32 PM Page 2

2 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2010

Spring 2010 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER 3

Singers Eoin (’98) & Moley (’02) O Súilleabháin have seen amazing success since they released their debut album under the name ‘Size2shoes’. They got their first break from Riverdance composer Bill Whelan when he produced their first demo. Since then they have performed with The Chieftains, Brian Kennedy, Bobby McFerrin, violinist Nigel Kennedy and actor Russell Crowe. Even Steven Spielberg saw the guys play and said of them, “Size2shoes ... fits all!”

Russell Crowe has invited size2shoes to record their 2nd album in his home studio in Australia next summer. They bumped into Russell at the unveiling of the Richard Harris statue at Kilkee three years ago. The Hollywood star is a singer and songwriter himself, and invited Eoin & Moley over to London last summer where the lads performed for Michael Parkinson and Ben Elton, who described the performance as, “pure genius”.

The lads managed to achieve all this without the suppor t of record companies. At present ‘unsigned’ they are looking for a financial backer. So, any old-boys out there who want to take a flutter on the music industry – Well, here’s your chance! www.size2shoes.com

Novelist

Brain Eaters. He was cameraman on Conor McMahon’s zombie thriller Dead Meat. His most recent creation Chronoscope is narrated by Jeremy Irons. It is a 20 minute short about a scientist in the 1930s who invents a machine that can see the past. Hitler gets interested – but the machine doesn’t show the past like he wants it to be.

Terrific: you will be stuck to your seats!

Poet & Publisher ‘It’s an old story,’ says Peter Fallon. (’67) ‘When I heard it first, it centred on the ‘stone mad’ sculptor Seamus Murphy when one of the schoolkids who gathered around his workshop in Cork asked, ‘How did you know that girl was in that piece of rock?’

At school, I loved what we called ‘hutting’ and liked woodwork. We sawed and planed and polished next door to the studio of Benedict Tutty, one of the monks, who was, we heard, an artist whose liturgical art, I know now, adorns many sacred places. I never spoke to him or entered that room. But I peered through cracks to see common materials – wood, stone, iron – and ordinary tools – mallets, files, chisels.

From my tentative foothold in the world I sensed something otherworldly about that half-lit space.

s t r A

Peter Cunningham (’64) began writing for money at the age of fourteen. ‘From Glenstal I sold ghost stories to the Evening Press for ten shillings and short stories to Woman’s Own for two guineas. These stories were submitted under a female pseudonym, which presented problems for Matron Anne O’Reilly when the payment came in. She wondered who exactly Mary Cunningham was.

I was nearly forty before I wrote a novel and since then I’ve written fourteen. I would call the process I engage in organic, for want of a better explanation. Plots I hate, the older I get. Life is seldom that coherent and whatever else God is, I doubt she’s a best selling novelist.

The ability to look critically at my own writing has been hard won, but the process started forty-five years ago in the visitor’s parlour to the right of the arch working under the kind and skilled eye of Columba Breen O.S.B.’

Film maker Andrew Legge (‘94) was chosen as one of six participants in the Autumn session of the prestgious Cannes Residence running from 1 October 2009 to 15 February 2010.

Selected out of 170 candidates worldwide by The Cannes Film Festival President Gilles Jacob and his jury, Andrew joined with the other successful candidates from China, Romania, Iran, South Africa, and Costa Rica in Paris to develop their scripts and meet with industry executives.

He made his debut in 2001 with the horror short, The

For more than forty years now I have wandered at ease between the mundane and the mysterious. Both the chrysalis of the everyday and the butterfly of art that emerges from it have been my life since I started writing all those years ago, a boy in the pleasure grounds of Glenstal.

Henry Tierney (1938-1941) Henry had the distinction of being the first President of the Glenstal Old Boys Society. In the words of Abbot Celestine at his funeral Mass, ‘He was one whose ways were both vigorous and gentle, whose natural buoyancy of spirit and good humour carried others in its wake.’

Abbot Celestine added, ‘Our Mass is principally a prayer of thanksgiving for a long and fruitful life – a life of absolute integrity in his professional affairs, a style of life reflected in Psalm 14 which St. Benedict proposed as a model for his monks and followers:

Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent and dwell on your holy mountain?

Let us Remember

Publications

John Darcy (46-48) Martin Owens (62-67) Francis De Freyne (42-45) Henry Tierney (38-41) Frank Smyth (46-52) William Lacy (42-47) Denis Peart, Father of Michael Mary Healy, Wife of Noel, Mother of Dan Ulla O’Malley, Mother of Ronan & Peter Patrick Meade, Father of Jonathan, Patrick, Felim.

Mary Richardson, Wife of Brian.

Marie O’Sullivan, Mother of Charles Angela Coleman, Mother of Eoin, Marc, Rori, and Ronan

Richard Kearney, Anatheism: Returning to God After God (Columbia U.P.).

and speaks the truth from his heart; who does no wrong to his brother, Who casts no slur on his neighbour, but honours those who fear the Lord, He who keeps his pledge, come what may: such a man will stand firm forever.

‘Such a man was Henry Tierney.’

Peter Cunningham, The Sea and The Silence (New Island).

Peter Fallon’s translation of The Georgics of Virgil is published by Oxford in its World Classics Series. His most recent book of poems is The Company of Horses. (Gallery Press).

Mark Twain famously observed that his death had been much exaggerated. Patrick Stokes (1943-1948) writes very mildly to assure us that he is alive and well. In the Autumn ’09 Newsletter a Patrick Stokes appears in the list of the dear departed. This refers to an elder cousin who did not in fact attend Glenstal at all. So, a double confusion! I apologise to Patrick for this unfortunate mistake. (Ed.).

REUNION of the class of 1976

Opera Singer Howard Reddy (’95) asks, ‘Why do certain arias and songs survive the test of time ? Nessun dorma, would be an example, or Danny Boy. It is the creative space,’ he explains, ‘that the composer affords each performer to make it their own. More often than not the brilliance of music lies in its’ simplicity. Discovering and connecting with a great melody, recreating words and music, giving something of myself in order to connect with the listener is what it is all about. There are great melodies and stories from many genres of music: Opera, art song, sacred, broadway, cabaret, jazz, folk or pop. As a singer, I strive to mean what I say and say what I mean. In opera the demands are more specific. There, you are a singing actor.

Not only must you adhere to the composer and libretto but also be open to the interpretation being presented by the director. This creates an even greater challenge as you filter your life experience through the interpretation of another and apply it to your character. We are so lucky that the singing voice can carry human emotion like no other instrument. Our body, mind and soul is the instrument. Whether it be in opera, on the concert stage, or in any other setting, welcoming an audience into your world for a time is both a challenge and a privilege.

He who walks without fault; he who acts with justice;

eventeen survivors of the class of 1976 ate shoe-sole beef or tired salmon at a west Dublin hotel, in a barnlike room that Father Andrew charitably described as “airy”. But none of that mattered; some of the large class formerly known as “the Bulge” were together again to mark a third of a century since we survived Glenstal. A message from Fr Celestine wished us well in all our endeavors and hoped that since we had survived five years of boarding school, we could surely all weather five years (his prediction) of recession. As former rugby captain and scrum-half, Paul Murphy, said later it was

S

strange to have to introduce ourselves to each other like strangers, but the years fell away fast and we were soon chatting away as if we were still eighteen.

But towards the end of the evening, a teenage waitress must have been puzzled at the sight of a whole lot of fifty-one-year-olds standing around looking at dog-eared school magazines with black-and-white photos of teenage sports days, funfairs and pillow-fights. It didn’t take her too long to understand, “Long time?” she said.

Dominic Berridge (’76).

GLNL Spring10 PRINT 22/2/10 11:32 PM Page 1

4 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2010

Habitat for Humanity (Zambia) I

n recent years I have travelled with the housing charity “Habitat for Humanity” to Zambia to work with their Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s programme. While there, I helped to build houses and support families for those afflicted, lost and bereaved by the AIDS virus, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Polio and desperate heart-wrenching poverty.

While in Zambia I stayed in a house in the village the same as everyone else with no water or electricity or shower or toilet or cooking facilities or furniture. I met mostly women and small children. There were very few men in the village and not many teenagers because in a place like this many children just do not live that long.

Before travelling, I feared how I would cope with the disease, death and misery which I anticipated I would encounter. I

imagined that it is one thing to see all of this on the back of a Trocaire box, but something else entirely to see it in the eyes of people who stand before you.

Having survived, I can only tell you that my fear was misplaced and I have been to one of the happiest places on earth.

Despite all, I only met immensely kind and happy people. It was infectious. I cannot explain why these people have all the ingredients of misery, and yet live in such happiness. All of the rules and indicators for happiness which I have ever learnt simply do not apply.

These people are sick, bereaved and poor beyond your comprehension, but they are not sad. Perhaps they simply decided that they do not want to be sad. Perhaps it is as simple as that.

Meeting these people was humbling.

For most of my days, I laboured with local builders on building houses. In

“Size2shoes ... fits all!”

the evenings, I chatted and socialised in the darkness in a manner which is no longer possible in our electrified and television-distracted world. Day by day I became a part of this community, and it was wonderful.

It is true that there were times when things did not go well, but this does not mean that at any time things were bad.

We were frustrated when things did not work out but we tried to accept these events and move on. When something broke, we fixed it. When we had illness, we had an opportunity for kindness and support and bonding. When one of our team learnt that his father had died and he broke down and we prayed together, the feelings of grief were all the more poignant because of where we were and yet, like the people of Zambia, we went straight back to work.

There were moments too when I held back tears, but I did not cry. I could not cry when all around me the people were so happy, so I held back tears and tried to understand. I have cried those tears since I came home. I stood in Bwafwano orphanage, with 11,484 children under its care and I talked with those children. They showed me their school copybooks, with lessons of AIDS, Malaria, Polio and Tuberculosis and they were only eight years old. One small boy in our village told me that his sister would not be coming out to play any more, because she had malaria.

And late one night a young, gaunt sick boy called Sam told me that he was going to the shop “one last time” before he had to “go away for a long time”.

I miss the joy of Zambia so much that I am going back again next June. I have learnt a lot from these people and I regard my trips to Zambia as among the best in my life. I have seen how anyone can intervene and make a difference if you have the willingness to venture and try. This project is hugely worthy and it changes lives. The magic which it works in the people in Zambia is immense, and the magic which it works in those who go out from Ireland is no less. Carpe diem.

by Michael Nugent (75-80)

Wedding Bells William Leahy (1989) & Rachel Dobson

Eoin & Moley O Súilleabháin – story page 2

Edited by Andrew Nugent osb Layout & Print by INTYPE Ltd.

www.myubique.com info@myubique.com

PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY t the AGM of the Glenstal Society (Old Boys) held on April 5th 2009, a group of four ex-Presidents was constituted to designate the next President of the Society. This electoral conclave has enthusiastically and unanimously chosen Abbot Celestine Cullen to be President of the Society, with immediate effect, until the AGM of 2011. Abbot Celestine, with his customary diffidence, was mildly bemused by this appointment but has accepted the nomination with good grace.

A

Abbot Celestine (Brian) Cullen is uniquely qualified for the position. He has lived and worked in Glenstal for all of seventy years. At school from 1939 to 1945, he was Captain of the School in his final year. A monk since 1946, an inspirational teacher of French and Christian Doctrine to Senior classes, he was Headmaster for eigheen years. He was then elected, and re-elected Abbot of Glenstal, and subsequently Abbot President of our Benedictine Congregation. Perhaps slightly older than some of you will remember him, Celo is still very much a force to be reckoned with. A truly dynamic and inspirational figure, he will lead the Society towards Pastures New.

Grace to a beat – The GOBS London Dinner in Soho House

F

r Andrew has said grace in many places, but this was the first time with a dancefloor tune in the background – perhaps to be expected now that GOBS has moved its annual London dinner to the trendy surrounds of Soho House, one of London’s most exclusive members’ clubs. Thanks entirely to the hard work of Ian Lynam (’96), despite his having been seriously unwell for several weeks preceding the dinner, a fine evening was had there by approximately 25 Old Boys and members of the Community on Friday November 20th.

After our musical grace, the brief speeches, as always, included a special word for Fr Athanasius, and this time also remembered Eddie Barber, the man responsible for restarting the London Dinner series, who sadly passed away shortly after the last one.

The conversation flowed, and we managed to tear ourselves away from the all-too-easy topic of Thierry Henri, still a fresh wound at the time, as the “Finance Club” of the younger generation - David Canty (’90), Edgar Senior (’93), James Macnamara (’94), Jonny

Hayes (‘97) and Rupert McCann (’00) – tried to out-do each other with financial jargon. At the other end of the table, we had the pleasure of the company of no fewer than three McGraths (Declan ’59, Leo ’62 and Timothy ‘64).

All three courses arrived in large platters to pass around, testing everyone’s Benedictine upbringing of charity and modesty, with only a few scuffles breaking out! Leo reminded us that the only rule was to keep at least one foot on the ground at all times. The first course was seafood with big plates of smoked salmon, tuna and potted shrimps, and the main course gave us an immense choice of roast beef, risotto and cod. Together with a fresh white wine, a hearty red Bordeaux, and some Port to finish us off, everyone was very happy with how the evening turned out – with the possible exception of Paddy Egan (’70), whose jacket was accidentally taken by someone who left early. When the rest of us were on the way out just before midnight, he and Pat Bradley (’67) were still there, possibly using the missing jacket as an excuse to continue with the drinks.

Edgar Senior (’93)

A.G.M. GLENSTAL SOCIETY Sunday April 18th 2010 ■ 10.00 Mass with Community ■ 11.15 Coffee ■ 11.45 AGM ■ Lunch 2.00 COME FOR ALL – OR ANY PART OF THE DAY. PLEASE NOTIFY IF COMING FOR LUNCH

UBIQUE 2010

ALERT!!

IT IS OUR FIRM INTENTION TO BRING OUT A NEW PRINT EDITION OF UBIQUE BEFORE THE END OF 2010. PLEASE VISIT MYUBIQUE.COM AND CHECK THAT YOUR DETAILS ARE CORRECT ON OUR DATA BASE. IF THEY ARE NOT, PLEASE CHANGE THEM YOURSELF, OR E-MAIL THE CORRECT VERSION TO ME AT

andrew@glenstal.org BEFORE JUNE 30th 2010

Money! Money!

We Need Money!

We are too refined ever to ask for money – which simply means that we are being unfair to the people who do generously subscribe to the Old Boys Society and pay all the bills for the rest of us. In the next twelve months, we will have heavy expenses: About €5,000 for printing and posting two newsletters, €20,000 for printing and posting Ubique 2010, €6,000 for overhaul of MyUbique Website – and then the ‘Hardship Fund’ where we try to give some small help to those who are having a difficult time. Would you be prepared to make an annual, quarterly, or monthly Banker’s Order in favour of the Society? (details on demand). Or please be conscious that any subscriptions – even at odd intervals – will be very useful and much appreciated.

Make them payable to ‘Ubique’ in any currency.