2011spring

GLNL Spring11 PRINT 16/5/11 1:48 PM Page 1

4 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2011

Hugh Byrne (2010)

Peter McGuire – Stained Glass Artist left Henry Morgan’s Art Room in 1989 and landed in Bolton St DIT to study architecture. It did not take long to realise it was not for me, and upon acceptance into the National College of Art and Design, I went in armed with paintbrushes. I discovered there was a glass dept in the college, and the area of stained glass seemed to be a good combination of colour and texture in architecture; so I took that road.

I

I was lucky enough in that when I left college, there was a confidence in the country and people were prepared to spend on art and design, allowing the likes of myself to build up a body of work. Seems like a long time ago now, but I’m ticking over at the moment.

Working with the arts was never about a secure future, but there’s always a way.

The glass has been good to me. I developed my own techniques for making glass in the kiln, or I use traditional methods when appropriate. As a material, glass has a life of it’s own.

STOP PRESS: Recent Publications Gregory Collins OSB Meeting Christ in Henry Blake his Mysteries: A Benedictine Elected President Vision of the Spiritual Life.

William Ryan, The Holy Thief of the Society

Usually work is to commission. This could be in hotels, bars, offices, houses, hospitals and churches. I recently completed 17 new stained glass windows for the church I got married in: Star of the Sea in Quilty, West Clare.

Rugby Glory John Blayney (1942) is the only old boy – until Ian Nagle – to have played for Ireland XV. We recently received some video footage of this match V Scotland in 1950.

website: www.mcguireglass.ie

I

n August 2009, when he was 17, Hugh risked his own life to rescue a teenage girl from certain death by drowning at Kilkee. He received an award for his bravery from Irish Water Safety who acclaimed him ‘a true hero.’ From Kilkee, Hugh’s father, Tom, was also involved in a daring sea rescue at Kilkee, when he, too, was just 17. So courage and caring run in the family.

As Hugh is one of quadruplets, that must mean that Kilkee beaches are the safest in Ireland!

(Photo by Eamon Ward)

an has already played Rugby for Ireland (under 19’s, under 20’s, Wolfhounds), and Munster Rugby has just named him ‘Young Player of the Year.’ Ian, 22 years of age, has had a very successful first year on the senior panel, making ten appearances in the Magners League, and being named ‘Man of the Match’ for Munster against Australia last November. (Photo by Br. Denis Hooper)

Golf Outing Don’t Forget!

FRIDAY JULY 15TH

Mark Patrick Hederman. Dancing with Dinosaurs: A Spirituality for the 21st Century.

And so, on we go; at the moment I have a commission on the theme of “Celestial Navigation” for a school in Spanish Point, also Co Clare. It is based on how sailors used the stars to navigate their way across the seas.

IAN NAGLE (2007)

I

www.myubique.com info@myubique.com

Glenstal’s ‘Tanzania Team’ visited Hanga Abbey School in July 2010 and furnished their peers with solar panels. It was expensive (€24,000) but the team was given a decisive incentive: Solar Without Frontiers, an Irish Charity, undertook to install the panels free of charge. Basic computer skills were acquired by 128 students who will be amongst the first in Southern Tanzania to sit the national exam in IT. Glenstal’s direct involvement with the school will cease. We have a similar project with Mvimwa Abbey School, near the shores of Lake Tanganika. A ‘Tan’ team’ of Glenstal Vth Year Students will be there this summer. If you would like to have a part in their project, please send a cheque to Fr. John O’Callaghan at Glenstal. It will light up the lives of many!

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4 d8XbuWSNkE Full match stats are at http://www.espnscrum.com/ireland/ rugby/match/19681.html t the AGM of the Glenstal Society, held on Sunday, May 8th, 2011, Henry Blake was elected President of the society. A full account of the AGM will be published in our Autumn Newsletter. In the meantime we can say that, as a desperate attempt to evade this honour, the new President had already fled to Australia. But we know exactly where he is and, in spite of a hip replacement, we guarantee to have him up and running before the Autumn.

A

Photo by Padraig Thornton

Wedding Bells JOHN FITZGERALD (1991) & ANYA MURPHY KYRAN O’GORMAN (1977) & TRISH DARCY KEN ROHAN (1998) & BROOKE McVEAGH FERGUS MacNAMARA (1997) & MARY COOPER JAMES STACK (1998) & LUCY ANNE FOSTER TIMOTHY DE VERE WHITE (1998) & LISA SIMPSON CLEMENS VON OW (1986) & CAROLINA FREIIN VON GEYMÜLLER

Druid’s Heath Golf Club

MYUBIQUE.COM onsiderable efforts have been made to make our new website more relevant, more informative, and more enjoyable. Do visit it, and tell us what you think – good and bad. Do, please, update your own entry on our database – especially postal and e-mail addresses. You can go online to do this yourself, or e-mail to: secretary@myubique.com

C

THE CLASS of ’75 T

he 1975 leaving class reunion was instigated by Frank Richardson through several e-mails to as many of the class as he could locate. These were hard to ignore and any procrastination was swept aside by a curiosity as to the whereabouts and condition of classmates, many not seen or heard of for 35 years.

The choice of venue was The Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoighaire, this being easy of access from all corners of the globe. Arriving from the battered outreaches of the economy, it appeared to some a haven, immune to the high tides of recession.

We reunited, inevitably, at the bar, the curiosity of the preceding months reflected in questioning glances and tenuous handshakes; Were these people really the same as those with whom we spent our formative years? Yes! Old friendships and alliances quickly reformed and the night began as it continued and ended.

Fr. Andrew was present and with us as part of the class, together in that bond of collective consciousness typical of Glenstal alumni. Mark Conan took the job of photographer, putting the rest of us at the wrong end of the lens. Don’t be fooled; the light and the ambience of The Royal Irish Yacht Club play tricks. The images you may see from that night are just reflections and fantasy; potentially how the class of ‘75 might appear at some reunion far in the future.

After a little preprandial reminiscing, we retired to the dining room where, over courses of all classes and Febvres of fine wines, we reminisced some more, talking as if 35 years was a journey yet to be taken.

At one stage management requested that jackets be kept on, seriously underestimating the code of conduct inherent in the class of ‘75. The request was quickly and quietly withdrawn.

Continued overleaf

GLNL Spring11 PRINT 16/5/11 1:48 PM Page 2

2 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2011

Spring 2011 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER 3

Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953)

The Class of ’75 Continued The evening continued and before long, it seemed, taxis and time ran out.

n 24 April 2010, Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953) celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in Oxford on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination. He died peacefully on November 29th the same year.

Here are some reflections he offered on the occasion of his Jubilee.

Walking along the quays by the marina, the sea air sharpened by the November night, we pondered the question: Why did we wait so long before meeting again? The reasons are obscure but the result was an enjoyable event.

Well Done Frank, and to all of you who turned up, but also fond greetings to those who didn’t. You are not forgotten.

Neither is John Hunt. He was sorely missed, and we remembered him with joy and happiness.

Until we meet again, May the road be short and the meeting long, or whichever way round. Go mbeadh an t’adh agaibh.

The Hon. Michael Dillon imparting his blessing John P. Ryan

Photo by Mark Conan

40 Year Reunion: Class of 1970 True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.

(Kurt Vonnegut) t may seem like just yesterday when we drove down the avenue for the last time but, whether we choose to ignore it or not, the frighteningly grand total of 40 years has elapsed since the class of 1970 said goodbye to the school that had seemed a second home since forever.

Thanks to the organizational skills of Pat O’Connor, a quite amazing 24 members of the class assembled at the St Stephen’s Green/Hibernian Club to celebrate our 40th anniversary. I am sure that I was not alone in feeling slight trepidation as I entered the hallway of this Dublin landmark: would anyone recognise me, would I be able to put names to faces, after all these years? Perhaps through a feat of mutual self-delusion we rapidly agreed that nobody “had changed a bit”; the addition of spectacles or some facial hair appendage alone serving to cause come transient befuddlement as, one by one, we greeted each other.

I

The real highlight for the group was the attendance of our headmaster, Fr Celestine, and one of our housemasters, Fr Andrew; the former remembered minute details of the school life of each attendee, the latter, as usual, had accompanying amusing anecdotes. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with both of them and, especially, to hear that the monastery and the school continue to thrive.

As old acquaintances were renewed the sheer joy of meeting old friends and hearing, however briefly, of their life stories, enveloped the group. Though all now mature in our respective careers (if not quite running the country) we are truly a diverse lot, and so much the better for it!

As dinner and drinks progressed, memories flowed back and an open floor policy allowed those who wished to do so to say a spontaneous few words. Those who are no longer with us, Paul O’Hanlon, our school captain, George Griffin and Richard Seigne, were remembered, and messages from those who, for various reasons, could not

on the study and contemplation that has gone before. In fact I have always found that prayer was the most important element in preparing to preach.

O

attend, shared. Happenings in our individual school lives that we had hoped were long forgotten were unceremoniously resurrected, traits and peculiarities of teachers and staff remembered (and, no doubt, amplified) and, needless-to-say, each and every match of that memorable rugby season relived in glorious Technicolor (though the Munster Senior Cup final replay was given rather short shrift!).

Each of us has very individual and precious memories of the years we spent in Glenstal. This reunion served as an opportunity to spend a wonderful evening with old classmates, and also, thanks to the presence of Fr Celestine and Fr Andrew, as a reminder of the formative role that Glenstal played in all of our lives, and of the very special place that it will always retain in our hearts.

The life of a Dominican priest is by necessity very different from that of a secular priest in so far as it does not usually consist in being a pastor. St Dominic decided that his followers should be clerics primarily so that they would have the authority to preach and to hear confessions. The fifty years of my life as a priest have been spent mainly in teaching in seminaries and preparing young men for ordination as diocesan priests and Dominican friars.

At the same time I have acted as pastor of many parishes, sometimes full time, sometimes being there only at weekends. I have enjoyed that work, especially the effort to reach people who did not often go to church, and helping those reduced to poverty or rendered homeless through hurricanes. The work of evangelization often begins by forming personal relations with individuals and showing them the love of God.

Out of Africa … and back again

Eamonn Quigley

LET US REMEMBER Redmond Walsh (1937-1943) Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953) Martin Tierney (1947-1952) Brian Murphy (1946-1951) R.I.P. 2007 Louis Corbett, Father of Paul, Frank, and John Jayne Gilmore, Sister of Adrian Nessa Fleischmann, Wife of Alan Patrick Pollen, Father of Peter Kay Holloway, Mother of Ernest Brendan Bastible, Son of Brendan & Elizabeth Barbara Sutherland, Grandmother of Shane and Ian Gordon Holmes, Father of Keith and Gordon Grace Blake, Wife of Bruce, Mother of Carl & Dermot Denise Hickey, Wife of Peter Eithne Swan, Sister of Brian John S. Moore, Father of Roger and Shane Jacqueline O’Toole, Sister of John, Fergus (†) Edward

The task of preaching the gospel message in our time has been my main preoccupation, whether in my preaching or in my pastoral work. After fifty years I still feel that I know very little about it. I have always tried to preach solid sermons and worked hard at them, but often my most successful preaching has been on those occasions when I have had no time to prepare and have just prayed to the Holy Spirit for guidance, relying

Ordained in 1960 most of my priestly life has been dominated by the Second Vatican Council and the implication of its decrees. I have witnessed the tremendous effect on people of being able to take part actively in the celebration of the liturgy in their own language, the way they have grown spiritually through the new emphasis on reading the Bible, and seeing how many have been able through these means to form a close relationship with Christ. Particularly interesting has been participation in various lay movements and helping the laity to serve their church communities and minister in various ways. The training of mature Christian men for the diaconate has been for me a great privilege and a great learning experience. In my old age, returning to the narrowness and pettiness of the ecclesiastical disputes of England and Europe, I am greatly saddened by the neo-ultramontanism and all the various attempts to put the clock back and undo the wonderful work made possible by the Second Vatican Council.

I

know it’s stupid and cowardly but I’ve always been anxious about ‘going back’ ... which I suppose is why I’ve never visited Glenstal since leaving in 1975. So it was with some apprehension that I returned last year to Kenya where I was based as a journalist for much of the 90s. It had never crossed my mind that I’d find myself back in East Africa but, when a position with the United Nations came up here, it seemed to make sense. By last year, I’d been living and working as a foreign correspondent in India for 11 years, and my family and I were keen to move.

Overall, coming back to Kenya and its wonderful climate has been a good experience, particularly for my two children who now spend a lot more time outdoors than they ever did in sweltering New Delhi. My wife is again working as a TV producer for Reuters and, despite a daily commute that was initially a shock to the system, I’m enjoying my latest incarnation as a regional spokesman for the UN World Food Programme (a real job at last, as one or two ex-classmates have maliciously remarked). In the same way that UNICEF represents the interests of the world’s children or UNHCR is responsible for refugees, WFP concerns itself with food assistance to those in need.

The largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, WFP is currently feeding more than 90 million people in 73 countries, some of them fleeing emergencies in places like Ivory Coast or Libya, others in longer-term crises such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The food assistance is provided mostly through cash donations from governments. Ireland, for example, is ranked 25th in the donor league with the USA, Japan and Canada being the biggest contributors. My mother at first thought I was running a soup kitchen but I actually handle the media side of things, responding to requests from journalists for information or to visit programmes in the field. And sometimes, I’ll get to do some reporting or filming myself, in Somalia or Zimbabwe or wherever ... For a school located in such an out-of-the-way place, Glenstal has always had a large window on the world and I know that has stood to me and all those other old boys who find themselves living and working abroad.

David Orr davidharmanorr@gmail.com www.wfp.org

GLNL Spring11 PRINT 16/5/11 1:48 PM Page 2

2 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2011

Spring 2011 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER 3

Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953)

The Class of ’75 Continued The evening continued and before long, it seemed, taxis and time ran out.

n 24 April 2010, Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953) celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in Oxford on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination. He died peacefully on November 29th the same year.

Here are some reflections he offered on the occasion of his Jubilee.

Walking along the quays by the marina, the sea air sharpened by the November night, we pondered the question: Why did we wait so long before meeting again? The reasons are obscure but the result was an enjoyable event.

Well Done Frank, and to all of you who turned up, but also fond greetings to those who didn’t. You are not forgotten.

Neither is John Hunt. He was sorely missed, and we remembered him with joy and happiness.

Until we meet again, May the road be short and the meeting long, or whichever way round. Go mbeadh an t’adh agaibh.

The Hon. Michael Dillon imparting his blessing John P. Ryan

Photo by Mark Conan

40 Year Reunion: Class of 1970 True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.

(Kurt Vonnegut) t may seem like just yesterday when we drove down the avenue for the last time but, whether we choose to ignore it or not, the frighteningly grand total of 40 years has elapsed since the class of 1970 said goodbye to the school that had seemed a second home since forever.

Thanks to the organizational skills of Pat O’Connor, a quite amazing 24 members of the class assembled at the St Stephen’s Green/Hibernian Club to celebrate our 40th anniversary. I am sure that I was not alone in feeling slight trepidation as I entered the hallway of this Dublin landmark: would anyone recognise me, would I be able to put names to faces, after all these years? Perhaps through a feat of mutual self-delusion we rapidly agreed that nobody “had changed a bit”; the addition of spectacles or some facial hair appendage alone serving to cause come transient befuddlement as, one by one, we greeted each other.

I

The real highlight for the group was the attendance of our headmaster, Fr Celestine, and one of our housemasters, Fr Andrew; the former remembered minute details of the school life of each attendee, the latter, as usual, had accompanying amusing anecdotes. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with both of them and, especially, to hear that the monastery and the school continue to thrive.

As old acquaintances were renewed the sheer joy of meeting old friends and hearing, however briefly, of their life stories, enveloped the group. Though all now mature in our respective careers (if not quite running the country) we are truly a diverse lot, and so much the better for it!

As dinner and drinks progressed, memories flowed back and an open floor policy allowed those who wished to do so to say a spontaneous few words. Those who are no longer with us, Paul O’Hanlon, our school captain, George Griffin and Richard Seigne, were remembered, and messages from those who, for various reasons, could not

on the study and contemplation that has gone before. In fact I have always found that prayer was the most important element in preparing to preach.

O

attend, shared. Happenings in our individual school lives that we had hoped were long forgotten were unceremoniously resurrected, traits and peculiarities of teachers and staff remembered (and, no doubt, amplified) and, needless-to-say, each and every match of that memorable rugby season relived in glorious Technicolor (though the Munster Senior Cup final replay was given rather short shrift!).

Each of us has very individual and precious memories of the years we spent in Glenstal. This reunion served as an opportunity to spend a wonderful evening with old classmates, and also, thanks to the presence of Fr Celestine and Fr Andrew, as a reminder of the formative role that Glenstal played in all of our lives, and of the very special place that it will always retain in our hearts.

The life of a Dominican priest is by necessity very different from that of a secular priest in so far as it does not usually consist in being a pastor. St Dominic decided that his followers should be clerics primarily so that they would have the authority to preach and to hear confessions. The fifty years of my life as a priest have been spent mainly in teaching in seminaries and preparing young men for ordination as diocesan priests and Dominican friars.

At the same time I have acted as pastor of many parishes, sometimes full time, sometimes being there only at weekends. I have enjoyed that work, especially the effort to reach people who did not often go to church, and helping those reduced to poverty or rendered homeless through hurricanes. The work of evangelization often begins by forming personal relations with individuals and showing them the love of God.

Out of Africa … and back again

Eamonn Quigley

LET US REMEMBER Redmond Walsh (1937-1943) Fr. Austin Milner O.P. (1947-1953) Martin Tierney (1947-1952) Brian Murphy (1946-1951) R.I.P. 2007 Louis Corbett, Father of Paul, Frank, and John Jayne Gilmore, Sister of Adrian Nessa Fleischmann, Wife of Alan Patrick Pollen, Father of Peter Kay Holloway, Mother of Ernest Brendan Bastible, Son of Brendan & Elizabeth Barbara Sutherland, Grandmother of Shane and Ian Gordon Holmes, Father of Keith and Gordon Grace Blake, Wife of Bruce, Mother of Carl & Dermot Denise Hickey, Wife of Peter Eithne Swan, Sister of Brian John S. Moore, Father of Roger and Shane Jacqueline O’Toole, Sister of John, Fergus (†) Edward

The task of preaching the gospel message in our time has been my main preoccupation, whether in my preaching or in my pastoral work. After fifty years I still feel that I know very little about it. I have always tried to preach solid sermons and worked hard at them, but often my most successful preaching has been on those occasions when I have had no time to prepare and have just prayed to the Holy Spirit for guidance, relying

Ordained in 1960 most of my priestly life has been dominated by the Second Vatican Council and the implication of its decrees. I have witnessed the tremendous effect on people of being able to take part actively in the celebration of the liturgy in their own language, the way they have grown spiritually through the new emphasis on reading the Bible, and seeing how many have been able through these means to form a close relationship with Christ. Particularly interesting has been participation in various lay movements and helping the laity to serve their church communities and minister in various ways. The training of mature Christian men for the diaconate has been for me a great privilege and a great learning experience. In my old age, returning to the narrowness and pettiness of the ecclesiastical disputes of England and Europe, I am greatly saddened by the neo-ultramontanism and all the various attempts to put the clock back and undo the wonderful work made possible by the Second Vatican Council.

I

know it’s stupid and cowardly but I’ve always been anxious about ‘going back’ ... which I suppose is why I’ve never visited Glenstal since leaving in 1975. So it was with some apprehension that I returned last year to Kenya where I was based as a journalist for much of the 90s. It had never crossed my mind that I’d find myself back in East Africa but, when a position with the United Nations came up here, it seemed to make sense. By last year, I’d been living and working as a foreign correspondent in India for 11 years, and my family and I were keen to move.

Overall, coming back to Kenya and its wonderful climate has been a good experience, particularly for my two children who now spend a lot more time outdoors than they ever did in sweltering New Delhi. My wife is again working as a TV producer for Reuters and, despite a daily commute that was initially a shock to the system, I’m enjoying my latest incarnation as a regional spokesman for the UN World Food Programme (a real job at last, as one or two ex-classmates have maliciously remarked). In the same way that UNICEF represents the interests of the world’s children or UNHCR is responsible for refugees, WFP concerns itself with food assistance to those in need.

The largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, WFP is currently feeding more than 90 million people in 73 countries, some of them fleeing emergencies in places like Ivory Coast or Libya, others in longer-term crises such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The food assistance is provided mostly through cash donations from governments. Ireland, for example, is ranked 25th in the donor league with the USA, Japan and Canada being the biggest contributors. My mother at first thought I was running a soup kitchen but I actually handle the media side of things, responding to requests from journalists for information or to visit programmes in the field. And sometimes, I’ll get to do some reporting or filming myself, in Somalia or Zimbabwe or wherever ... For a school located in such an out-of-the-way place, Glenstal has always had a large window on the world and I know that has stood to me and all those other old boys who find themselves living and working abroad.

David Orr davidharmanorr@gmail.com www.wfp.org

GLNL Spring11 PRINT 16/5/11 1:48 PM Page 1

4 GLENSTAL NEWSLETTER Spring 2011

Hugh Byrne (2010)

Peter McGuire – Stained Glass Artist left Henry Morgan’s Art Room in 1989 and landed in Bolton St DIT to study architecture. It did not take long to realise it was not for me, and upon acceptance into the National College of Art and Design, I went in armed with paintbrushes. I discovered there was a glass dept in the college, and the area of stained glass seemed to be a good combination of colour and texture in architecture; so I took that road.

I

I was lucky enough in that when I left college, there was a confidence in the country and people were prepared to spend on art and design, allowing the likes of myself to build up a body of work. Seems like a long time ago now, but I’m ticking over at the moment.

Working with the arts was never about a secure future, but there’s always a way.

The glass has been good to me. I developed my own techniques for making glass in the kiln, or I use traditional methods when appropriate. As a material, glass has a life of it’s own.

STOP PRESS: Recent Publications Gregory Collins OSB Meeting Christ in Henry Blake his Mysteries: A Benedictine Elected President Vision of the Spiritual Life.

William Ryan, The Holy Thief of the Society

Usually work is to commission. This could be in hotels, bars, offices, houses, hospitals and churches. I recently completed 17 new stained glass windows for the church I got married in: Star of the Sea in Quilty, West Clare.

Rugby Glory John Blayney (1942) is the only old boy – until Ian Nagle – to have played for Ireland XV. We recently received some video footage of this match V Scotland in 1950.

website: www.mcguireglass.ie

I

n August 2009, when he was 17, Hugh risked his own life to rescue a teenage girl from certain death by drowning at Kilkee. He received an award for his bravery from Irish Water Safety who acclaimed him ‘a true hero.’ From Kilkee, Hugh’s father, Tom, was also involved in a daring sea rescue at Kilkee, when he, too, was just 17. So courage and caring run in the family.

As Hugh is one of quadruplets, that must mean that Kilkee beaches are the safest in Ireland!

(Photo by Eamon Ward)

an has already played Rugby for Ireland (under 19’s, under 20’s, Wolfhounds), and Munster Rugby has just named him ‘Young Player of the Year.’ Ian, 22 years of age, has had a very successful first year on the senior panel, making ten appearances in the Magners League, and being named ‘Man of the Match’ for Munster against Australia last November. (Photo by Br. Denis Hooper)

Golf Outing Don’t Forget!

FRIDAY JULY 15TH

Mark Patrick Hederman. Dancing with Dinosaurs: A Spirituality for the 21st Century.

And so, on we go; at the moment I have a commission on the theme of “Celestial Navigation” for a school in Spanish Point, also Co Clare. It is based on how sailors used the stars to navigate their way across the seas.

IAN NAGLE (2007)

I

www.myubique.com info@myubique.com

Glenstal’s ‘Tanzania Team’ visited Hanga Abbey School in July 2010 and furnished their peers with solar panels. It was expensive (€24,000) but the team was given a decisive incentive: Solar Without Frontiers, an Irish Charity, undertook to install the panels free of charge. Basic computer skills were acquired by 128 students who will be amongst the first in Southern Tanzania to sit the national exam in IT. Glenstal’s direct involvement with the school will cease. We have a similar project with Mvimwa Abbey School, near the shores of Lake Tanganika. A ‘Tan’ team’ of Glenstal Vth Year Students will be there this summer. If you would like to have a part in their project, please send a cheque to Fr. John O’Callaghan at Glenstal. It will light up the lives of many!

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4 d8XbuWSNkE Full match stats are at http://www.espnscrum.com/ireland/ rugby/match/19681.html t the AGM of the Glenstal Society, held on Sunday, May 8th, 2011, Henry Blake was elected President of the society. A full account of the AGM will be published in our Autumn Newsletter. In the meantime we can say that, as a desperate attempt to evade this honour, the new President had already fled to Australia. But we know exactly where he is and, in spite of a hip replacement, we guarantee to have him up and running before the Autumn.

A

Photo by Padraig Thornton

Wedding Bells JOHN FITZGERALD (1991) & ANYA MURPHY KYRAN O’GORMAN (1977) & TRISH DARCY KEN ROHAN (1998) & BROOKE McVEAGH FERGUS MacNAMARA (1997) & MARY COOPER JAMES STACK (1998) & LUCY ANNE FOSTER TIMOTHY DE VERE WHITE (1998) & LISA SIMPSON CLEMENS VON OW (1986) & CAROLINA FREIIN VON GEYMÜLLER

Druid’s Heath Golf Club

MYUBIQUE.COM onsiderable efforts have been made to make our new website more relevant, more informative, and more enjoyable. Do visit it, and tell us what you think – good and bad. Do, please, update your own entry on our database – especially postal and e-mail addresses. You can go online to do this yourself, or e-mail to: secretary@myubique.com

C

THE CLASS of ’75 T

he 1975 leaving class reunion was instigated by Frank Richardson through several e-mails to as many of the class as he could locate. These were hard to ignore and any procrastination was swept aside by a curiosity as to the whereabouts and condition of classmates, many not seen or heard of for 35 years.

The choice of venue was The Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoighaire, this being easy of access from all corners of the globe. Arriving from the battered outreaches of the economy, it appeared to some a haven, immune to the high tides of recession.

We reunited, inevitably, at the bar, the curiosity of the preceding months reflected in questioning glances and tenuous handshakes; Were these people really the same as those with whom we spent our formative years? Yes! Old friendships and alliances quickly reformed and the night began as it continued and ended.

Fr. Andrew was present and with us as part of the class, together in that bond of collective consciousness typical of Glenstal alumni. Mark Conan took the job of photographer, putting the rest of us at the wrong end of the lens. Don’t be fooled; the light and the ambience of The Royal Irish Yacht Club play tricks. The images you may see from that night are just reflections and fantasy; potentially how the class of ‘75 might appear at some reunion far in the future.

After a little preprandial reminiscing, we retired to the dining room where, over courses of all classes and Febvres of fine wines, we reminisced some more, talking as if 35 years was a journey yet to be taken.

At one stage management requested that jackets be kept on, seriously underestimating the code of conduct inherent in the class of ‘75. The request was quickly and quietly withdrawn.

Continued overleaf