NEWS OF THE PAST CLONGOWES UNION NEWS
THE CLONGOWES UNION BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION The Clongowes Union Benevolent Association provides assistance to Old Clongownians and/or their relatives and dependents that have fallen on hard times. The assistance can take the form of financial grants or soft loans over an extended period, or it can be in the form of expert advice or moral support at difficult times.
“BEYOND THE PALE” OUR 125TH ANNIVERSARY
Ryan and Jack Kavanagh. The Union Dinner is restored to its traditional date on the Friday before Ireland’s first home Six Nations match (v France) in a special new venue, Dublin’s Mansion House.
It is with great pleasure that I have accepted to be the opportunity to be the President of the Clongowes Union during the year in which we will celebrate our 125th anniversary.
There are also rumblings about potential Clongowes events during the year in USA and Hong Kong/Singapore. We will keep you updated by email and all 2022 events will be priced and available on our website by 30th June. But the Union is not all about these big events. The WhatsApp group for any particular year is the Clongowes Union in action. If you can’t make an event, perhaps you can get along to support a Clongowes team in the Senior or Junior Cup. Or maybe, with the school’s approval, attend a Sunday Mass in Clongowes and witness the incredible work of our fellow Clongownian, Cyril Murphy, and his liturgical team. Clongowes Wood College is a vibrant organisation and we would like that to be reflected in the activities of the Clongowes Union.
When a small group of Clongownians came together in 2020 to plan this special year, we adopted “Beyond the Pale” as our tagline for these twelve months. This recognises the importance of students from Munster, Connacht, Ulster and all of Leinster as part of the fabric that makes Clongowes what it is today and has been for many years. Without excluding Dublin, my own home City, we wanted the Union to have significant events in the four provinces of Ireland and beyond. We hope you will have the opportunity to support some or all of our under 40s event in the West of Ireland, our Internationals Event in Clongowes, the Ulster Branch dinner in Royal County Down or the Munster Dinner in County Limerick. That Munster Dinner is a mixed event as is our UK Dinner in Royal Thames Yacht Club on 29 th October. In Dublin, on 7 th October, we will have the Clongowes Lunch (not restricted to Clongownians) where the guest panel will include both Declan
We will be reaching out to Old Clongownians in the early Autumn. When you hear from us we would appreciate you giving as generously as you can to enable us to continue our important work.
Tom Lane June 2022.
As ever, the Committee and Trustees would like to express their heartfelt thanks to all those who made donations to the Association over the years. We would also like to express thanks to those who have provided employment or employment leads, professional advice and friendship to those in need.
As we continue to grow and strengthen our database we would like to invite OCs to update their email address. This can be simply done by logging on to www.clongowesunion.ie/data Feel free to share the above link with any classmates, brothers or OC colleagues you may be in contact with regularly. We ask that you use your personal email address rather than a work address. If you ever need to update your details in the future we will continue to keep a close eye on submissions to the link above. We hope to be able to share news and updates relevant to as many members of the Union as possible, when it becomes available, a robust and active database will go a long way to achieving this. Thank you for your continued support.
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Unfortunately, along with the significant increase in monies disbursed, there has been a significant fall off in our income due to covid related disruption of our regular fundraising activities in the last two years. At our current rate of expenditure, our funds will run out early next year. So for the first time in ten years we will have to undertake a fresh fundraising drive to replenish our coffers. Doing so will put us on a sounder financial footing and ensure we can continue to meet the needs of necessitous Old Clongownians and their families.
I’m very grateful to those of you who have taken the time to wish me well for the coming year. I hope to meet as many of you as possible at some stage in the next 12 months.
BUILDING THE DATABASE
Barry Bowe, Union Registrar
The past two years have been challenging for many including quite a number within the Old Clongownian community. This is reflected in the increased demand for support from your Benevolent Association. The financial assistance we disbursed in 2021 was nearly €69,000. This is well up on the €43,000 of 2019 and the €53,000 of 2020.
We are always welcoming of fellow OCs or their families who may be in need of assistance. Please inform Michael Moore (086 834 0132; mdmoore@ indigo.ie) if you are in need or know of another old friend in such straits. By passing on the details now the need can be addressed in confidence and, hopefully, eliminated.
CLONGOWES LIFE
SUMMER 2022
