Reunion of the Bish classes of 1965 and 1966
Two hundred years ago, in October 1826, the Warden of Galway wrote to the Superior of the Patrician Brothers asking him to send at least one Brother to Galway to take over a school which had been moved from near the Shambles Barracks to a disused barrack in Lombard Street. Brother Paul O’Connor and Brother Dawson were sent to Galway. Cash in hand was one shilling. Social conditions were very bad, but the Brothers went ahead and established the Monastery School, known as The Mon. Before the school had been a year in operation, the improvement in the youth of the city was so evident that a public meeting was held in the school to vote thanks to the teachers, “whose zeal, attention and excellent arrangements had produced such happy results”.
Since then the Patrician Brothers have been a major factor in the education of the youth of Galway. In the early days, it was a national school. In 1849/50, the Model School opened on Newcastle Road to give a Protestant education to an intermediate level. This antagonised the Catholic Bishop, Dr McEvilly, who requested the Brothers to open a secondary school “to provide the educational wants of the boys of the middle classes in Galway” and so, on December 8, 1862, the Seminary of St Joseph was founded, a school to be forever known as “The Bish” because of its association with the Bishop.
The school has educated thousands of young Galwegians ever since. On Friday, June 5, the classes of 1965 and 1966 will get a chance to relive their days there. They are organising a 60-year reunion with an informal champagne reception in the school, a trip down memory lane and a session in Taylor’s Bar. The organisers are trying to reach as many graduates as they can, so if you know anyone in these photographs who may not know of this reunion, could you please ask them to contact Derek Cahalan at 086 6097 970. He can also be reached at [email protected].
The 1965 class
Back row: John Gilhooly, Frank Ryan, Robert Jackson, Tony Lillis, Patrick Phelan. Row 5: James Lonergan, Tony Cunningham, Pat Grant, Dominic Cooke, Lorcan Blake, John O’Brien, John Duggan, Seamus Brennan, Brian Parke, Seán Conway, Michael Flanagan. Row 4: Peter Holland, Robert Scott, PJ Dobbin, James Parslow, Patrick Irwin, Jack Clancy, Peadar Kelly, Patrick Cashman, Gerry McCarthy. Row 3: Jimmy O’Flynn, John Walshe, Noel Conneely, Jack Keane, Declan McDonald, Aidan Heffernan, Eamonn Haverty, Frank Murphy, Noel Burke, Seán Lavelle. Row 2: Kevin Moynihan, Tommy Rea, Michael Cummins, Seamus Bree, Seán O’Toole, Johnny Grant, John Ryan, Timothy Griffin, Michael Kavanagh, Michael Kearney. In front are Martin Fahy, Brendan Keane, Michael Carr, Hugh Meehan, Richard Griffin, Patrick Okasili, Ronnie Coyne, Robert Dolan, Murt Lowry and Conor Walsh.
The 1966 class
Front row: Noel Murphy, Edward Keane, John Costelloe, Frank Cunningham, Kevin Fahy, Austin Molloy, Kevin O’Brien, Jim Byrne, Tony Glynn. Second row: PJ Dobbin, Frank Mulligan, Tom Burke, Tom Walsh, Seán Naughton, Brendan O’Leary, James Smith, Francis Barrett, Bernard Doyle, Eugene McDonagh, Dermot O’Neill. Third Row: Carl Hession, Martin O’Flaherty, Patrick Walshe, John Beatty, Aidan O’Shea, Garry O’Lochlainn, Leslie Burke, Thomas Cussen, Owen Higgins. Fourth row: Patrick Clancy, Noel Walshe, Anthony Forde, Michael Brennan, G Mannion, Jimmy McDonagh, Rory Kearns, John Glynn. Back row: Michael Flaherty, Conor Lally, Johnny Ryan, Martin Nolan, John Somers, Brian Flannery, Raymond Dooley, Seán B Glynn, Michael Conroy, Pat Silke, Seán Moynihan.
