Search Results for 'Michael Parslow'

In the 1940s the seeds of great social change were sown in Ireland; Irish society began to “feel the full force of the cold blast of social change”. In 1940s Ireland, the State gave no assistance to the out-of-school education of young people. The need to provide social and recreational activities for young people was enormous. The Jesuit Community responded to this need by setting up Our Lady’s Boys Club in 1941, which began to provide organised recreational activities to the youth of Shantalla, Bohermore, Claddagh and ‘the West’.

When President Michael D Higgins, officially opened the new Our Lady’s Boys’ Club clubhouse in 2015, he said: “Like so many successful community initiatives, OLBC was founded and built on vision, a spirit of participation and a will to make a genuine and positive difference to the community. When Fr Leonard Shiel SJ established a club in 1940, I doubt that he realised just how enduring his vision would be. Today, OLBC is the longest running youth club in the country and has woven its way into the fabric of community life in Galway, welcoming members from many neighbourhoods including Shantalla, Westside, Ballinfoyle, Rahoon, Corrib Park, and Newcastle.