Page 38 - The Gonzaga Record 1986
P. 38
school, there were a number of more formidable sportsmen. One was
Barry Bresnihan, a future rugby international, although I have to say my
recollection of him is as a very personable boy rather than an outstanding
player. Peter Sutherland was some years younger. I have an abiding image
of him standing four-square covered in mud. That one should remember
him over and above others four or five years down the school may be
testimony to the powerful presence that has served him so well. He cert-
ainly always fought for the ball in the scrum.
A strange feature of sport at Gonzaga was that we never played against
'protestant' schools. It is tempting to conclude that this was a legacy of
Fr O'Conor's own upbringing in a home where his father proclaimed that
no protestant legs would sit under the table. But I have to say that I never
heard any bigoted sentiments escape his lips. However, the general
climate in Gonzaga in my day was far from ecumenical. Phrases such as
'error has no rights' echo in my ears down the years. I also recall our
being urged to buy our school books in Catholic bookshops. No chance
was lost to debunk Trinity College and The Irish Times. Of course the
fifties was the high point of Catholic triumphalism in Ireland. I remem-
ber recoiling from it. My father was also shocked when I told him. He
had been taught by the Jesuits in Belvedere that bigotry was no part of
firm adherence to one's own faith.
The Gonzaga of my day had a strong sense of being a rather special
school. There may have been some element of social elitism in this. But
the principal elitism was intellecutal. There was a sense of pioneering a
higher standard of secondary school education in Ireland. This was rein-
forced in the following years with the academic successes of the Gonzaga
Past. Certainly there were elements in the education which were superior.
There were small classes and some exceptional teachers. But looking
back, I am sceptical of whether the special course of studies and the sixth
year made all that much difference. When we left we certainly had not
reached the standard of the boys from the major English schools to
whom I gave tutorials at Cambridge some years later. The absence of
science, which seemed at times almost to be paraded as a virtue, was a
serious shortcoming. The arrangements for teaching modern languages
were poor. Apart from the fortnight's Irish course in Connemara, no
language holidays or exchanges were arranged. Much of the academic
excellence of the school was due to the high quality of the intake and this
in turn was a function of the intellectual homes from which most of the
pupils came. I have often wondered if this bred complacency and took
the edge off the original aim of attaining higher standards of education
than were ayailable in other Catholic secondary schools. I also had the
impression that there were people in the Provence who resented the
pretensions of Gonzaga and were anxious to indulge in the good old Irish
occupation of cutting the place down to size.
Looking back on my years in Gonzaga, what I value most is not so
much the standard of education as the personal example of those who
36
Barry Bresnihan, a future rugby international, although I have to say my
recollection of him is as a very personable boy rather than an outstanding
player. Peter Sutherland was some years younger. I have an abiding image
of him standing four-square covered in mud. That one should remember
him over and above others four or five years down the school may be
testimony to the powerful presence that has served him so well. He cert-
ainly always fought for the ball in the scrum.
A strange feature of sport at Gonzaga was that we never played against
'protestant' schools. It is tempting to conclude that this was a legacy of
Fr O'Conor's own upbringing in a home where his father proclaimed that
no protestant legs would sit under the table. But I have to say that I never
heard any bigoted sentiments escape his lips. However, the general
climate in Gonzaga in my day was far from ecumenical. Phrases such as
'error has no rights' echo in my ears down the years. I also recall our
being urged to buy our school books in Catholic bookshops. No chance
was lost to debunk Trinity College and The Irish Times. Of course the
fifties was the high point of Catholic triumphalism in Ireland. I remem-
ber recoiling from it. My father was also shocked when I told him. He
had been taught by the Jesuits in Belvedere that bigotry was no part of
firm adherence to one's own faith.
The Gonzaga of my day had a strong sense of being a rather special
school. There may have been some element of social elitism in this. But
the principal elitism was intellecutal. There was a sense of pioneering a
higher standard of secondary school education in Ireland. This was rein-
forced in the following years with the academic successes of the Gonzaga
Past. Certainly there were elements in the education which were superior.
There were small classes and some exceptional teachers. But looking
back, I am sceptical of whether the special course of studies and the sixth
year made all that much difference. When we left we certainly had not
reached the standard of the boys from the major English schools to
whom I gave tutorials at Cambridge some years later. The absence of
science, which seemed at times almost to be paraded as a virtue, was a
serious shortcoming. The arrangements for teaching modern languages
were poor. Apart from the fortnight's Irish course in Connemara, no
language holidays or exchanges were arranged. Much of the academic
excellence of the school was due to the high quality of the intake and this
in turn was a function of the intellectual homes from which most of the
pupils came. I have often wondered if this bred complacency and took
the edge off the original aim of attaining higher standards of education
than were ayailable in other Catholic secondary schools. I also had the
impression that there were people in the Provence who resented the
pretensions of Gonzaga and were anxious to indulge in the good old Irish
occupation of cutting the place down to size.
Looking back on my years in Gonzaga, what I value most is not so
much the standard of education as the personal example of those who
36
