Page 57 - The Gonzaga Record 1987
P. 57
Mr Mulgrew's affable encouragement City, a massive 26 miles of uninhabited
was a help to all, though the close-up motorway.
all-day ecstatic smile of Clarabelle The infamous last day proved
became somewhat cloying. Staying worthy of its reputation, and the story
near Naas we had the 'luxury' of beds of the messenger who collapsed and
that night, but the balm of hurt minds died on arriving at Marathon was now
does little for blistered feet. becoming a frightening reality. The
Resolutely we set off on Tuesday example of Turlough Bolger - making
morning for Monasterevan, not the journey on crutches - incited us to
looking badly unlike in my impression action, or at least gave us the will to
of Napoleon's retreating troops. The continue. He showed the stuff of whi ch
generosity of our truck-drivers, how- great elephant-pushers are made!
ever, provides an excellent example of Somehow we all reached Limerick, and
Irish kindness. Some contributed every collected during rush-hour, raising our
day, and their donations were usually total to over £4000.
accompanied by words of encourage- This combined with the £5000 raised
ment, which often meant more to us in Dublin by the Boot-pushers made
than the money. The lack of disasters 1987 a great success for the Fifth Year.
was due to the splendid work of our We all "rested on the seventh day". Fr
committee and of Fr Brennan. In par- Brennan's worries were now over for
ticular John Heffernan was respons- another year; Clarebelle was back in
ible for the publicity we got from the the school hall, and the record books
media and deserves great credit. re-written. Our Easter break had been
Thanks to him the weary travellers well earned.
who arrived in Monasterevan were Elephant Pushers: N. Bennett, T.
e)(pected by many local people. Spend- Bolger, B. Cahill, E. Carney, N.
ing the night in a comfortable Carney, M. Doran, W. Hederman, 1.
children's school we recovered from Heffernan, M. Johnson, A. Lawlo r, K.
the effects of the first third of our Morris, B. O'Brien, C. O'Connor, D.
journey. Some of our members were O'Flaherty, T. O'Leary, D. Rooney, D.
by now showing remarkable resilience: Staveley, C. Twomey, (from S5 ); B.
it is rumoured that Chris O'Connor's Doherty, D. Kennedy, A. Maree, N.
verve only waned over breakfast as Mr O'Doherty, D. Rea, D. Reddy (from
O'Briain quipped "I dreamt I was S.5A).
eating a huge marshmallow last night Boot-Pushers: F. Colgan, N.
. . . . when I woke up, my pillow was Corrigan, 1. Healy, S. Hurley, K .
gone!" Laher, F. Moran, G. Rainer, C.
A 'short' walk of ten or twelve miles Ramsey, K. Sweeney, M. Comerford,
brought us to Portlaoise, where Killian N. Connor, T. Dawson, B. DonJ on, D.
Morris was soon seized by the largest Duggan, N. Hand, G. Lee, H.
Garda in the Town, not a title to be McGovern, 1. Newman, P. Quinlan, 1.
sniffed at. Clearly he had heard of Mr Skelly, B. Walsh .
Morris' reputation, as he had an army Altogether, between Elephant-
escort, just in case! Killian escaped, pushers, Boot-pushers, and sponsors,
however, to see his elephant reach we rai sed for Goal, Gorta, Simon, and
Roscrea and then Nenagh. Here we Anna Liffey the sum of over £13,000 .
were greeted by Mr O'Sullivan, and the It was an achieve ment to be proud of.
ubiquitous Fr Brennan. There now
remained the final trek to Limerick Brian O'Brien (S. 5)
55
was a help to all, though the close-up motorway.
all-day ecstatic smile of Clarabelle The infamous last day proved
became somewhat cloying. Staying worthy of its reputation, and the story
near Naas we had the 'luxury' of beds of the messenger who collapsed and
that night, but the balm of hurt minds died on arriving at Marathon was now
does little for blistered feet. becoming a frightening reality. The
Resolutely we set off on Tuesday example of Turlough Bolger - making
morning for Monasterevan, not the journey on crutches - incited us to
looking badly unlike in my impression action, or at least gave us the will to
of Napoleon's retreating troops. The continue. He showed the stuff of whi ch
generosity of our truck-drivers, how- great elephant-pushers are made!
ever, provides an excellent example of Somehow we all reached Limerick, and
Irish kindness. Some contributed every collected during rush-hour, raising our
day, and their donations were usually total to over £4000.
accompanied by words of encourage- This combined with the £5000 raised
ment, which often meant more to us in Dublin by the Boot-pushers made
than the money. The lack of disasters 1987 a great success for the Fifth Year.
was due to the splendid work of our We all "rested on the seventh day". Fr
committee and of Fr Brennan. In par- Brennan's worries were now over for
ticular John Heffernan was respons- another year; Clarebelle was back in
ible for the publicity we got from the the school hall, and the record books
media and deserves great credit. re-written. Our Easter break had been
Thanks to him the weary travellers well earned.
who arrived in Monasterevan were Elephant Pushers: N. Bennett, T.
e)(pected by many local people. Spend- Bolger, B. Cahill, E. Carney, N.
ing the night in a comfortable Carney, M. Doran, W. Hederman, 1.
children's school we recovered from Heffernan, M. Johnson, A. Lawlo r, K.
the effects of the first third of our Morris, B. O'Brien, C. O'Connor, D.
journey. Some of our members were O'Flaherty, T. O'Leary, D. Rooney, D.
by now showing remarkable resilience: Staveley, C. Twomey, (from S5 ); B.
it is rumoured that Chris O'Connor's Doherty, D. Kennedy, A. Maree, N.
verve only waned over breakfast as Mr O'Doherty, D. Rea, D. Reddy (from
O'Briain quipped "I dreamt I was S.5A).
eating a huge marshmallow last night Boot-Pushers: F. Colgan, N.
. . . . when I woke up, my pillow was Corrigan, 1. Healy, S. Hurley, K .
gone!" Laher, F. Moran, G. Rainer, C.
A 'short' walk of ten or twelve miles Ramsey, K. Sweeney, M. Comerford,
brought us to Portlaoise, where Killian N. Connor, T. Dawson, B. DonJ on, D.
Morris was soon seized by the largest Duggan, N. Hand, G. Lee, H.
Garda in the Town, not a title to be McGovern, 1. Newman, P. Quinlan, 1.
sniffed at. Clearly he had heard of Mr Skelly, B. Walsh .
Morris' reputation, as he had an army Altogether, between Elephant-
escort, just in case! Killian escaped, pushers, Boot-pushers, and sponsors,
however, to see his elephant reach we rai sed for Goal, Gorta, Simon, and
Roscrea and then Nenagh. Here we Anna Liffey the sum of over £13,000 .
were greeted by Mr O'Sullivan, and the It was an achieve ment to be proud of.
ubiquitous Fr Brennan. There now
remained the final trek to Limerick Brian O'Brien (S. 5)
55
