Page 79 - The Gonzaga Record 1988
P. 79
Fr Lee has written in his History of the Sixth Year experiment. Force
of circumstances would have compelled its abandonment in any event,
but irrespective of this, he makes it clear that it was not an unqualified
success. To speak for myself, it would be less than honest not to admit
that after the imperatives of the Matric., in Fifth Year, I succumbed, up
to a point, to the temptation to regard Sixth Year as a pause for rest
before taking the next step in life. Nonetheless, I threw myself into some
things, such as a 'thesis' on the industrial revolution for Fr Veale, and the
School play which he directed with Mr Darach Connolly - a mildly
abridged version of Henri Gheon's 'The Comedian: which concerned the
plight of the Christians in Rome at the time of the Emperor Diocletian.
And Fr Harry Lawlor's Honours Leaving Maths course proved a positive
advantage in my first year at U.C.D. The year was not without substantial
benefits in these and other respects but on balance I am not sure that in
the absence of major examination commitments, the interval before
going to University could not have been better spent. Evidently, a general
conclusion to this effect had been drawn by the teaching staff at Gonzaga
by the time the Sixth Year in its original form came to be abandoned.
There were few lay teachers in Gonzaga in its early period and I sat
at the feet of mainly Jesuit schoolmasters for ten years. Such an
experience inevitably left its mark, not least in the form of a lasti ng
respect for that Order and its members. I stand irreversibly in their debt.
Arthur Plunkett.
FRAMES FROM THE PAST
Memories piled rapidly as I agreed to Peter Sexton's request for this piece.
Leslie Webb strolling through the woods, fingering his cyclometer as he
marked up Colin Cowdrey's latest runs. Long tennis summers on the old
grass courts and hard five set matches with Brian Kirby. Heated
discussions with David Fassbender, Kevin Kenny, Eoin O'Buachalla,
Denis Quilligan and Brian Kirby at the Park Drive bicycle shed -
marked occasionally by interventions from one of Denis' sisters on his
behalf. Sheer physical exhilaration striding out from the dress ing rooms
with Suds for another game.
In wind and heavy rain a tense and competitive match with Crescent
on the back pitch after Christmas. Pleasure in showering down
afterwards. My mother and father on the touch-line ever present, ever
interested. Working out on Saturday at lunch time wh ich matches they
could attend, attempting to give each of us an equal share of their
attention. My sister Cathy finally overcoming her determined resistance
to football.
77
of circumstances would have compelled its abandonment in any event,
but irrespective of this, he makes it clear that it was not an unqualified
success. To speak for myself, it would be less than honest not to admit
that after the imperatives of the Matric., in Fifth Year, I succumbed, up
to a point, to the temptation to regard Sixth Year as a pause for rest
before taking the next step in life. Nonetheless, I threw myself into some
things, such as a 'thesis' on the industrial revolution for Fr Veale, and the
School play which he directed with Mr Darach Connolly - a mildly
abridged version of Henri Gheon's 'The Comedian: which concerned the
plight of the Christians in Rome at the time of the Emperor Diocletian.
And Fr Harry Lawlor's Honours Leaving Maths course proved a positive
advantage in my first year at U.C.D. The year was not without substantial
benefits in these and other respects but on balance I am not sure that in
the absence of major examination commitments, the interval before
going to University could not have been better spent. Evidently, a general
conclusion to this effect had been drawn by the teaching staff at Gonzaga
by the time the Sixth Year in its original form came to be abandoned.
There were few lay teachers in Gonzaga in its early period and I sat
at the feet of mainly Jesuit schoolmasters for ten years. Such an
experience inevitably left its mark, not least in the form of a lasti ng
respect for that Order and its members. I stand irreversibly in their debt.
Arthur Plunkett.
FRAMES FROM THE PAST
Memories piled rapidly as I agreed to Peter Sexton's request for this piece.
Leslie Webb strolling through the woods, fingering his cyclometer as he
marked up Colin Cowdrey's latest runs. Long tennis summers on the old
grass courts and hard five set matches with Brian Kirby. Heated
discussions with David Fassbender, Kevin Kenny, Eoin O'Buachalla,
Denis Quilligan and Brian Kirby at the Park Drive bicycle shed -
marked occasionally by interventions from one of Denis' sisters on his
behalf. Sheer physical exhilaration striding out from the dress ing rooms
with Suds for another game.
In wind and heavy rain a tense and competitive match with Crescent
on the back pitch after Christmas. Pleasure in showering down
afterwards. My mother and father on the touch-line ever present, ever
interested. Working out on Saturday at lunch time wh ich matches they
could attend, attempting to give each of us an equal share of their
attention. My sister Cathy finally overcoming her determined resistance
to football.
77
