Page 49 - Gonzaga at 60
P. 49
going out into the night in search of food during the war-ime bombing of Düsseldorf never to The O’Conor Don
return. I don’t think we grasped the tragedy of his early life, so much at odds with the comfort
and security in which we had been reared. He let us in 1956 to join the merchant navy. He
gave me some of his books and I recorded my feeling of sadness in a diary I kept. He setled in
England. Happily we were reunited when he atended our forty year reunion in 1998, ater which
he setled in Castletown, Laois for the last ten years of his life. Another boy who let early was
Alberta (Berie) Milalores de Toledo, the son of the Spanish ambassador. He and his brother
evoked some mirth when they told us they were grandees of Spain and, as such, did not have to
remove their hats in the presence of the King.
Fr O’Conor, The O’Conor Don, known to the boys as Charlie, presided over it all – indeed
in polite Dublin Society, Gonzaga was oten called ‘Father O’Conor’s school.’ He chose the coat
of arms, which included the Cross of Cong associated with his family as well as insignias of the
Gonazga dynasty; the moto Semper et Ubique Fidelis was that of the exiled Irish Brigades of old.
How far his appointment was designed to lend a suitable social tone, as was widely assumed,
I do not know. What I do remember is that he never spared himself. He was moving around
the grounds as we arrived in the morning; he supervised the changing rooms and the daily
lunch, which was a snack brought by the boys; he taught religious knowledge (with some history
thrown in) and interviewed each boy individually at least once a year. All the term reports sent
to the parents were in his elegant handwriing. He was a most meiculous man. However, he was
return. I don’t think we grasped the tragedy of his early life, so much at odds with the comfort
and security in which we had been reared. He let us in 1956 to join the merchant navy. He
gave me some of his books and I recorded my feeling of sadness in a diary I kept. He setled in
England. Happily we were reunited when he atended our forty year reunion in 1998, ater which
he setled in Castletown, Laois for the last ten years of his life. Another boy who let early was
Alberta (Berie) Milalores de Toledo, the son of the Spanish ambassador. He and his brother
evoked some mirth when they told us they were grandees of Spain and, as such, did not have to
remove their hats in the presence of the King.
Fr O’Conor, The O’Conor Don, known to the boys as Charlie, presided over it all – indeed
in polite Dublin Society, Gonzaga was oten called ‘Father O’Conor’s school.’ He chose the coat
of arms, which included the Cross of Cong associated with his family as well as insignias of the
Gonazga dynasty; the moto Semper et Ubique Fidelis was that of the exiled Irish Brigades of old.
How far his appointment was designed to lend a suitable social tone, as was widely assumed,
I do not know. What I do remember is that he never spared himself. He was moving around
the grounds as we arrived in the morning; he supervised the changing rooms and the daily
lunch, which was a snack brought by the boys; he taught religious knowledge (with some history
thrown in) and interviewed each boy individually at least once a year. All the term reports sent
to the parents were in his elegant handwriing. He was a most meiculous man. However, he was
