Transition Vamp 1975-1976 - O'Levels

Photo: Courtesy Jeff Pioquinto SJ

I’m sitting in the Mullingar Park Hotel, it’s the 30th October 2017, we are at our son Daniel’s Clongowes graduation ball. Chris Lumb the Headmaster is speaking “You are a fine group of young men who have spent 6 years with us in Clongowes, whatever happens in your life, please remember that although you have left Clongowes, it will never leave you”. Profound, his words echo and make an impression on an old Clongownian who is at that point 39 years out.

Its’ September 1975, my brothers and I pull up at the Castle, another year starts, I am now in “O Levels”, a new experiment, this is the second year that “O-Levels” is being run in Clongowes. A number of our colleagues who started in Rudiments with us, skip the year, we are saying good-bye to John Carey, Paul Cuddihy, Eoin Halpin, Brendan Rumley, Daniel O’Connell, Tony Egan amongst others. We become a type of hybrid year as next year we will be joined by students who skip O-Levels. Does the experiment work, only time will tell? The merging of the years – it has its’ plusses and minuses. “O-Levels” is deemed to be part of “Higher Line” – lots of additional privileges, particularly late leave for all Senior Cup Matches and Internationals. The dreadful responsibility of more state exams, except these are English State exams “O-Levels”, which the Jesuits in their wisdom believe will enhance our status particularly if we are going overseas for employment in the future.

Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell is number 1 in the singles chart as we arrive back in September. I didn’t know it at the time but I personally preferred Country music to rock and roll. David Bowie with Fame takes over the number 1 slot in October. Liverpool retain the first division title and win the European Cup – what a season. I can’t recall any Liverpool fans amongst us, which is surprising, in that among current Irish kids Liverpool vie with Manchester United as the most supported club. United once again break my heart, we lose the F A Cup Final to 2nd Division Southampton in the 83rd minute to a goal by Bobby Stokes and only finish 3rd in the League. Most of the above games are watched together in our wreck room on a black and white TV.

Our “O-Level” year was the last year of corporal punishment, next year a changing of the guard from Jake Brennan SJ and Paddy Crowe SJ, to Phil Fogarty SJ and Michael Sheil SJ would herald in a new era in the school. I can’t remember any of my colleagues or myself receiving any “pandy-bat” retribution in “O-Levels”. Perhaps we had matured to the point where a strong word of reprimand from our Teachers/Jesuits was sufficient to quell any teenage rebellious thought. There was one memorable incident when Alan Hoban had a “strong disagreement” with Poetry prefect Chris Murphy SJ, thankfully both stood back from the brink, it was more “handbags at dawn”, but perhaps Jesuit discipline was ebbing.

Our new prefect is a Jesuit scholastic David Coghlan, nicknamed “Joe Bugner” (aka British Heavyweight boxer) due to an unfortunate nasal collision at some point in his life. Mr Coghlan was pleasant to deal with and looking back I’m sure it was difficult trying to placate 60 plus teenagers. As well as keeping discipline in check. I had the surreal experience of Mocky Sheil reading out the internal report that Coghlan had written about me, when I got into a bit of trouble in Poetry, I was quite startled to find out “Fitzpatrick is a bit of a maverick, very personable and easy enough to deal with, however there is a bit of a Mafia streak in him………..”. Now as the Dad of 6, I can understand the difficulties of the job that Mr Coghlan, the Teachers and Jesuits had of policing us.

As a year we all seemed to get on better, we are now 4 years together and I suppose we had learned how to get along. Claims were pretty much non-existent, everyone had their space, there were the “Jocks”, “Smokers”, “Intellectuals”, “Debaters”, “Canoeists” and “Loners”. One minor altercation in the dorms resulted from a banana bed that a few of us made on a number of unsuspecting classmates including one of the Rugby Props – Gucks took the hit, and we all felt guilty. We pretty much knew where we stood in the CWC microcosm of the world. Were we all institutionalized at this point, possibly – the system worked reasonably well.

 

Michael Sheil

Academic Life continues pretty much as normal. Fr Johnny Looby SJ our English Master keeps a strong level of fear going in class, he questions us on our poetry recall, choosing one of the three rows of desks to recite the poems which he has proscribed. I learn to gamble, 3-1 the odds are in my favour, so I don’t spend too much time learning poetry. There is always the “second method”, where when your turn comes you confess that you didn’t learn it off and must learn the poetry for the next class when you repeat it to Fr Looby personally prior to the class. On one occasion I take the second method – and find that the extra pressure of repeating the poem before class is severe and not worth gambling with……..Johnny Looby’s 2nd method has certain similarities with the TV Game Show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” life-lines (“phone a friend”, “take away the 2 wrong answers”)………..perhaps English class did prepare me for life after CWC.

John Looby

Our esteemed editor was tasked with looking after home-work, a role whereby he would collect our English copies, bring them to the Serpentine Gallery for collection, reading and correction by J Looby SJ. Most of the time the mark was either G or VG being good or very good, occasionally one would receive “excellent” which was deemed a prize worth having, and Rossa would congratulate you as he returned your copy.

Recently in May 2017, at Fr John Sullivan’s Beatification ceremony I met Fr John Looby and bought his excellent book, “Fr John – A Man sent by God”. I requested him to sign “excellent” for one last time, on my copy…………nostalgia is a wonderful thing.

French class carried on pretty much except I am moved from Ray Lawlor’s class. I miss Ray Lawlor SJ, teaching us “French through music”, it was one of my favourite classes which didn’t carry the level of fear that Chemistry/English did, nor was it boring such as Maths. I did have great sympathy for our maths’ teacher Benny Coghlan SJ, he could barely get any response from our O-Levels class of the “non-interested” for the most part “pass maths’ students who needed “Trigonometry, Formulas or Fractions like a hole in the head”. I had known early on in the CWC pass maths classes in rudiments that maths was clearly my weak spot! 

While Chemistry under Ben Sherry, continued to be run on Machiavellian lines of “the bond of fear is greater than the bond of love” – Ben did make class interesting and often told stories of “past pupils who wrote to him when the problems of life got the better of them”. I recall in particular one story of a guy who lost his business and was at his wits’ end, but who recovered through a combination of prayer, hard work and hope………..we were prepared for all eventualities in life. 

Chemistry surprisingly provided me with my best Leaving cert/matric results yielding the necessary points for Law in UCD, I owe that to Ben’s class! Now as my son George has just this year completed his Transition Year in CWC with work experience trips to France and the UK, time in a Solicitor’s office, experience with a barrister in the Four Courts and a week with Fr Peter McVerry SJ – our O-Level’s transition year was not comparable with his, however I believe we were prepared for life with best practices at that time in 1975/6.

One of the loves of my life is horse-racing and Ned Carroll one of the Latin Masters started a “racing club”. The President of the Club is one of the Rhetoric Boys “Peter Taaffe”, a son of the jockey of the greatest horse in Steeple Chasing History “Arkle”. We would go when possible to the local race-courses “Naas, Punchestown, The Curragh”.

On a trip to Punchestown, Morgan Mooney and myself had lost all our bets and were hoping to make it home for tea as we were starving. We hitch hiked and a kindly racegoer took pity on us, brought us for a meal in the Gem in Naas and then for a couple of pints. It was my first pint of Guinness, which I quickly developed a fondness for. Morgan and myself had a problem now, we had to get back in to the Big Study prior to 8pm so that it was not noticed that we had bunked off to the races. At about 7.20pm with a couple of pints on board we each had an excuse for the Study Master – one improvised and exclaimed that we had been at an away tennis match!

1976 was a strong year for CWC rugby, the Team captained by the late Tim “Mush” Cronin” lined out in the semi-final of the SCT at Lansdowne Road with Barry Walker, Eoin Halpin and Alan Hoban starring. The Clongowes Team featured Irish International Paul McCormack and Leinster Inter-pro Jimmy Whelan. Castleknock won the day but Clongowes were back as a potential rugby force in Leinster. An emotional and disappointed Captain Cronin in an impassioned speech in the Gallery forecast that the holy grail of an SCT victory would come now that Clongowes had implemented “O-Levels” we were competing on an even pitch with the Dublin schools of Blackrock etc” …………..how right he was – in forecasting 1978’s success! We had a good super-thirds team with Fr Liam O’Connell proclaiming that we had the 2 fastest wingers in Leinster in John Hickie and Gerry Healy.

Dingle had become a force for good, in his own mind at least in attending, as our year representative the “Catering Committee” presided over by Chef Dagger. I couldn’t quite understand the advantage for Dingle until he explained that “knowing the chef and guiding the menus” was useful. I attended on a couple of occasions with him and found that once the catering staff got to know you, your helpings did improve and getting seconds was easier. A life lesson, particularly for the branch of life I qualified in, law…. knowing your Judge was definitely an advantage!

Our college librarians feature Cormac Lucey one of our year’s top academics, ably assisted by future IFSC senior civil servant Martin Moloney, David Nunes and future Scottish GP Morgan Flynn. Members of the Poetry and O-Levels quiz include Martin Coyne who is sporting an Afro in the picture in the Clongownian, Paddy Ryan and Cormac. The Phoenix Revival Debating Society picture features Con Clifford, D J Hegarty, the late Joe Prendiville and the late Brendan Rumley both of whom continue the debate in heaven.

I note also from this year’s Clongownian that we win the annual Triangular contest between the Cadets, Newbridge and CWC. Cathal Ryan and Eoin Halpin make the senior cricket team.

David Coghlan

Our fourth year together deepened the bond between us, we share many memories, many days were dull and routine, some days were magical, as we travelled together, along the teenage years road toward adulthood. No doubt our parents and elders indoctrinated us with the usual cliché “School days are the best days of your life”, we didn’t know it then and probably are just about appreciating it now. Our school of hard knocks provided us with skills and stamina that still serve us today. Yes Mr Lumb – Clongowes never left us.

Till next month – continuing the theme, born in 1960 and made in CWC.

Written by Francis Fitzpatrick CWC 1972-1978 @fitzlaws

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the Clongowes 1978 committee or other groups or individuals.