Page 21 - The Gonzaga Record 1987
P. 21
Fr Maher who taught us Greek for a short while, was mainly noted for
two things; the length of time which he took to say Mass and his stare,
which he would use to embarrass those who would mis-behave or show
a less than adequate apprecition of the subject in hand (a la Fr Brennan).
Fr Laheen believed in admisistering his own punishment; his claim to
fame, apart from being a good Latin teacher, was that he could part a
fellow's hair by throwing a piece of chalk from twenty yards. He was also
keenly interested in sport. Fr Harry Lawlor loved to play soccer with the
lads, I think everyone agreed that he abused his position on the field
greatly. As well as being a team member, he was also the referee and was
generally regarded as the dirtiest player in the school.
The school, being so small, was like a big family and the more formal
occasions such as the school photograph always had very funny
moments. The photographer was a Mr Walsh, whose patience was always
tried to the very limit. The format for the proceedings was quite simple;
the benches on which the pupils would stand, were tiered, the tallest boy
going to the back row and the smallest to the front row. The Community
and Lay Teachers would sit on one line of chairs, in front of the boys.
The Community would appear only when the pupils were all in place;
when they came on the scene the boys would begin to sing "When the
Saints go Marching In"; this always caused a mixture of amusement and
embarrassment. When the singing had stopped, Mr Walsh woud go to his
~amera, which had a large black cloth attached to it, he would put the
cloth over his head and begin to get things focussed, he would then hold
up some other attachment to indicate the fact that he was ready to take
the photograph. It was at this stage that the hilarity would start; some
fellow in the middle row would duck out of sight, Mr Walsh would
emerge from under his black cloth and roar in his fairly squeaky voice,
he would then threaten and he would reassume his position. Needless to
say another distraction would follow and usually after his third or fourth
effort he would appeal to Fr White for assistance. Following an
appropriate threat, things would usually quieten down and some weeks
later the photograph would appear on the school notice board.
Fr Kavanagh, was a superb character with a fabulous sense of humour
and thorough love for French, music and cricket. I will always remember
him with great affection for his kindness to me both in French class and
on the cricket pitch. My contribution to his music appreciation class was
not significant. One whose contribution to his class was even less than
mine was David Fassbender; Fassie was a superb character, good
academically, a good cricket player and a good tennis player but most of
all he had a great sense of humour. In one particular music appreciation
class, Fassie so provoked Fr Kananagh that the latter was forced to give
him a wallop; in typical fashion Fassie fell to the floor, groaning and pro-
ceeded to roll around claiming that his arm was broken. Fr Kavanagh
tried to console him, but he was inconsolable, and so we were given a free
half hour.
19
two things; the length of time which he took to say Mass and his stare,
which he would use to embarrass those who would mis-behave or show
a less than adequate apprecition of the subject in hand (a la Fr Brennan).
Fr Laheen believed in admisistering his own punishment; his claim to
fame, apart from being a good Latin teacher, was that he could part a
fellow's hair by throwing a piece of chalk from twenty yards. He was also
keenly interested in sport. Fr Harry Lawlor loved to play soccer with the
lads, I think everyone agreed that he abused his position on the field
greatly. As well as being a team member, he was also the referee and was
generally regarded as the dirtiest player in the school.
The school, being so small, was like a big family and the more formal
occasions such as the school photograph always had very funny
moments. The photographer was a Mr Walsh, whose patience was always
tried to the very limit. The format for the proceedings was quite simple;
the benches on which the pupils would stand, were tiered, the tallest boy
going to the back row and the smallest to the front row. The Community
and Lay Teachers would sit on one line of chairs, in front of the boys.
The Community would appear only when the pupils were all in place;
when they came on the scene the boys would begin to sing "When the
Saints go Marching In"; this always caused a mixture of amusement and
embarrassment. When the singing had stopped, Mr Walsh woud go to his
~amera, which had a large black cloth attached to it, he would put the
cloth over his head and begin to get things focussed, he would then hold
up some other attachment to indicate the fact that he was ready to take
the photograph. It was at this stage that the hilarity would start; some
fellow in the middle row would duck out of sight, Mr Walsh would
emerge from under his black cloth and roar in his fairly squeaky voice,
he would then threaten and he would reassume his position. Needless to
say another distraction would follow and usually after his third or fourth
effort he would appeal to Fr White for assistance. Following an
appropriate threat, things would usually quieten down and some weeks
later the photograph would appear on the school notice board.
Fr Kavanagh, was a superb character with a fabulous sense of humour
and thorough love for French, music and cricket. I will always remember
him with great affection for his kindness to me both in French class and
on the cricket pitch. My contribution to his music appreciation class was
not significant. One whose contribution to his class was even less than
mine was David Fassbender; Fassie was a superb character, good
academically, a good cricket player and a good tennis player but most of
all he had a great sense of humour. In one particular music appreciation
class, Fassie so provoked Fr Kananagh that the latter was forced to give
him a wallop; in typical fashion Fassie fell to the floor, groaning and pro-
ceeded to roll around claiming that his arm was broken. Fr Kavanagh
tried to console him, but he was inconsolable, and so we were given a free
half hour.
19
