Page 20 - The Gonzaga Record 1990
P. 20
'Classic s graduates can hold their own in the knowledge that their
discipline develops many of the qualities which employers are looking
for-intellectual rigour, communication skills, analytical ski ll s, the
ability to handle complex information and, above all, a breadth of
view which few others can provide.'
And an advertising agency is quoted as saying, less elegantly: 'Classics
graduates are probably better than any other discipline ... they think
the pants off issues.'
I rest my case, and I touch with pride the large bundle of postcards
that have been sent to me over the years from erstwhile students wandering
in the isles of Greece. They, too, have seen the Parthenon and Mycenae
and Santorini and Knossos.
I pass on now to the subject of games, and would preface my remarks
by saying that it wasn't always just rugby and cricket and tennis. Once
upon a time we had a croquet court of sorts close to the community house.
I still possess a snapshot of MacDara Woods about to belt a ball through
a hoop while his opponent, George Miley, waves an admonitory finger
and interested spectators are Frank Fennell and Cyril Forbes. Believe
it or not , the finalists of the Irish Croquet Championships at Carrickmines
in 1968 were both Old Gonzagians, David O'Connor (the winner) and
Leslie J. Webb, and among Ireland's best mallet-wielders of the time were
Myles McWeeney and David's brother, Benedict.
There was a notable era of table tennis when Fr Paddy O'Connell was
gamesmaster: in 1966 our senior and junior teams contested the semi-
finals of the Leinster Schools Competitions.
There is still plenty of swimming activity, but not with the style and
standards of the period when the late Fr John O'Leary, aided and abetted
by Si r John Galvin, ran the show. We held our first Gala at the lveagh
Baths in 1965, and these Galas continued for th e next six years or so .
We had teams competing in the Leinster Swimming Championships with
considerable success, and travelling regularly to Mungret, Clongowes,
Belvedere and Marian College for friendly engagements. We even had
a water polo team th at made th e Leinster semi -final s in 1966 , and won
a diving trophy about th e same time.
There is stil l go lf, but mainly on an extra-curricular basis. We still enter
a team for the Int er-School Competitions, but how many can remember
that in 1984, in Mullingar, we came away with the trophy?
Potted histories of our cricket and ru gby and tenni s have already
appeared in The Gonz.oRa Record. So I shall confine my self to a few
rnemones.
I have a photo dating back to the ea rly fifties that shows the front lawn
dotted wi th sma ll white fi gures - fiv e cricket divisions in action. In those
days it was hard to find qualified umpires among the sc hool staff (then
practically all .Jesuits), and th ere is a story-perhaps apocryphal - of
a ce rtain Jesuit sc hol as ti c who took seriously hi s instructions that to give
18
discipline develops many of the qualities which employers are looking
for-intellectual rigour, communication skills, analytical ski ll s, the
ability to handle complex information and, above all, a breadth of
view which few others can provide.'
And an advertising agency is quoted as saying, less elegantly: 'Classics
graduates are probably better than any other discipline ... they think
the pants off issues.'
I rest my case, and I touch with pride the large bundle of postcards
that have been sent to me over the years from erstwhile students wandering
in the isles of Greece. They, too, have seen the Parthenon and Mycenae
and Santorini and Knossos.
I pass on now to the subject of games, and would preface my remarks
by saying that it wasn't always just rugby and cricket and tennis. Once
upon a time we had a croquet court of sorts close to the community house.
I still possess a snapshot of MacDara Woods about to belt a ball through
a hoop while his opponent, George Miley, waves an admonitory finger
and interested spectators are Frank Fennell and Cyril Forbes. Believe
it or not , the finalists of the Irish Croquet Championships at Carrickmines
in 1968 were both Old Gonzagians, David O'Connor (the winner) and
Leslie J. Webb, and among Ireland's best mallet-wielders of the time were
Myles McWeeney and David's brother, Benedict.
There was a notable era of table tennis when Fr Paddy O'Connell was
gamesmaster: in 1966 our senior and junior teams contested the semi-
finals of the Leinster Schools Competitions.
There is still plenty of swimming activity, but not with the style and
standards of the period when the late Fr John O'Leary, aided and abetted
by Si r John Galvin, ran the show. We held our first Gala at the lveagh
Baths in 1965, and these Galas continued for th e next six years or so .
We had teams competing in the Leinster Swimming Championships with
considerable success, and travelling regularly to Mungret, Clongowes,
Belvedere and Marian College for friendly engagements. We even had
a water polo team th at made th e Leinster semi -final s in 1966 , and won
a diving trophy about th e same time.
There is stil l go lf, but mainly on an extra-curricular basis. We still enter
a team for the Int er-School Competitions, but how many can remember
that in 1984, in Mullingar, we came away with the trophy?
Potted histories of our cricket and ru gby and tenni s have already
appeared in The Gonz.oRa Record. So I shall confine my self to a few
rnemones.
I have a photo dating back to the ea rly fifties that shows the front lawn
dotted wi th sma ll white fi gures - fiv e cricket divisions in action. In those
days it was hard to find qualified umpires among the sc hool staff (then
practically all .Jesuits), and th ere is a story-perhaps apocryphal - of
a ce rtain Jesuit sc hol as ti c who took seriously hi s instructions that to give
18
