Page 22 - The Gonzaga Record 1990
P. 22
laced and so my life was saved . May I salute again the mothers who,
over the years, ferried me and the teams to our ass ignments, and provided
welcome sustenance. I salute, particularly, the Ensors, the Sheehans, the
Coul sons, th e Meaghers, the Bl akes, the O'Gradys, the Carneys, the
McDonaghs and , in more recent years, the Molloys and Smiths.
Where do I go from here? In the writings of Sir Ri chard Burton I came
across thi s sentence: " How strange are the tricks of memory, which, often
hazy as a dream about the most important events of a man's life, religiously
preserve the merest trifles". This sentiment now worries me and I begin
to wo nder if all I have so fa r written has n't verged too much on the tri vial.
But, unabl e to make a proper assessment and selection fro m the di so rdered
card-index that is my memory, I pu sh on regardl ess as before.
I' cl I i ke to write of the days when the boys came in at the crac k of dawn
to serve our Masses, when the rosary was said on bencl ed knees during
the morning break, when at least fo ur confessionals were in operati on
every Satu rday and three-day, enclosed retreats were annual events fo r
the top four classes. r'd li ke to hold fo rth on the events and circum stances
(mainly outside our control) that virtuall y sabotaged our earliest hi gh
aspirations in ma tters academic - but Fr Lee has already covered this
aspect of Gonzaga hi story. I'd like to think back on our Coll ege
expeditions, especiall y th at first one to Greece when, in 1965, a small
party consisting of Fr Joe Veale, John Fitzpatrick, Joe Mathews,
Dominique O'Meara, Ray mond Whitaker and myself set off overl and on
an arduous journey eastwa rds . It was rough goin g-but what could you
expect on a ret urn train -ti cket between London and Athens that cost about
£24! We we re away fo r six weeks and visited Delphi , the Peloponnese,
Crete, Rhodes and My konos. I'd lik e to recall , too, being one of a party
of about six ty th at we nt on a skiin g holid ay in the Tyrol in January of
1969. This ven ture was led by Fr Paul Andrews (then Prefect of Studies),
and I shared a room in a chalet with Mr John Wil son . I'll never forget
the thri ll and ex hil arati on of hu rtling (well , perh aps that's too strong a
word!) down the nursery slopes fo r about ten days before I was required
to make a premature return with Tim Meagher and Frane,o is Eli et who
had su llcrcd broken legs.
But I mus t stop somewhere. So, I'll end with a few recoll ecti ons of
Gonzaga's Thespian record .
For many years now we have become accustomed to an annual pl ay
of high quality both in itself and in its produ cti on, and und er the very
competent direction of Mr Michael Beva n. Among these I li st Th e Lark
(J ean Anouilh), Captain Brasshound's Conve rsion (G.B.S.), Six
Charoctf>rs in Sn1rch qj' an Author (Lui gi Pirandell o), Murder in th e
Cat!Jf>dro/ Cf. S. Eliot), Ro11wm4j'and Juliet (Peter Ustinov), Si/as Marn er
(Gcorgc Eliot), a couple of Shakespearea n pl ays (A Midsummer 's Night's
Drf>O III and Rmnf>o and Juliet) and pl ays by Tom Stoppard . All the greatest
playwright s! The onl y comedy I can remember was called Hotel Paradise
(perhaps a li tt le over-bawdy for sc hool producti on!). We've al so come
20
over the years, ferried me and the teams to our ass ignments, and provided
welcome sustenance. I salute, particularly, the Ensors, the Sheehans, the
Coul sons, th e Meaghers, the Bl akes, the O'Gradys, the Carneys, the
McDonaghs and , in more recent years, the Molloys and Smiths.
Where do I go from here? In the writings of Sir Ri chard Burton I came
across thi s sentence: " How strange are the tricks of memory, which, often
hazy as a dream about the most important events of a man's life, religiously
preserve the merest trifles". This sentiment now worries me and I begin
to wo nder if all I have so fa r written has n't verged too much on the tri vial.
But, unabl e to make a proper assessment and selection fro m the di so rdered
card-index that is my memory, I pu sh on regardl ess as before.
I' cl I i ke to write of the days when the boys came in at the crac k of dawn
to serve our Masses, when the rosary was said on bencl ed knees during
the morning break, when at least fo ur confessionals were in operati on
every Satu rday and three-day, enclosed retreats were annual events fo r
the top four classes. r'd li ke to hold fo rth on the events and circum stances
(mainly outside our control) that virtuall y sabotaged our earliest hi gh
aspirations in ma tters academic - but Fr Lee has already covered this
aspect of Gonzaga hi story. I'd like to think back on our Coll ege
expeditions, especiall y th at first one to Greece when, in 1965, a small
party consisting of Fr Joe Veale, John Fitzpatrick, Joe Mathews,
Dominique O'Meara, Ray mond Whitaker and myself set off overl and on
an arduous journey eastwa rds . It was rough goin g-but what could you
expect on a ret urn train -ti cket between London and Athens that cost about
£24! We we re away fo r six weeks and visited Delphi , the Peloponnese,
Crete, Rhodes and My konos. I'd lik e to recall , too, being one of a party
of about six ty th at we nt on a skiin g holid ay in the Tyrol in January of
1969. This ven ture was led by Fr Paul Andrews (then Prefect of Studies),
and I shared a room in a chalet with Mr John Wil son . I'll never forget
the thri ll and ex hil arati on of hu rtling (well , perh aps that's too strong a
word!) down the nursery slopes fo r about ten days before I was required
to make a premature return with Tim Meagher and Frane,o is Eli et who
had su llcrcd broken legs.
But I mus t stop somewhere. So, I'll end with a few recoll ecti ons of
Gonzaga's Thespian record .
For many years now we have become accustomed to an annual pl ay
of high quality both in itself and in its produ cti on, and und er the very
competent direction of Mr Michael Beva n. Among these I li st Th e Lark
(J ean Anouilh), Captain Brasshound's Conve rsion (G.B.S.), Six
Charoctf>rs in Sn1rch qj' an Author (Lui gi Pirandell o), Murder in th e
Cat!Jf>dro/ Cf. S. Eliot), Ro11wm4j'and Juliet (Peter Ustinov), Si/as Marn er
(Gcorgc Eliot), a couple of Shakespearea n pl ays (A Midsummer 's Night's
Drf>O III and Rmnf>o and Juliet) and pl ays by Tom Stoppard . All the greatest
playwright s! The onl y comedy I can remember was called Hotel Paradise
(perhaps a li tt le over-bawdy for sc hool producti on!). We've al so come
20
