<span class="postTitle">Rockwell Senior Rugby Team</span> Tipperary Association Yearbook 1981/82, pp 37-39

Rockwell Senior Rugby Team

Tipperary Association Yearbook 1981/82, pp 37-39

Rockwell and rugby go together in the public mind. This is so despite the fact that cricket was once as strong in the college. Hurling has also made an impact: the first Harty Cup to be played in 1918 was won by Rockwell and it was captured on a number of occasions after that. Gaelic football has also had its place and become more prominent in recent years. Athletics have had a long and impressive history and the College of Science Cup was won so often that at times it seemed a college possession. Despite all these impressive achievements in other sporting areas rugby dominates in the public mind as well as within-the college grounds. This continues to be so after a decade that has seen few victories coming the way of Rockwell.

This domination of the game of rugby can be measured in many ways. The records for the year 1963-64 show that 70 games were played by the college in all grades against outside opposition. In the year 1959-60 Pat Leyden played twenty-six games, won fifteen, drew one, lost ten and had 252 points scored for and 200 against. In the year 1980-81 the Junior Cup team put in about one hundred and fifty hours practice between September and the first round. Andrew Butler, Matt O' Mahony and Jim Harrington played on Junior and Senior Cup teams for four consecutive years and never suffered a defeat. Between them they won twelve cup medals. The college has won the Munster Schools cup on twenty occasions. Between 1897 and 1981 sixteen past pupils of Rockwell have been capped for Ireland.

The Seniors

Of all the memories associated with Rockwell and rugby the most exciting surround the senior teams that represented Rockwell for years in the Munster Senior cup. These teams are remembered for stirring encounters against Garryowen and Cork Constitution and for great personalities like the Ryan brothers. These teams were made up of past pupils, professors and prefects and the odd student who had the size and strength of a man. Rockwell entered a team for the first time in the Munster Senior Cup in 1894 and played yearly until 1916. That year marked the end of an era. Fr. John Byrne became President in 1916 and cricket and rugby gave way to Gaelic football and hurling. Rockwell didn't re-enter the Senior Cup for another twelve years and played in it for a few years in the early thirties. During this long period they failed to have their name inscribed on the cup. There is no explanation for this failure. In contrast to this succession of defeats are the many victories of Garryowen, especially in the pre-war period. 

First Entry

Rockwell played in the first round of the Munster Senior Cup in 1894 and went out by a single score to Garryowen. "A notable event was the entry to the tourney of that plucky but unlucky club - Rockwell. They ran the redoubtable Limerick club to a single score - a performance suggestive of many a hard fight between the same clubs in succeeding seasons." Rockwell weren't long making an impact in the province. In the year 1896 the really noteworthy event of the year was the ending of Garryowen's long tenure of the cup. After a very exciting game Rockwell knocked them out by a single point. Rockwell were favourites for the final but were beaten unexpectedly by University College, Cork.

The 1897 season produced some stirring events. For the third time in succession Rockwell and Garryowen were drawn together. Unfortunately a very regrettable scene occurred at the Market's Field, the venue for the game. As Mick Ryan himself stated it: "On leaviing the field I received the full force of a desperate kick on the point of the hip. I fell to the ground but managed to seize my assailant by the leg and, on rising, I asked the Garryowen captain if he knew him. He admitted he did. I was carried to the dressing room in great pain and was in intense agony on the journey home." The conduct of the crowd all through the match was hostile to Rockwell and the referee. Insults poured in from the touchline and incitements to violence were frequent. After the match several members of the Rockwell team were assaulted and struck. Paddy Kavanagh received a violent blow on the back of the head. Another was struck in the eye and many kicked in the shins. Help came from the R.I.C. who escorted the players back to the hotel.

There was an investigation by the I.R.F.U. into the affair and the committee decided (1) no representative match be played in Limerick Market Fields until it was properly fenced, (2) the club on whose ground the match is played is responsible for the spectators behaviour and (3) in future any misconduct towards players or referee will be severely dealt with. It all sounds very familiar!

The Ryans

The mention of Mick Ryan brings up the story of the famous brothers, Mike and Jack Ryan. They were legends in their own lifetimes and the legend hasn't faded in the meantime. Mike was capped 17 times for Ireland between 1897 and 1904 and Jack 14 times over the same period. Mike was chosen in 1905 but refused to play because Jack wasn't picked. Mike didn't begin to play rugby until he was 24 years old and brother Jack was already playing. Both started off as backs but soon changed to the forwards. Both played on the Triple Crown team in 1899 when Ireland defeated England, Scotland and Wales for the first time. Press accounts of the Triple Crown matches gave prominence to the contribution of the Ryans. In every second line we find the same note. "Mike Ryan came through on a couple of occasions in grand style". "The Ryans put in a lot of work and were assisted by Ahern and McCoull". "Of the forwards Mike Ryan and Jack were far and away the best, the elder brother being always on the ball". "Mick Ryan's play was brilliant, especially in the second half, when he knocked the English backs about like nine pins. He was simply irresistible and the soft surface of the field bore a deep impression of many a Saxon's form that Mick laid low".

Mike and Jack Ryan

(Rockwell's Famous Internationals)

The Scottish Match

Against Scotland the well publicised incident happened: Mike Ryan slung the biggest Scottish man, McEwan, into the spectators. "He was playing a great game. Now, from our twenty-five he meant to get through, I saw him coming, teeth bared, jaw set, determination written all over him. Five yards from me he hurled himself for me. I got one arm well round him, swung around with him and let go; he sailed out into the crowd. There was a great hush for a moment in which you would have heard a pin drop. It was looked on as a prodigious feat of strength, but it was his own size and speed that helped me. He resumed the game nothing the worse".

Only five players played in all three matches - Louis Magee, James Sealy, Billy Byron, and the two Ryans. "Jack and I returned home. At the Racecourse Cross we were held up by all Rockwell. To a man they had turned out to welcome us. They took the horse from between the shafts and insisted on pulling us all the way to the college we loved, though our hands ached from all the fierce handclasps we received."

Jakes McCarthy, an outstanding sportswriter of the time, once described a famous try by Mike Ryan with the memorable phrase "crossing the line, his frame festooned by Saxons". The Ryans dined in Rockwell twice a week and played rugby with the boys. They were known for their gentleness and never hurt a student. Mike was particularly popular and Jack was the orator. Jack is remembered starting a speech in his good Tipperary accent: "There are moments in life . .." and the crowd applauding so much that he had to begin three times. Mike played for Bective at the time because a player could play for two teams in different provinces. Bective was one of a small number of Catholic clubs.

Last Game

Mike played his last game of rugby 1912 for a wager. He hadn't played for years: "Mr. O'Flaherty, Science Professor in Rockwell, laid me a wager that if I played in Rockwell I would not score. I took him on. Rockwell boys on the touchline made almost as much noise as all the spectators at an International. I had put on a good deal of avoirdupois and did not feel quite up to International form. I am afraid that the winning of the wager did not seem a possibility. However I kept going. About five minutes from the end my chance came. One of our centres cut through nicely. I think he could have got over on his own, but he elected to send to me. I took the pass somehow and attained the line. It was the most memorable and, I think, the most applauded score of my life, but nothing would induce me to accept another wager".

Withdrawl

The Ryans were the backbone of the Rockwell team. In the Munster Cup in 1898 Rockwell and Garryowen once more came together in the semi-final. Rockwell had a very fine team but they only succeeded in drawing and consequent on the dissatisfaction felt at the decision of the Cup Committee regarding the replay, Dr. Crehan, President of Rockwell, withdrew his team. It was an unfortunate debacle because Rockwell ought to have won the cup. In the following year they did beat Garryowen only to be defeated by D.C.C. Rockwell reached the final in 1901 but were beaten by Garryowen. Rockwell were regarded as the best team in 1902 but were beaten by Garryowen in a replay of the second round.

De Valera

One of the players on the 1904 team was Eamon de Valera, who spent the year 1904-05 as a teacher of mathematics at the college. He was known as "the lanky Spaniard" and was paid £25 for his year's work. He lived in the college. "With Jack Barrott he helped to form a three-quarter combination which helped Rockwell to the final of the Munster cup and earned for him a place in a Munster trial for the inter-provincial team. It is possible that he came closer to an Irish cap than was realised at the time. Ireland was looking for a full-back and de Valera was tried out of his usual place in that position. His opposite number later played full-back for Ireland for many years. But de Valera's great chance eluded him. A high kick came his way with the field spreadeagled. If he could have caught it he would almost certainly have scored a spectacular try. But it bounced off his chest and the opportunity did not return." Looking back later he realised that this was the first indication of defective eyesight. So after this he found difficulty reading and took to glasses, which he always wore subsequently.

A Walkover
 

In 1907 Rockwell got a walkover from Cork Constitution as a result of a row about a venue but were beaten by Garryowen in the final. The 1910 competition opened with two very hot and exciting struggles between Rockwell and Garryowen. The reply of the first round took place in Clonmel. Four hundred and seventy Garryowen supporters travelled by special train to the match. Rockwell crossed the line

once in the game. "Towards the close of the match, when Garryowen were unable to equalise and the match was lost, their supporters became aggressive in the epithets they started hurling at the referee . When the final whistle sounded a very unseemly scene took place. The referee was instantly surrounded by a number of persons who adopted a very menacing attitude towards Mr. O'Regan". He was saved by the intervention of some prominent persons. Later years and equal efforts failed to bring success to Rockwell.

After a lapse of twelve years when the team took part again in 1928 and for a few subsequent years after that victory continued to elude them. However, any history of the game in Munster must remember the name of Rockwell and the great brothers who made the name famous. Fr. Dan Murphy, at 91 , still alive with memories from those pre-war days sums it all up when he says: "Rugby filled our lives; rugby players were our heroes".

<span class="postTitle">Tom Duffy, Lorrha Veteran</span> Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1981, pp 82-83

Tom Duffy - Lorrha Veteran

Tipperary G.A.A. Yearbook 1981, pp 82-83

Tom Duffy

One of the few remaining members of the famous Tipperary team that toured America in 1926 is Tom Duffy of Lorrha. Tom is 86 years old since May 4 last and is still mentally and physically active. A favourite occupation of his during summer is sitting on a small tank at the end of the house with the gun on his knees, waiting for the occasional pigeon or crow. He follows the GAA games as avidly as ever and was in Thurles for the Tipperary-Cork match and for the Munster final. "It's not hurling at all now. You can't draw your breath or you're pulled. You can't knock a man down on the broad of his back anymore. These lady rules have ruined a man's game." According to Tom there is an awful shortage of skill. So many players today don't know how to rise the ball. "If you can't rise it the first time, hit it on the ground. There's a trade in rising a ball and, if you haven't got it, don't try it." Something else is necessary. "You need a head. Horgan's got a head. He's my kind of man, always knowing where the ball is going to be."

Hurling Career

Tom's career with Tipperary was from 1924-26. He would have been on in 1923 but he was serving time in jail. Altogether, he spent 18 months behind the wire. He was a member of the Fourth Battalion, Offaly Brigade. His prison time was spent in Birr Castle, Templemore, eight months in Maryborough and three months in the Curragh. He thought he would be released for the 1923 championship which Tipperary lost to Limerick. Tom was in great form at the time as he hurled every day in the Curragh. He believes that had he been there that day Tipperary would have won.

He got his chance in 1924. Tipperary beat Kerry in the frist round by double scores, 6-2 to 3-1. They overwhelmed Cork in the semi-final and beat Limerick in the Munster final by two points. Tipperary played Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final in November 1924. Galway had played Limerick in the 1923 All-Ireland, played two months previously. According to the press "Tipp's display was a poor contribution to the traditions of a historic county. They never had such a bad defence and Galway might have won by fifteen points to one." In fact they won 3-1 to 2-3. To add salt to Tipperary wounds Galway were beaten by Dublin in the final.

First Hurling

Tom was born in Graigue, Rathcabbin on 4 May, 1894. He was one of two boys and went to school to a Mr Cahill in Rathcabbin N.S. He played hurling and football in school and hurled his first senior match for Lorrha in Borrisokane against Toomevara at the age of 17. Hurling was much tougher in those days. The hurleys were better also. "A rounded boss was great for ground hurling. There's no balance in a hurley now. The weight isn't in the boss. It's more top heavy than boss heavy."

Tom's favourite position was right half-back though he did play wing-forward in 1925. He won two North Tipperary divisional championships with Lorrha in 1914 and 1924.

Injuries

I asked Tom did he ever get injured. "No. I never let anyone hit me." He did admit he got a belt on the left knee from Mooney of Cork and had to go off. "But I came back on later in the game." He suffers a slight pain in that knee in the winter. "Paddy Leahy hit me in the

eye in a trial in Nenagh. I was beating the socks off Paddy, especially in the second half with the wind. Off the ball he gave me a belt over the eye which necessitated five stitches. Ever after that day whenever I met Johnny Leahy he would say "I don't think Paddy struck you deliberately." "Ohl I used to say, maybe so, maybe so." This used to happen occasionally. Eventually, about two months before he died, I met Johnny in Thurles. "Do you know something, Tom. I think Paddy meant to get you that day in the trial." "Did it take you over forty years to find that out?" said I. And I walked out. Later he added. "But the Leahys were great lads to be with. And they never let me down. They used always come down for me."

Tom Duffy

All-Ireland

1925 was the high point of Tom Duffy's hurling career. Tipperary accounted for Kerry in the first round and had their toughest encounter in the semi-final against Cork, eventually winning by 5-3 to 5-1. The Munster final was easy against Waterford and they eliminated Antrim in the All-Ireland semi-final.

For the All-Ireland against Galway there was collective training for a fortnight at Mount St Joseph's, Roscrea. "1 trained at home. I couldn't afford to be away from here for two weeks. I used to hurl with someone in the evening or just puck the ball against the gable wall. Training isn't everything. If the stuff isn't in you no training will bring it out. I played with fellows who smelled a lot. But embrocation isn't enough. If you work hard and are young you don't need any training. In fact you should layoff the hurley for a week before a match. Put the hurl under the bed and when you get it in your hand you'd be mad for it."

All-Ireland day was September 6th. Tipperary won comfortably by 5-3 to 1-5. According to the report the following day in the 'Irish Indepentent' "Galway were outclassed in nearly all the strategy of hurling and the performances of the Tipp team were frequently bewildering in their brilliance." The band of the Artane Industrial School marched through the streets to the grounds about 2 o'clock and gave a display of physical drill. Thirty special trains brought 14,000 from the south and 10,000 from the west. Tipp supporters outshouted Galway which "was a testimony to the popularity of the Munster team but also to the immense proportion of the Tipperary players resident in Dublin." The Liam McCarthy cup was presented for the fifth time by Mr P. D. Breen, President of the GAA to Johnny Leahy, the Tipperary captain. The rest of the team was: Paddy Leahy, Arthur O'Donnell, Paddy Dwyer, Jack Power, Paddy Power, J. J. Hayes, Bill Ryan, Martin Mockler, Martin Kennedy, Stephen Hackett, Mick Darcy, Jack Darcy, Tom Duffy, Phil Cahill. Tom had a fine game scoring a total of 2-3.

American Tour

Tom had a finepuck of a ball. He scored a couple of goals against Clare in Nenagh and Tommie Daly reported to his local curate after the match: "I'll tell you the truth, Father, I never saw them." For Tom, Martin Kennedy, Phil Cahill and Stephen Hackett were outstanding players, the last "the best corner forward of them all. They were all good or we wouldn't have won anything at all" Of his opponents he reckons Bob McConkey to be the smartest man of the lot. And Dinny Barry Murphy was a 'grand hurler.'

The Tipperary team went to America in May 1926 on an eleven weeks' tour, during which they played six games, two in New York, one at each end of the tour, and one each in Boston, San Francisco, Buffalo and Chicago. They were victorious in all and attendances were big with 30,000 in New York and 15,000 in San Francisco. The aim of the tour was to popularise Irish games in the U.S. and to try to internationalise the game of hurling. Tom doesn't remember much about the games but recalls prohibition and the speakeasies. He remembers fun and games with Jim O'Meara on Coney Island and a mystery tunnel tour with Stephen Kenny. "We nearly died from the heat. I remember us sitting on the verandas with our mouths open panting like dogs. 'Twas too hot to put our coats on our shoulders."

Tour Book

Tom Kenny wrote an account of the tour and Tom Duffy features more often in it than any other member of the party. There are about twenty references to him. He was the life and the soul of the party. In one place the party plan to take over the ship. In the plan Duffy is to be Captain. In another place "the wit and humour of most of them, especially Duffy, is most enjoyable." The entry for 7 June reads: "Tom Duffy is singing that song 'The next I met was a fairhaired lady, standing at a cottage door'." And on 9 June there is a discussion between Jack Power and Tom on the state of the country: "A crock of a country", says Duffy. "Sure we haven't seen a tram of hay, a ditch, nor a hedge since leaving the old country, but it is a fine country in other ways, Jack- they do everything the big way." Duffy thinks the Yanks made a mistake to set the country dry. "That hooch is rotten stuff, Jack, and if it continues as plentiful as it seems to be it will make mad men, blind men or dead men of all of them that drink it." On 19 June there is a party on the train and Duffy dances a jig. Later Paddy Leahy and Tom try to sing the last verse of the Star-Spangled Banner at the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. Later still we learn that five hurlers are found in Duffy's Chicago hotel room saying the rosary. On the ship home he is constantly playing his favourite deck game and won 'Chalking the Pig's Eye' in the ship's sports. Truly a man of many sides!

Final Appearances

Tom was among the reserves for Tipperary in the 1926 championship. There were three games against Cork that year, the first in the Athletic Grounds and the others in Thurles. Cork finally won with a score of 3-6 to 2-4. His final apprearances were in the early league games that winter. He got ill and was dropped for the final games and so missed getting a medal. "Only one point was scored off me during my years with Tipperary." He continued to hurl for Lorrha. "I was going on for forty before I retired." Later he acted as a club officer and was on the selection committee when Lorrha won the North championship in 1948. A farmer by occupation Tom got married in 1924 and had nine children, six boys and three girls. One of the boys was killed in England. He's interested in cards, especially '25. "I won four turkeys last year in Birr Golf Club. If we hadn't turkeys I wouldn't have won at all." He has always enjoyed everything sporting. A serious fowler all his life he remarks how "everyone tells you what they shot, not what they missed." He kept greyhounds in his time and had some successes. He smokes and takes a pint."I never drank to do myself harm." He goes out for the pint still. In fact Tom is amazingly active and interested in life and time sits very lightly on his stout shoulders.

<span class="postTitle">Ned Grogan</span> The Post, Nov 20th, 1980

Ned Grogan

The longest standing member of the Fianna Fail Party in Cashel is Ned Grogan. To date he has been a member for fifty-four years and, if his present foot problem comes right, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be a member for many more years. The reason is that Ned is perky and alert still and, although he claims not to remember as much as he’d like, he is very much alive and well. Although house bound as the result of a recent operation, he gets out for the occasional drink and is looking forward to the Old IRA Mass and get-together in Rosegreen on November 8th.

Born in New York

Ned was born Edmund Grogan in New York on May 13th, 1899. His father, from Shanballa, had emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 17 years, and his mother came from Tipperary Town. He went to school in New York but has no memories of those days. He had an older brother, William, who is still in the U.S. When his father died in 1908, Ned came home to be reared by his uncles, Jim and Jack, and Auntie Statia in Shanballa.

He went to school in Templenoe to teachers, Michael O’Grady and Mrs. Halpin. There were fifty to fifty-five children in the school, and no Irish was taught. Ned remembers a man who used to cycle out from Cashel in the evenings to teach them Irish: ‘We used to try to puncture his bicycle!’ revealing their lack of enthusiasm. Later in gaol Ned got another opportunity to learn the language but didn’t regard it as a priority.

There was plenty of cane in the school and Mr. O’Grady was indiscriminate in its use. His son, who had an impediment, exasperated the father so much one day that the latter threw a pointer at him. The pointer missed and hit Ned in the leg. He was out of school for a fortnight!

Among his companions were the Hennessy family, including the famous Dr. Jack. They played hurling and football. Ned was a bright student and did not finish until he was sixteen years of age. He and Phil Hennessy were the only boys to stay on until that age. Most left at 14 and many earlier.

Went to Work on the Farm

When he left school, he worked with his uncles on the farm in Shanballa. World War 1 began in 1914 and the Rising took place in 1916. He stayed on the farm. In the following year he joined the IRA in Cashel. He was then 18 years of age. He was sworn in by Seamus O’Neill, who was a teacher in Rockwell. O’Neill later lost his job as a teacher, joined the Guards, and became a superintendent. Other to join at the time with Ned were Paddy Hogan, Paddy Casey and Paddy Philips. They took the oath and promised to defend Ireland and help he get her freedom: ‘It was and impressive occasion. Membership involved attendance at meetings, which took place at the back of the school in Ladyswell (where the Little Chef is at present) and drilling. The membership increased to nearly fifty, but when times got hot, many dropped out.’ Starting as a Private, Ned rose through the ranks to Section Leader and, later, to Quartermaster of A Company, Cashel. Afterwards he rose to the rank of Vice-Commandant.

Cashel Politics

Cashel politics at the time were mostly British: ‘The National inspiration came from the country rather than the town.’ Socially there wasn’t much to do: ‘For a country fellow it was a question of cycling into the town and walking up and down in the hope of meeting a girl.’

Occasionally there was a play to go to. Ned had a bicycle with a back pedal brake - you pedalled backwards in order to stop it!

The first car in the town was in Hannigan’s garage in Ladyswell. There were two butcher’s stalls, Maher’s, where Walsh’s is at the present, and Skehan’s, where Buckley’s is now. Matt Hanley had a bakery at the back of Walsh’s butcher’s shop and Corby’s had one in Mikey Ryan’s. There was a cheese factory and a creamery, McCluskey’s on the Cahir Road. There were four hotels, Ryan’s, at the top of Main Street, which was burned down in 1958, Corcoran’s, where Jackie still lives, Grady’s, where the Capitol Bar now stands, and Stewart’s where Halla ana Feile is today. Dean Kinane was in charge of the Catholic flock, ably assisted by ‘black’ Fr. Ryan, because of the colour of his hair, and Fr. Condon. The military were garrisoned in Hogan Square and, for a while, occupied St. Patrick’s Hospital, which was then known as the County Home. There was a Fever Hospital where Our Lady’s Hospital stands today. It was an old, gaunt building of three storeys and John Feehan knocked it, when it was decided the build the present hospital. The streets were unpaved and made of broken stone. The town was lit by gaslights, and Fr. Condon followed thee hounds.

Golf Course

There was a nine-hole golf course on the Clonmel Road, where John English’s place is today. It had a membership of about fifty. At the time the land was leased from a man called Stapleton. Marshal William Hackett used to look after it. The District Inspector’s wife, Mrs. Norris, was a captain. Miss Corby played off a handicap of four. Pakie Purcell was one of the best golfers. Other players included bank manager, Mr. Doran, and a Mr. Spain, a Customs and Excise man, who used to live in John Street. John Feehan and Mick Davern, as well as some of the priests from Rockwell College, also played in it. The club house was burned down during the troubles in 1920-21 ‘because the I.R.A. wanted the timber in it.’ It put an end to golfing in Cashel.

War of Independence

The War of Independence had now arrived and I.R.A. activity increased. Ned’s duties as a member included raiding for arms: “Anyone whom we suspected of keeping guns in the house we raided.” There was also despatch riding to keep in contact with surrounding units. Ambushes had to be planned and barracks raided: “We used to do our drilling in Pierce McCan’s place in Dualla.” Among the ambushes carried out was one on Drangan Barracks in 1921. Paul Mulcahy was another who was very prominent during these times.

Finally, July 1921 brought the Truce: ‘We took over the barracks in the town.” There was a big influx into the I.R.A. after that. Ned was now Vice-Commandant, 2nd Battalion, Third Tipperary Brigade. His Commandant was Sean Downey. When the Treaty was signed and the division took place withing the ranks, more that three to one were in favour of the Free State. Why did he take the republican side? Ned’s answer is simple: “I had taken the oath to the Republic, and we had got less than that,” He doesn’t agree that personalities played a big part in members’ decisions but does admit that “We were in favour of the side taken by Dev.”

Imprisonment

Ned was arrested after the taking of the Four Courts in June 1922, and interned at Templemore. Not long afterwards he escaped: “We sent out one of the guards to the canteen for stout. The other was on our side, so we tied him up and left him in the cell.”

Six or seven escaped. Three were recaptured. They were Burke, Russell and O’Shea, all from North Tipperary. Russell was an uncle of Fr. Russell, who was chaplain in the convent. They were later executed for raiding a mail train, after being caught armed. Ned was on the run for some time but was eventually captured. He escaped execution because he was captured without arms. He was sent to Limerick jail and later to the Curragh, where he was to remain until Christmas 1923.

There wasn’t much to do in the Curragh: “We spent our time making rings out of two-shilling, one-shilling, and half-crown pieces. We also had the opportunity to learn Irish, but not many availed of the opportunity. We could play all the games we liked.” Another occupation was making McCrammie bags. These were made from Scottish twine and were really knot bags: “I made a good few of them, and there’s one of them around still, owned by Mai Stapleton.”

While in jail Ned was one of the prisoners who went on hunger strike for fourteen days. Some stayed on strike longer. “We did it to try to be released but it was no use, and we gave up.” Not long after getting out he was arrested again, this time for taking over Hannigan’s garage in Ladyswell: “They were Free State and we wanted the cars for I.R.A. activity.

<span class="postTitle">Tommie Ryan - The Runner 1900</span> The Post, 5th June, 1980

Tommie Ryan - The Runner 1900

The Post, 5th June, 1980

One of the sprightliest walkers up and down the streets of Cashel these days is Tommie Ryan, He looks so lively, so fresh in the face and his hair is still very much there, that it is difficult to believe his age. . Tommie Ryan was eighty years of age on January 18th last:
‘People have remarked on the fact,’ says Tommie. ‘It’s not that my life was easy. But I have the health and I’m glad of it.’

Tommie was born in Doorish, Rossmore and the family name was ‘Dalton’, to distinguish them from all the other Ryans. He was one of six children. His mother was a dressmaker and his father a handyman. Tommie’s memories of his early days include family involvement in the National Movement and their house was a refuge for men on the run.

He remembers walking the eight miles to Cashel to get his shoes made: ‘Ah, there were great tradesmen out in those days. A trade was a great thing – much better than it is today.’
Cutting turf in the bog is an abiding memory. ‘The neighbours collected to give you a hand and the work was tough. The bog was a great place for the feet. It hardened them. I never had trouble with my feet when I was running and I put it down to working in the bog in the bare feet.’

Sometime around sixteen years, Tommie met the great runner, Tim Crowe. ‘He was a very competitive man. He cycled to Cork and he cycled to Dublin and of you walked to a match with him he was always a yard in front of you.’ Tim Crowe took him on his first race from Templemore to Milestone and Tommie performed reasonable well. Following that he took up running in a big way, running five mile and ten mile races, as well as marathons. At that time there were just two kind of races, unxder-16 and over-16.

Tommie’s first job was cheese-making in the co-operative creamery in Rossmore. Later he worked in a bar in Dungarvan and eventually he got a job in a bar in Dublin in 1923, where he was to spend seven years..

One of his great memories from that period is running and particularly one marathon race from Navan to the Phoenix Park. An ambulance man accompanied each runner on a bicycle to ensure he obeyed the rules. ‘After about eighteen miles I was ahead of my man and I came to this house, very hot and thirsty. It was a bar. I put my head in over the door and asked for a drink. ‘Do you want some brandy?. ‘No! A tumbler of water.’

As I drank it the smell of bacon and cabbage came to my nose. I looked at my man and the place the smell came from. ‘Would you like a bit?’ he asked. ‘I would’. So, he made me a huge bacon and cabbage sandwich.

In the meantime my watcher was catching up. ‘What have you got there?’ he shouted. ‘Nothing!’ I said. ‘I took off running and by the time he caught up with me I had it eaten’.

Soon after this the sole came off my shoe and I  had to run the remaining miles in my bare feet. I never got a blister!. I think I came in third.
Dr. John Ryan, a Tipperary man in charge of  some of the runners, head about the sandwich. ‘It could have killed you,’ he said. ‘I’m the man who ate it,’ I replied.

Tommie never drank and instead of getting the usual bottle from the bar owner at Christmas, he used to get a five-pound note. He played hurling with Young Irelands and won a Dublin county intermediate title with them in 1927. He got the name, the Electric Hare, from his speed on the hurling field. Of small build, Tommie made up for his lack of physique by the speed of his feet.

Everybody has heard of the famous race between Tommie and the Irish marathon champion, David McKeon from Gouldscross to Cashel in 1929. A cup was put up by the New Ireland Assurance for the winner. The man who immortalised it in song was Willie Quinlan from Donohill, who worked in the Irish Press. It is not commonly known that Quinlan didn’t see the race at all: he was somewhere else that day.  The poem was first published in the Cork Weekly Examiner. One verse of it went like this:

Then comes the final struggle
‘Tis the grandest sight of all
As mid the cheering thousands
Raced the wee man and the tall.
With scarce a yard between them
Hats in the air were thrown
When gallant little Tommie
Beat the champion, D. McKeon.

‘A very funny incident happened in that famous race. I was coming up the Kiln Road and there was an enormous crowd. I was leading and McKeon was at my heels. There was a man in the crowd who wasn’t too aware of what was going on and when I passed and the cheers went up, he kept looking to see when Tommie ‘Dalton’ was coming: he had come to cheer HIM.’

That race saw the end of Tommie as a runner: his legs were never the same again.

By now Tommie had returned from Dublin to live in Cashel, where he helped his sister set up a dressmaking business in Canopy Street. He got a job in the local cinema and started to organise the N.A.C.A. in Tipperary. ‘There were great men everywhere; all that was necessary was to contact them. He started a club called the Galteemore, which became outstanding in a few years. Other Tipperary clubs developed as a result. Tommie was elected secretary of the Tipperary N.A.C.A. and was responsible for getting the organisation to stage the National Championships outside of Dublin. ‘They were held in Clonmel. There was such a crowd that the gates were broken down. We took in £500 whereas not more than £100 was ever taken in Dublin..

Later Tommie started a cycle shop in Canopy Street but, with the outbreak of the war, there was a shortage of spare parts and Tommie, now married with two daughters, went to England. He went first to Birmingham and later to London, where he worked in the railways until he retired in 1965.

He was one of those responsible for forming the Tipperarymen’s Association. His wife had a dancing school and his children danced at the London Palladium and the Royal Albert Hall. He liked the English and has many happy memories of his residence there. He supported all things Irish. He played hurling until he was 49 years of age. He was secretary of the Provincial Council of the G.A.A. in Britain. When he retired he got another job and didn’t return to Ireland until 1975.

Tommie has been a ramblin’ man since he was 18 years old. He has travelled widely in Ireland and England and met many people, made many friends. He has returned to live in Boherclough Street, Cashel, quite close to where he set out on his first journey. He likes Cashel and continues to make friends because he is still a very much involved in society.

<span class="postTitle">Bill 'Bob' O'Dwyer (1896-1982)</span> The Post on 29th May, 1980

Bill 'Bob' O'Dwyer (1896-1982)

The Post on 29th May, 1980

The time was June 1916 and the place a field hospital in France. The Great War was nearly two years old and Cashel man, Bill 'Bob' O'Dwyer, was lying on his back suffering from dysentery. Doing the rounds of the wards was a Canadian doctor, whose task it was to boost numbers for the impending Battle of the Somme.. He came to Bill:
'What's your name?'         'O'Dwyer'.
'From where?'                 'Co. Tipperary'.
'What part?'                    'Cashel'.
'Are you a native of the town?'       'No! I'm from Kilshenane'.
'So was my father and his name was O'Dwyer!'.

Bill 'Bob' didn't get a clean bill of health from his first cousin and so escaped the Battle of the Somme, where total British losses amounted to 419,654 men! Had Bill 'Bob' taken part in that battle his chances of being alive today would be slim.

In fact he is alive and well and amazingly hale and hearty for a man of 84 years. Perhaps his health is due to hard work which he began in the home place at Kilshenane. In 1913 he was working for a local farmer at 24 shillings a quarter! Imagine what it would get for you today, three and a half loaves of bread or two and a half pints, whichever way you're inclined! But, at that time Bill 'Bob' was able to spare a few shillings to send to is father, who had hit on poor times through a series of misfortunes on the farm.

When the local Volunters split in 1914, on whether to support England in the war, the majority sided with John Redmond. Two didn't, Mick Davern and Bill 'Bob'. Bill later changed his mind, joined up and was shipped out from Queenstown to Palestine.

He spent some time there until he was shipped back to France. He remembers the sand, the malaria and the dysentery. But, during all the time until he was demobbed in 1919, he was never wounded. The pay was a shilling a day but increased to £1 per week. His brother, Mick, was in the Dublin Fusiliers and after he was demobbed, went to Australia and hasn't been heard about since.

Bill 'Bob's' attitude to the North was formed at that time. 'The I.R.A. will never be beaten but you'll never get the Orangemen to come into a United Ireland.' He is rather vague on the actual date but on one occasion in 1916 or 1917 there was close to a mutiny in his regiment when a number of Orangemen raised the Union Jack in provocation after hearing of an event in Ireland. The quick action of some general prevented a free-for-all. Nothing was ever made public of the episode.

Back in Ireland in 1919 was not a great place to be. Thre was a depression and too many men chasing too few jobs. A good man got six or seven shillings a week. Bill 'Bob' worked on the buildings, cycling as far as Bansha for work. He worked at Rockwell and in the building of Cathal Brugha Street. He wroked in Feehans for £1 per week, hauling stuff from the railway station. Times were tough but he got married and reared a family of eight and is very proud of how they turned out,

The thirties were an exciting time in Ireland at large but particularly in Cashel. The Blueshirts were very strong in Cashel. Bill 'Bob' decided to wear one after falling out with Mick Davern. He was working on Cathal Brugha Street when he was let go because he lived outside the urban boundaries. He went to Mick Davern with his complaint but Mick told him he was powerless to do anything. However, another councillor came to his aid as a result of which he got his job back. So he put on the 'shirt' to get his own back on Mick!

Bill 'Bob' worked until he was 70 years. He enjoyed working and is concerned today with the way machines are taking away jobs and leaving the young unemployed.

He's very sorry they don't have (Church) Missions anymore: 'They were great for getting people together. Sure, there's no religion now!'

The Government should do something about keeping prices down. Rising prices don't give the poor people a chance.

Bill 'Bob's' wife died five years ago. His faithful dog, Shane, is seventeen years old and on his last legs. He's no longer able to go down town but he still growls at strangers, who may wander near his master's door. He bought him for £5.

Bill 'Bob' has no regrets in his life. He has a comfortable house, built by the British Army over fifty years ago. The latter body looks after old soldiers well in ensuring that they are in need of nothing. He retires about 10.30 at night and his only prayer is that God leaves him his legs to walk up and down to the town and do a few jobs around the house.

<span class="postTitle">Dr Pat Donohue</span> The Post, May 8th, 1980

Dr Pat Donohue

Kampuchea has a population of about six million and, besides the natives, you will find Vietnamese, Chams, Chinese and Europeans living there. Among the latter at this moment is at least one Irishman, Dr. Pat Donohue from Cashel, who has departed to this far-off country, to spend three months giving medical attention to the needy.

Before he departed, I asked him if he felt noble and great undertaking such a long and distant separation from his wife, his four children, his town and country.

‘Not in the least. I see this as a medical challenge. I am going to get the opportunity to return to the basics of my profession, the primary care of people, who have greater needs than twentieth-century man.’

Bur surely the motivation must be greater, something more personal than a vocational challenge?

‘Well, there is the humanitarian side to it. I am acquainted with history and our own people suffered a national cataclysm similar to the Cambodians, not much more than a hundred years ago. It is only proper that the better-off states should look after those stricken with disaster. You know how we remember England for her failure to look after us: everyone knows about Queen Victoria and her £5! Whether it is true or not.’

Are you not a romantic at heart?

‘I’m going to feel loneliness and separation but I believe I’m strong-willed enough not to succumb.’

Came to Cashel in 1972

Dr. Donohue came to Cashel in 1972 and has made an impact in the town in the meantime. An extrovert by nature, he communicates easily with people and doesn’t stand on ceremony. The nature of his job is helping people, and there is a social commitment in his character that leads him to adopt causes.

He has been a member of Cashel Lions Club almost since he came to town. This gave him scope to serve the community beyond their purely medical needs. At the same time, it is an extension of his vocational training. This year he is President of the club, and his accomplishment must be unique in the history of Lionism, because he is putting into practice the motto of the organisation: We Serve!

Another area of his community endeavour is the Old Cashel Society. This has been very much his baby since it came into existence about four years ago. “Any person should know about his community. What he is today is due to what his ancestors did in the past. He has a duty to know that past, in order to know himself better. The Old Cashel Society helps the people of Cashel to know their past and to have a greater understanding of the present.”

Lanesboro upbringing

This is interesting because Dr. Donohue is not a native of Cashel. He was born in Cappoquin, where his father was a general practitioner. However, he moved to Lanesboro, Co. Longford when Pat was a baby, and he identifies with Lanesboro rather than Cappoquin. He is probably the only person in Cashel, who will tell you when Longford won the National Football League!

After primary school in Lanesboro, he went to secondary in Roscommon CBS: ‘Great credit is due to the Christian Brothers who provided education to so many for so little. They have often been criticised for corporal punishment, but I don’t think it ever did anybody much harm. If one were to criticize them one could crib about the little emphasis they put on cultural activities and sporting facilities.’

He studied medicine at University College, Galway: ‘It was a very intimate place in those days, fewer that fifteen hundred students. Everybody knew everybody and you didn’t confine your interest to your own faculty. There was also a marvellous relationship between town and gown and the university was very well integrated into the community.” He was interested in sport, particularly boxing and the G.A.A.: ‘There are no dangers in boxing provided it is well managed by responsible people. In fact, it can develop great discipline.’

The Great Outdoors

Today, Dr. Donohue is a lover of the great outdoors. He enjoys mountaineering and orienteering. Walking the hills and mountains of Tipperary gives him great pleasure: “Orienteering is a very cheap way of using the natural features of the country. It relieves the boredom of long-distance running. Tipperary county is ideally suited because of its many suitable mountain ranges.”

For him we have a great country, but we must use it wisely. There is danger of abusing what we have gained. There is need for youth leadership and development of character. There is also the question of how we as Irish are going to react to the constant stream of rules and regulations coming from the EEC and the multi-national companies. Will Irish people continue to accept them all without cavil, or will there be a social revolution?

But, this if of the future. For the present, Dr. Donohue is living with a different revolution and the results of it. His present work is really an extension of his life’s work, caring for the community, extended for the next three months to include Cambodia.

<span class="postTitle">Superintending – The Examination Game</span> The Secondary teacher, Autumn 1980

Superintending – The Examination Game

The Secondary teacher, Autumn 1980

The important information comes the last week in May – the centre. The large brown envelope contains the book of General Instructions for Superintendents. It is Confidential and must be returned to the office with the centre Signature Roll at the end of the examinations. The envelope also contains two pre-addressed postcards, one to mail immediately confirming acceptance of appointment and a second to be sent when you decide your address – not the Centre address, mind you – for the duration of the examinations.

You spend the remaining few days studying the Book of Instructions! It is a marvellous document which helps you along every step of the way from the day preceding the exams, when you collect the box containing the papers to the final day when you dump everything at the nearest railway station. But, in case any aspect of your duties is not sufficiently clear you are furnished with another document, not as elaborately produced, entitled Day-To-Day Instructions to Superintendents. Other communi­cations include two closely written pages on Instructions to Candidates, more instructions on the cover of Rolla an lonad and finally, Special Instuctions to Super­intendents: List of Corrections. Invariably there are some small errors in the printing of the examination papers and this document is the result of a thorough fine-combing by vigilant inspectors. One interesting instruction to super­intendents on this document is "You need not read out a notice if there is no candidate in your centre taking an examination paper to which it refers". There must be some terribly stupid superintendents around!

Armed with this weight of expertise you arrive at the centre the day before to set it up. There you meet a big black box containing all the paraphernalia of the examina­tions. Everything enclosed is carefully listed. You also meet your Attendant, a requirement for every super­intendent. He helps you prepare the centre and remains outside the door for the duration of the examinations at your beck and call. This important job commands a wage of £2.85 per day a sure sign that attendants belong to no union. It is probably true to say that his is the lowest paid job in the country! But there is more to it. In many schools, in return for his appointment he is given jobs to do during his hours of waiting. The Headmaster may use him as a general cleaner-upper of end-of-term rubbish.

The big day arrives and you're in plenty of time. No matter how often you've superintended there's a certain amount of tension this first morning. Did I bring the keys of the boxes? Am I forgetting some vital instruction? The candidates are also excited. Some futures hang in the balance. You read the Instructions to Candidates as light-heartedly as possible. A few laughs are good for lowering the tension level. You distribute the answer-books, blue for Lower, pink for Higher. The time creeps on. You look repeatedly at the envelope to satisfy yourself you have the correct papers. Suddenly they're distributed: the exam has begun and you relax.

Well . . . not really. Officially it is forbidden to relax. The Instructions command one to give one's entire attention to the work of superintendence. It is forbidden to read, write, knit or engage in any occupation other than superintendence. There used to be a specific prohibition against drinking tea or coffee during the course of the examination. This year, in addition, one cannot even bring in the newspaper. Thank God I don't smoke because that's also forbidden. The superintendent must be on constant guard duty against anybody seeking to enter the centre during the course of the examination. The only exceptions are the attendant, when summoned, or a Departmental official on presenting an admission order. Come to think of it, I never did see one of those orders!

Despite all the instructions I have just come across a case that is not covered. It's ten minutes into the examination and a girl has just fainted. She's flat out down in the hall and emitting painful moans. Under one rule I can permit her to leave the hall because she is ill. But as she is unable to leave of her own volition — she's just fainted — what do I do? Yes, summon the attendant! But she's too small and the fainted girl is too large and one can't move the other. I can consult another rule and expel the candidate for behaviour liable to jeopardise the successful conduct of the examination. But she's insensible to my order! I have but one recourse: take her in my arms and leave her prone body outside. But, I am forbidden to leave the centre during the course of the examination! However, I decide to take the law into my own hands because she is disturbing the centre. I lift her up and make my way to the door. The motion brings her to, she screams and slaps me in the face! I drop her to her feet and return to the rules with what grace I can.

But the majority of days are far less exciting. The hours drag, punctuated by the morning coffee and the afternoon tea. In the past most schools provided hospitality, not only morning and afternoon snacks but huge lunches and, in some places, even the Bottle on the table! Whether it was post-prandial, sleeping superintendents or merely galloping inflation, rare is the school now that provides more than the cuppa. It's dangerous to have a pint before lunch or to eat too much.

Mid-afternoon is the lowest point of the day. The body lurches for sleep. Even walking around is unable to shake off the soporific afternoons of overcast Junes. There is no instruction on how to keep awake! Stories are told of superintendents falling asleep — to the delight of the candidates. In one case he slept right through despite the riot of moving bodies and flying missiles. The only relief is a pre-mature departure of the candidates. Some vocational schools are great: the candidates are all departed within the hour. Convents can be terrible: the candidates daren't depart until the final whistle is blown. How terribly un-thoughtful headmistresses can be!

The Art examinations enliven a dull routine. In the Leaving Certificate there are four papers over four exam periods and the four results have to be dispatched together. The Examination Centre has to be reconstructed for Still Life. All my rectangles and regular rows disappear and half-moons take over. The advice and assistance of the art teacher are available and direct responsibility is taken out of the hands of the super­intendent. The candidates can't really cog—every angle is different—and the only problem is the ensuing mess of speckled paint and splashed water. Life Sketching is a gift, lasting a mere hour and giving you time to get downtown and do a bit of shopping. Models are paid £1.50 and some can be very awkward and funny. In order to get some boys to remain steady for the fifteen-minute pose one would need to spray them with some strong lacquer!

The final days eventually arrive. The later you're on, the more you're paid. To have a candidate taking Italian or German gets you right to the last day. I should like to see many more candidates take Economic History; it also appears on the final day. The Instructions tell me to draw a map of the centre on the first day but I leave it towards the end. Probably the most exciting occupation of the last days is making up the expenses. The summer holidays are coming and they're an expensive time. You squeeze the last legitimate penny possible into the Form of Account. You extract the last mile that is possible.

I heard of one teacher who put in a claim for a box of matches. After every examination you put the answer books into a large envelope and you seal it with red wax. This teacher did not smoke and claimed that he had to buy matches specially in order to melt the wax. The Department refused to pay but my man persisted and after three letters he received his penny-halfpenny!
The final act is paying the attendant and depositing the boxes at the local railway station. Then it's the journey home, a few pints of satisfaction and a few hundred quid at the end of July.

There's a new instruction this year which states that superintendents should quote their Payroll Number in the space provided on the Form of Account otherwise delay-will occur in issuing payment. And that would be terrible!

JOHN MURPHY is a secondary teacher with fifteen years' superintending experience.

<span class="postTitle">Butterflies and Wet Pants and Litanies and Novenas</span> The Education Times, July 4, 1974

Butterflies and Wet Pants and Litanies and Novenas

The Education Times, July 4, 1974

It's exam time again. Thousands of boys and girls are suffering it out in neatly-ordered examination centres trying to organise their chaotic masses of facts. It is an awesome occasion.

The examinations branch of the Department of Education rises to it with its notices and warnings, its stationery boxes and its sealed packages, its 'provisional' envelopes and its inspectors. 

Teachers have been drilling their students for the past month with hot tips and questions that must come up.

The students themselves have butterflies and wet pants and recite litanies and novenas. 'Prayer alone without some work is useless. God helps those who help themselves,' a teacher once told us.

But there is another side to it all. I am thinking of the 'treasures' to be discovered in the answer books. 'The Brehon law and the March law were laws written down by two wise men'. I wonder whether his father was a lawyer.

I have got some marvellous replies to a question on coign and livery. Who wants to know anyhow? 'Coign and Livery were the names of two men. They went into business in the 18th century. The business Coign and Livery we have today is descended from them.' I wonder if the boy believed that. Or if I asked a supplementary: What kind of business? what would his fertile brain invent.

A more bloody-minded fellow gave me something different: 'Coign and Livery were methods of executing a person who did anything wrong.' Were they worse than hanging or garrotting? The answer may have been a hangover from one class we devoted to different kinds of killing.

Another fellow was on the right track. 'Coign and Livery was a type of market for cattle and other livestock. Today we would call it Mart and Market.' I suppose that Michael Dillon was bound to surface in the stream of consciousness.

When I get plain bad answers I have no mercy. If the reply shows some wit or originality I am lenient.

What is a Papal bull? 'The papal bull was the Pope.' If the Pope had been an Englishman he would never have called it a bull. 'Laudabiliter was the Papal bull. He was praised by the people.' What a difference there is between a Papal bull and an Irish bull! I remember when Monsignor, now Bishop, Ryan was appointed the Pope's confessor, somebody said the Pope needed a strong Tipperary lad to take care of the Papal bulls!

Why were they called Gallowglasses? It is a somewhat contradictory name for mercenary soldiers, like a bull in a china shop. A couple of lads thought so. 'Gallowglasses were a tribe in early Ireland, who tried to fight off the Normans. They settled in the Cork area.'

Quite close! Now I wonder why the Cork area? Did he consider the Gallowglasses a good crowd to be descended from or was he having a slag at Cork people?

The word 'tribe' is important for your interpretation. A more cultured kind, probably from the Waterford area, wrote: 'Galloglasses were a sort of glass used in the 18th century.;

While in the sunny south-east I would like to report that 'The Strongbow were a tribe which settled in Waterford. They had very strong weapons and were good fighters.'

I thought I had done a good job teaching the Statutes of Kilkenny. Normally it's the kind of subject that sticks in a young person's mind. 'The Statutes of Kilkenny were a set of battles between the Normans and the Gaelic rules.' A fair attempt but he failed to say what kind of war.

The following answer might have been taken from a tourist brochure. 'The Statutes of Kilkenny are famous for their shapes and their situation. They are a great attraction for tourists all the year round. They are very old.' A very positive suggestion for the regional tourism manager at Kilkenny. Get a copy of the Statutes and exhibit them in a public place all the year round. It might start a revival of trews and the Irish cloak.

No answer book is boring when you get answers like these. I get angry no more. Neither do I blame my teaching. Nature will out. 'What is the coccyx, Browne?' a colleague asked. 'It's the bone behind the bum, sir.' Much closer than many a textbook answer, I reckon.

<span class="postTitle">Heligoland - From Where Roger Casement Set Out On His Ill-fated Mission</span> The Irish Press, May 4 1966

Heligoland - From Where Roger Casement Set Out On His Ill-fated Mission

The Irish Press, May 4 1966

The reaction to the atmosphere is so strong and the resulting tiredness of the first few days after arrival so unbearable, that the visitor to Heligoland is advised to take a long sleep. The island is also advertised as 'dust-free', which is rather strange at first hearing, but is catching because much of Germany suffers from dust during the hay-season, with resulting hay-fever.

Heligoland, rising up strong and defiant in the North Sea about 40 miles from the German coast, looks from the distance like an uneven mound with houses perched at various levels. On coming closer it gives the impression of a huddle of buildings cuddling together before a backdrop of red rock rising out of the harbour and glowing like a sunset in the rising sun.

The harbour is busy with small fishing boats, touring boats, and even some respectable cargo boats unloading all that is needed to serve the requirements 2,000 inhabitants.

A crowd of people waits on the pier to greet the new arrivals: natives returning after business on the mainland, officials from customs and excise, but the majority visitors. Standing on the pier you are approached by accommodating porters with their push carts to carry your luggage. It is a relief to be able to look around and take in the scene unheeded. The sky is perfectly blue and a hard morning sun lights up the island.

Built or repaired

Everything is in a state of being built or repaired. A crane raises up mouthfuls of gravel from the bottom of a boat and deposits them in the belly of a lorry, as the driver of the lorry watches the new arrivals with vacant stare. The porter has finally collected enough baggage to make the journey worthwhile (boats do not come often enough and each porter can get only one load) and we proceed.

On the left a large collection of huts offering everything from accommodation for the workers in the building site behind, to weather-forecasting for the fishermen on the area, stand drowsily in the sun. The rattle of a jack-hammer beats against the ear. On the right the fishermen mend their boats, rev their engines or dry their nets.

The porter chugs along with his load and refuses a cigarette, Guesthouses and hotels come nearer, all bright and airy, exposing their tablecloths and bed linen. People promenade at breakfast time and the wind rustles the flags. A man offers trips around the island in h his boat, but money is not mentioned. We arrive at our guest house where the luggage is deposited and the porter paid and the landlady, smiling, exhibits an antiseptic room and hopes that her guest is contented.

The best way to become acquainted with Heligoland is to walk around it. The island is small and the walk can be completed in less that an hour. Also, there are no cars and that makes the island a perfect children's playground. To wander along the shore takes you away from the houses and opens up beautiful vistas of water and rock. The rocks, gigantic red masses like the 'Long Anna' give the impression of being about to topple.

Place of worship

In early history the red rocks of Heligoland – then known as Forsites Land – were a Frisian place of worship, centuries later a refuge for Claus Stoertebaker and his corsairs. These rocks are also said to have made a home for the daughter of an English king, named Ursula, who came here to live with 11,000 thousand virgins. History does say whether she encountered the corsairs! Gulls and guillemots dot the sides of the cliffs, diving towards the water only to halt at the surface or keep up a continuous cry that echoes in the canyons.

Further on boys practise mountain climbing on the less precipitous reaches, and workers build a wall as a defence against the ravages of the sea. To get to the upper part of the island the easiest way to is take a lift which serves a a general carrier for people and goods. The ascent of 1000 feet opens up a new panorama. The wind topples your balance with a direct blast or swirls around you in a drunken daze.

A small flat sand dune looms across the rough shore waves, the Heligoland beach-isle which was connected with the Heligoland rocks up to the 18th century. The division was caused by the swamping of a passage between by the sea as a result of a terrible storm. The passage had been sunk during the previous centuries after the sale of the rock to the burghers of Hamburg.

Rising up among the houses is the spire of the church culminating in its point, a work of beauty. (An interesting feature of this church is the existence of a public footpath through its porch. It insinuates itself into the life of the people and encourages a sense of involvement.) Behind it bomb scarred and the sole surviving building of pre-1947 Heligoland, the light tower sends out its beams of direction at night. Exposed earth and half-built houses suggest hope for the future while the blurred forms of bunkers with tangled steel and broken concrete suggest other days.

Chequered history

Heligoland has had a chequered history, whose fate lay at different times in the hands of Denmark, England and Germany, and in the fortunes of the political game. In 1890 Germany got it from England in exchange for rights in East Africa. In spite of these changes in ownership the people, of Frisian origin, developed along their own lines with their own culture, their own customs and their own language, a Frisian dialect. During the first world war the island served as a harbour from which attacks were launched against England.

After the defeat of Germany all military installations on the island were destroyed. The development of the submarine gave importance to the island in 1939. First class workshops were built underground for the servicing of the submarines and, until it was bombed in 1944, it served as an important base in the execution of the war.

It lay in the English zone of control after the partition of Germany. In 1947 the English made an all-out effort to wipe it from the map. The inhabitants were evacuated to the mainland and the workshops, bunkers and everything else were blown up. The result was a mass of rubble.

The natives were forbidden to return and, until 1952, the English used it as a bombing target. However, in that year, students from Heidelberg university sailed to the island and defied the English to bomb them. Their action received much publicity in the press, resulting in a new approach to the island's fate. The inhabitants were allowed back on condition that the island would never have anything to do with war. The condition has no longer any relevance in the context of modern warfare.

Costly business

Since that year the people have returned to rebuild their homes. In the meantime hundreds have been rebuilt and the building program continues apace. It is a costly business when one realises that all materials have to be brought from the mainland. A small five-roomed house costs £25 to £30 a month to rent. The greater number are guesthouses and are built to make the most of the space. Electricity and central heating are laid on to each and the telephone is almost universal.

The inhabitants enjoy some privileges over their brothers on the mainland because they are outside the three-mile limit. Some groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and woollens are duty-free. Personal earnings are free of tax. Many of the islanders spend the holiday season on the island after having worked on the mainland during the winter.

Heligoland is famous for its lobster fishing from which many of the men make their living. The lobster is chiefly for export and the season begins usually in the middle of April. Lobster exports, with the exception of tourism, are the life-blood of the people.

The tourist season begins in May and lasts until September. During this period many Germans take their holidays there and an even greater number visit it as day tourists. At the height of the season about 8,000 people visit the island daily from Hamburg and Bremenhaven. In fact Bremhaven subsidises a ship which sails daily to Heligoland and, although it costs the city about DM1,000,000 a year the money is considered well spent..

The chief reason for the popularity of Heligoland lies in its distance from the German coast. It gives the suggestion of a voyage while still remaining on the doorstep. It offers freedom and endless expanses of water for many inland people. The sand dune provides first class conditions for sun-bathing and if the water is too cold there are heated swimming pools on the island.

It has also gained fame for something that has very little to do with the political game, exploding bombs or bathing. For many who know of Heligoland in no other respect, it is a byword in the world of ornithology. The island was the site of the first
station set up specially for the study of birds. In the last century a painter from Mark Brandenburg, Gaetke, went there to carry on his work. He was a great nature lover and had a detailed knowledge of birds and he began to observe the treasures at his disposal, for the island lies in the route of the two yearly migrations of birds in Europe: in spring from south-west and south to north-east, and in autumn from north-east to south-west.

The island serves as a resting place in the course of the flight between Denmark and Germany, and at night the birds are attracted to the island by the strong beam of the light-tower, visible for 30 miles. Gaetke studied the birds and after his death in 1891 his collection of birds was bought by the German government and his work carried on by the Biological Institute, which carries on research in marine life.

In 1910 the ornithological work became a separate section under an independent director and finally in 1923 a proper building was erected to accommodate the new work. This continued to expand until 1944 when the station was destroyed in an air-attack. In 1953 a new station was built but the administrative work, which had been transferred to Wilhelmshaven during the war, remained there.

The work of the station consists of catching, examining and ringing as many as possible of the birds that land on the island. They are ringed with an aluminium ring bearing the name Heligoland and a number. When the bird is set free it is hoped that someone, somewhere, will catch or find the bird and send back the information to the station. When the information is received, the flight of the bird is plotted and the length of time since the ringing is studied.

Time of ringing

This new information is entered with the earlier information concerning the kind, sex, weight, length of wing and age recorded at time of ringing. The information concerning a particular kind of bird is slowly added to and in the course of time its migratory habits known. The work is of interest to the layman as well as to the ornithologist. The bird he sees in his garden may be more interesting if something is known of where it came from and how it got there.

Many of the birds ringed in Heligoland make their way to Ireland but as yet no official contact has been established between the two places. Apart from the men who work in Heligoland there are also 3,000 amateur ornithologists scattered throughout Germany studying the birds in their areas and sending the information to Heligoland. For them the island is the focal point of their work and many of them visit it every year.

Heligoland is small, exceptionally small, and after a few hours seems to offer only such intangible things as beauty and health. One wants to move on quickly like the birds. However, it evokes an atmosphere of contentment that is experienced but cannot be explained. The people are friendly, give their service and you pay. In the houses one can experience monotony and the recreational opportunities are few, but somehow one is satisfied and each day brings its little changes to embroider the routine. On one of the piers is written the words 'Kumm Weer' dialect for 'Come again'. One has a vague feeling that perhaps one will.

<span class="postTitle">Civics and Ireland</span> The Secondary teacher, June 1966, Vol. 1 No. 6

Civics and Ireland

The Secondary teacher, June 1966, Vol. 1 No. 6

The proposed introduction of civics as a subject in Irish schools is a welcome addition to the curriculum. The fact that the majority of school-leavers finish their formal educa­tion without being instructed in their rights and duties as citizens is appalling. Admittedly, in so far as they are instructed in their religion, they have some kind of substitute. But it is not a sufficient substitute in so far as the Church and State have not identical ends. It would seem that the State is at last awakening to this fact and becom­ing aware of its responsibility in educating citizens. This "socialization process" is a phenomenon of the modern nation-state and can have good or bad repercussions depend­ing on the uses to which it is put. Its aims will be determined by the political and social circumstances of the state in question.

Many definitions of civics are available. Generally speaking, the aim of civics is to inculcate responsibility as a result of the recognition by the individual of his rights and duties. It includes educating the individual for a job; in this case, the job of being a good citizen. The man of our time is not an isolated individual living a self-sufficient existence in a primitive environ­ment. Rather is he a person whose actions have repercussions for a large number of people. In so far as this is so, his relations with other men must be regulated. The more complex these relations are the more sophisticated must be the regulations governing their behaviour. Side by side with this development of interdependence is the decline in individual independence.

These relations between man and man occur on different levels. There are relations with the family, the locality, the county, the employer, the State, and, in contem­porary times, the international environment. The more developed the society is the more complex will these relations be. Only an educated man is capable of understanding the ramifications of the rights and duties of such relations. It would be nearly true to say that the complexity of our present civilization has grown at a greater rate than the standard of education necessary to understand that civilization; fewer and fewer people understand how things work. The result is that people become more and more dependent and more subject to greater concentrations of power. In so far as it is possible, civics should aim at explaining these relations, informing the citizen on his rights and responsibilities, and giving him back some freedom.

Civics teaching will emphasise different things from state to state. In Ireland certain historical and social factors will dictate the emphasis. There is a strong authoritarian streak in our social experiences. Beginning in the family, the relation between parent and child is usually a one-way street; the child is to be seen but not heard. He does not contribute to family discussions; his remarks are at best tolerated. Growing up in this environment, his concept of the relation between authority and subject is one of power rather than persuasion. In school, a similar procedure obtains; his behaviour is ruled and his relaxations are "put in their place". If he toes the line of servitude he succeeds: if he is "unconven­tional" the world descends on him like a ton of bricks. Religion will play an important part in his life. His first experience with a minister of religion will probably be a happy one. However, as he grows in experience, he will find that religion is not a very personal thing: it is a rigidly laid down form of procedure. He will find that the position of the minister is one of authority. With a little study of history it will be easy for him to find the historical reasons for that position: the minister always held a position of leadership in the country and his word was law not only in religious matters but on political and social matters as well. The minister will have retained the position and the attitude of the only wise man. From this experience the growing child is confirmed in his concept of the relations between ruler and ruled : one of dictation.

When the child becomes an adult he will carry these attitudes into life with him. He may become a good subject or a severe master but he won't contribute much to the reasonable discussion of problems. This habit of the authoritarian approach to problems may be the cause of the failure of communi­cation between many sections of Irish life today. Here civics could play an important role in making mature men. By mature men I mean those who are capable of sitting down together, despite differing positions of authority, and solving mutual problems on the basis of the recognition of each other's rights. It entails eroding the feeling of in­security which is at the basis of the authoritarian attitude. When a man knows his rights, and knows that others know them, he will feel secure and will be less inclined to indulge in arbitrary behaviour towards his fellowmen. On the other hand, when he realises that his rights are preserved with the performance of his duties, he will have a greater incentive to perform the latter.

Civics is probably more important in Ireland today than ever before. The traditional centres of authority—the parent, the teacher, and the minister of religion— are gradually being eroded by the growing power of the state. The state is drifting deeper and deeper into socialism, even though we don't recognise it by that name. This is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, in Irish circumstances, where resources are at such a premium, the need for the State to distribute the wealth of the country may be desirable. But regardless of its desirability, an offshoot of the development is the tremendous increase in the power of the state. The state becomes the great giver of largesse and more and more of us become civil servants. This outcome gives the state more power in the direction of our lives. There does not seem to be any alternative to this development, even if it were to be desired.

In such a situation, the need for respon­sible citizens is greater than ever. If we accept the general direction of government, are we capable of questioning particular decisions? Do we sit back and accept un-questioningly directives from the elite of the civil service? The majority of us will be unable to keep ourselves informed on most matters of government. But we could make it our business to be acquainted with the matters that most closely concern ourselves; an educator ought to be able to discuss the Government's educational policy. Where does civics come in ? It was mentioned above that civics should contribute to the educa­tion of responsible citizens. If the awareness of this responsibility is inculcated in the school, the carry-over should be sufficient to develop the type of citizen recommended above.

This brings us to the actual teaching of civics. There was a court case in an Irish town recently in which a youth was found guilty of stealing. The lawyer for the defence claimed that the youth was really a good boy—he got 90 per cent, in the Christian Doctrine examination in his school. The logic was dubious; a person could get 100 per cent, in religion and yet never perform an act of religion. The same is true apropos of the teaching of civics. The subject could easily develop into a catechism; question and answer without meaning. This develop­ment can be avoided in a number of ways. Not only must civics be a subject in its own right, but it must be part of every subject. In her article Why Civics? Miss Nora Kelleher suggested many relevant ways in which this could be realised. But the teach­ing of civics must go further to be meaning­ful; it must include practice as well as theory. Naturally, making the subject prac­tical will be far more difficult than merely teaching theory; the textbook and the teacher are sufficient for the latter whereas a fundamental change of attitude will be necessary for the former. Making civics prac­tical will involve some kind of devolution of authority in the schools; students ought to be given responsibility as soon as possible. In some schools there is a prefect system; in others, senior students have separate rooms for study; in more, one finds the honour system taking various forms. Some of these have succeeded, others have failed. But whether success or failure has been their lot, they need to be informed with a new attitude from those in authority; they must be seen not as "liberal" concessions but as the rights of the students. It should be possible to have a graduated transfer of responsibilities as the student moves from the lower to the higher forms in the school so that, by the time he leaves, he will have been responsible for getting his final examination : the means will have been available in the form of teachers and facili­ties but the success will have been his because he has properly used the means at his disposal. If the student gets his training in the school, side by side with the under­lying theory, there is a good probability that fewer of his kind will be breaking beer bottles against the railing of St. Stephen's Green during their first year at university to prove that they don't give a damn about anything. It will also facilitate the entry of a boy or girl from a secondary school into a position of responsibility. They will have been trained in responsibility.

The task before teachers will by no means be easy. Initially, they may have to face failure. The material at their disposal will be coming from a background which does not contribute to the development of responsibility. To throw such children on their own principles will lead to early disillusionment. At the other end of the scale they will turn out students capable of some responsibility into a society that tends to regard responsible people as upstarts, "getting out of line". But regardless of the difficulties, the inculcation of responsibility must go ahead. It was mentioned above that the power of the state was growing side by side with the decline in the traditional areas of authority. At the present we are probably lucky in having two great centres of power, the Church and the State. One tends to balance out the worst effects of the other. But to have either one supreme would be to the detriment of the freedom of the ordinary citizen. Present indications would seem to point to the growing power of the State without necessarily a decline in the power of the Church.

In the face of this develop­ment, the need exists for the training of a greater number of alert, responsible citizens, people who, by their awareness of their rights and duties, will be able to offset this encroachment on their freedom. The teach­ing of civics has a fundamental part to play in the training of such citizens and teachers have an obligation to see that mature men are the end product of their efforts. Teachers have one other responsibility: they must ever be on their guard lest the teaching of civics be used for the propagation of some pernicious doctrine. It is their duty to make certain that the subject never becomes a tool in the hands of partisan politics. When teachers have fulfilled these obligations they can be assured that their students will do them credit on leaving school.

<span class="postTitle">The Comprehensive Idea</span> The Secondary Teacher, Dec. 1966, Vol. 1 No. 10

The Comprehensive Idea

The Secondary Teacher, Dec. 1966, Vol. 1 No. 10

(Some of the ideas expressed by Mr. King in this article are, to say the least, controversial. It is hoped, however, that they will lead to the discussion that the author himself asks for in his final sentence.—Editor.)

The idea of the comprehensive school has been in circulation since Dr. Hillery, then Minister for Education, initiated it in 1963. Later, when Mr. Colley took over the top position in education he expanded on the idea. His contribution was the assertion that there would be few new comprehensive schools but that the comprehensive idea would be realised through the fusion of the existing secondary and vocational systems. In September 1960, Mr. O'Malley, the new Minister for Education, announced the pro­vision of free post-primary education up to the Intermediate Certificate level.

These are the general guidelines available to anyone who wishes to .know about this new dimen­sion in Irish Education. The guidelines are so general that it is difficult to formulate in any precise terms what, the result will be. It would seem that the Minister's publication of the idea was an attempt to initiate discussion. In fact very little discussion has taken place, partly, perhaps, because we are not used to thinking about education. The result has been that the comprehensive idea although four years in circulation, is still shrouded in vagueness. Writing about it. therefore, will involve not only piecing together the limited information at our dis­posal but also making suggestions on the comprehensive idea that may contribute to a discussion that never really began.

A Department of Education information sheet has this to say about the comprehensive idea: Comprehensive education is a system of post - primary education combining academic and technical subjects in a wide curriculum, offering to each pupil an education structured to his needs and interests and providing specialist guidance and advice on the pupil's abilities and aptitudes. Equality of educational oppor­tunity is inherent in such a system. The comprehensive school serves such a pur­pose particularly well. The prosperity of a nation depends on the abilities of its people and it is therefore of paramount importance to seek out and develop the talents not just of the few who are intellectually gifted but of all the children. There is a need of all talents, in all their variety and diversity.

The comprehensive idea is an attempt to fuse the secondary and vocational levels in post-primary education that have existed for so long in cold isolation. "It involves," to quote from another Department communica­tion, "the, creation of a situation in which the type of education that is best suited to the needs, abilities and aptitudes of each individual pupil is provided. To do this it is essential that the educational development of each student should be presented with as wide a selection of subjects as possible so that he may be given the opportunity of develop­ing his talents to the fullest extent." The comprehensive idea is an attempt to intro­duce equality of educational opportunity. This involves two levels of equality : it is an attempt to erode the second-rate status of technical education by putting it on a par with its academic counterpart; as we shall see later, it sets out to provide educational opportunity for children living in areas of the country badly provided with post-primary educational facilities : the new comprehensive schools have been built in such areas.

There are other than educational reasons for the comprehensive idea. Education be­comes more important every day. What was good enough for the parents will not be good enough for the children. "Because of the tremendous discoveries of science in the past 25 years," Mr. George Colley. Minister for Education, said to the Carlow group of Pax Romana. in March. 1966. "the fabric of industrial and commercial life has been radically altered. The day is fast approach­ing when the worker without a particular skill will be unable to find employment." And it is not only for a job that we need to raise the level of education; it is also for leisure. The Minister continued : "There is another side of the immense scientific advance which we are now experiencing. There is the promise of greater leisure. The five-day week may well become a three-day week if man remains a rational being, that is, if he does not wipe himself out. Education will help us to get more pleasure from our free time."

Whether for educational, economic, social, or egalitarian reasons, there is a great neces­sity to expand our educational opportunities. The needs of the country demand that we no longer be satisfied with the talents of the privileged. We cannot afford to allow 17,000 children to leave school with nothing but a primary education. This is no indictment of primary education. Rather is it a recognition of the fact that primary education was never intended to cope with the complexities of the machine age. We still need saints and scholars but we need the type suited to a technological age.

How is the comprehensive idea to be implemented? The comprehensive system of edu­cation will be provided through the erection of new comprehensive schools, through the expansion of present secondary and voca­tional schools, and through the co-operation between the secondary and vocational school authorities in providing educational facilities. Already, four new comprehensive schools have been completed and they are to serve as guidelines for schools in the other categories. According to the Department of Education, there has been an excellent response to the Minister's request for co­operation between the secondary and vocational school authorities. Many meetings at local level have already been held and plans have been made in several cases for practical co-operation during the next school year. Problems of authority, arrangement of curricula, and movement of pupils, between centres have not been discussed.

The comprehensive school will be open to all pupils who have reached the age of 12 years. No form of selection is contemplated at this age. The school will offer a three-year course leading to the Intermediate Certificate examination and subsequent courses leading to the Leaving Certificate. Primary education, where comprehensive facilities exist, will end at the age of 12 and the pupil will continue his education in a comprehensive school to the age of 15 years, graduating, if he does not wish to continue further. After 1970, when compulsory edu­cation to the age of 15 will be introduced, this will apply to all pupils.

The Department rejects the principle of any selection at the age of 12 years. Although no investigation into the effects of "streaming" has been done in this country, research in other countries since World War II suggests that it is extremely doubtful if intelligence can be accurately measured at an early age. On the basis of this research, Mr. Colley, in the above-mentioned speech, said : "In regard to comprehensive schools, I have decided that there will be no stream­ing based on ability on entry. Nor will there be streaming at any time during the three-year period leading to the Intermediate Certificate examination." "Streaming" will be avoided but since it will be necessary to obtain some measure of the pupil's achieve­ment on entry so that he may be assigned to the class for each subject that best suits him at the time, the pupils will take achievement tests in Irish, English and Arithmetic. According to their achievement in each sub­ject separately they will be assigned to the appropriate class in that subject. Further­more, each pupil's potential will be measured shortly after entry and the results compared with those of the attainment tests. It will be possible in this way to recognise the pupils whose achievement does not measure up to their potential and steps will be taken to remedy their deficiencies. This investigation will be undertaken jointly by the teaching staff and the Department's psychological service.

The curriculum for the comprehensive school will contain a core group of studies which will be examined at the Intermediate Certificate examination. This group includes Irish. English, Mathematics, and a hand-and-eye subject. Also included in this com­pulsory core of subjects is Religious Instruc­tion, which will be subject to diocesan examination. As well as this core group required for the Intermediate Certificate examination, every pupil will be required to take ''courses of study in the following sub­jects : Social and Environmental Studies (which will incorporate Civics), Physical Education, Library projects, Singing and Musical appreciation. Optional subjects will include History and Geography, Continental languages, Latin, Greek, Commerce, Rural Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology.' The compulsory subjects will absorb some 21 hours of instruction time per week, leaving nine hours for optional subjects. The optional subjects are examination subjects and when the pupil has completed his three-year course in the subjects of his choice he can offer them in the Intermediate Certificate examination.

When the school-leaving age is raised to 1.5 years, every child in the country will have free education as far as the 'Inter­mediate Certificate level, regardless of his financial or intellectual ability. Those who wish to continue further will be streamed into the academic, commercial, or technical or apprentice scheme. Those of the academic stream will continue and take the Leaving Certificate examination. Those in the other streams will continue and take the Technical Schools' Leaving Certificate examination. The streaming will be based on the results of the expert investigation of the achieve­ments and interests of the pupil over the three-year period so that he will be able to make a realistic assessment of the goals he should set himself. If he decides to take a Leaving Certificate course, the compulsory core of subjects will be reduced. Christian Doctrine, Irish and English will remain, together with Physical Education, Musical appreciation, and Library projects. This reduction in the compulsory core will enable the student to give far more time to the subjects of his special interest. On the other hand, if the pupil decides to terminate his formal schooling at 15 years, the expert assessment of his strengths and weaknesses should be of considerable help to him in his choice of occupation.

In order to be able to continue his school­ing beyond the Intermediate Certificate level, the pupil will be dependent on either his own financial support or on financial aid from the State in the form of scholarships or grants. At this stage it is not yet known to what extent aid will be available to students of merit who have not the financial means of supporting their further education.

The issues involved in the proposed com­prehensive scheme could be broadly divided into two groups: issues concerning imple­mentation and those concerning education. According to the present Minister for Education. Mr. O'Malley, it is expected that this expansion of educational opportunity to the Intermediate Certificate level will cost the State in the region of two million pounds. As far as one can discover, that figure has been arrived at by multiplying the number of children to benefit by £25 and less. If that be the case, the Department of Education is failing to reckon the true cost of the implementation of this new scheme. Going comprehensive will involve a large increase in staff numbers. Apart from the need to expand the ordinary staff it will be necessary to employ trained people to teach the new subjects on the curriculum. In order to adequately and meaningfully assess pupils over the three-year period the Department will need to expand the num­bers employed in its psychological service. Documentation and filing on the develop­ment of a pupil will involve most schools with secretarial problems. As well as that, the introduction of wider curricula will mean an extension of facilities in most schools, apart from the need for such extension to cope with the probably increased number of entrants into post-primary education as from next September.

For the present, the brunt of the new changes rest with existing secondary and vocational schools. They are expected to co­operate in the sharing of facilities. Schools are fond of their autonomy and there is grave danger in this instance that individual schools, whether secondary or vocational, may be inclined to extend their own facilities to cater for the comprehensive programme, rather than share with a neighbouring school. If this were to happen it would in­volve duplication of facilities and be a waste of scarce money. Or if the nearest school, with which another can share facilities, is some way distant, there are bound to be transport or other problems involved in the movement of pupils from one centre to the other. Although the comprehensive idea is still in an early stage of development, these questions need to be discussed.

When we come to discuss the more edu­cational issues involved we have the Department's admission that the extension of post-primary education is due as much to social as to educational reasons. In so far as the former do not militate against the latter this aim is laudable enough. But in so far as, to quote from a statement by Dr. Hillery to the Press, when he was Minister for Educa­tion, "it is the duty of the State to strive for the opportunity of some post-primary educa­tion for all," the danger exists that educa­tional standards may have to be lowered in order to ensure expression of all ranges of ability. However, this danger may be avoided by the introduction of a grading system in assessing results in place of the existing honours-pass-fail method; any interested person scanning a pupil's achievement card in a comprehensive school will be able to distinguish between ;a pupil with straight A's and a pupil with an over-generous allowance of C's.

Another issue is the content of the core group of subjects. Even though the aim of the new system of education is to prepare better the student for the machine age, there seems to be a failure to take that very aim into consideration in the list of subjects in­cluded in the core group. A General Science course would seem to be of vital importance. It would defeat the comprehensive idea if the core group were enlarged, so that the alternative would be to drop one of the subjects already included. Mathematics would seem the least indispensible. and a General Science course ought to be included in its place. Mathematics is important in many higher areas of education, but the student who thinks he may need it at a later stage could take it as one of his options.

The failure to make History more than an optional subject is another case in point. The fact that we may never learn from His­tory is no guarantee of its unimportance. It is the subject that can best give perspective and cohesion to a whole education. For that reason it is sad to witness its present decline in secondary schools. One of the chief reasons for this decline seems to be the diffi­culty of getting high marks in it at an examination with its resultant liability as a scholarship subject. However, in the com­prehensive idea where the pupil gets not only the opportunity to develop fully his potentialities but also a broad general edu­cation without specialisation, it is a highly relevant subject. The fact that local history is included in the Social and Environmental studies course is not sufficient. Something more is needed. It might be possible to in­clude one hour a week on general history, a History-of-Western-Civilisation course trac­ing our cultural evolution from its be­ginnings to the present day. This could be done over the three-year period in a way meaningful to the age-groups involved. It would be compulsory for all those taking History as an optional subject.

For the present, the burden of implement­ing the comprehensive idea depends on the fusion of secondary and vocational levels of education. This is very well in theory but in practice it is conceivable that both systems will continue to perpetuate themselves; the vocational school could continue to provide essentially vocational subjects, with occasional gestures to the academic side of the picture, while the secondary school could make the necessary bow by taking mechanical drawing out of the basement and giving it a classroom of its own. If this were to happen, the students that begin in one of the systems, when they are better suited to the other kind, may never get the oppor­tunity to develop to their fullest potential. To prevent such an occurrence, care must be taken that the widest possible choice of subjects be available to the largest number of pupils as soon as possible.

The dependence of the comprehensive idea on a secondary-vocational fusion may have repercussions after the Intermediate Certificate examination. The tendency could well be for those pupils attending vocational schools who continue beyond this stage to take the Technical Schools' Leaving Certifi­cate. In so far as no higher facilities exist and in so far as universities continue to accept students from the academic stream only, such a pupil may well find himself in an educational cul-de-sac, or at most with a ticket to a technological college of inferior status to a university. The State has a duty to expand facilities for higher technological education and to upgrade colleges of tech­nology to university status. Otherwise, students who pursue such a course of studies will be relegated to second-class status when they proceed beyond the Technical Schools' Leaving Certificate.

Probably the greatest criticism that can be made of the comprehensive idea, as en­visaged by the Government, is its haphazard-ness. It is to be allowed to evolve out of the existing systems. The vested interests of the existing educational structure may prevent the comprehensive idea from being im­plemented. The danger exists that in the permitted laissez-faire schools will strive to become comprehensive in name by adding to their present curricula. There is the possi­bility of a great waste of money in this situation, especially in rural areas where there is an excess of small schools. Along ten miles of a road it is possible to find eight schools catering for smaller and larger num­bers of pupils. The tendency for each will be to go comprehensive alone. A more logical development would be the sharing of facilities initially and the eventual incor­poration of all into one. Admittedly, some sharing is already taking place, but how is this sharing going to lead to the fusion en­visaged? If the fusion is to be meaningful it must lead to the eventual amalgamation of schools in an area under one authority. What school will vote for its extinction? (It is only fair to mention here that the Govern­ment seems to have the problem under consideration. A recent decision on their part involves the closing of some secondary schools and permission for others to teach classes up to Intermediate Certificate only.)

This introduces the idea of the neighbour­hood school which ought to be the eventual aim of the Department of Education. The evolution of the school system to this end would have many advantages. It would in­troduce a definite goal to be achieved and give direction to existing developments. It would lead to a better use of resources be­cause, apart from preventing the duplication of facilities, especially scientific laboratories, it would enable the Department, by taking account of demographic projections in the area concerned, to invest accordingly. As things stand, it is conceivable that a school, or schools, may expand to suit present population needs only to find themselves in ten years time with empty classrooms.

But the neighbourhood school, catering for all pupils in a certain area, would have other advantages. It would make the school a part of the local community as much as the primary school is today. It would enable a meaningful parent-teacher organisation to get off the ground. This is one thing that is barely hinted at in the proposed comprehen­sive scheme, the role of the parents. In many other countries parents play an important part in the education of their children. The recent Plowden Report on Primary Educa­tion in England recommended, among other things, closer relations between schools and parents. In Ireland, parents seem to abdicate their responsibility when they send their children to school. If parents were available for consultation on a regular and formal basis, they could be of great help to teachers and psychologists in arriving at a correct assessment of a pupil. If the neighbourhood school, incorporating one parish, or more where numbers are small, were in existence, parents could get such an opportunity to express themselves and to contribute to their children's welfare.

One other point is relevant in this context. The neighbourhood school would be a day-school. According to present intentions, ex­pensive boarding schools will continue to exist, with the students paying their own fees. These fee-paying students are in danger of becoming the snobs of our educational system. (However, this development might be avoided if the State were to endow lavishly the schools it takes under its wing. Because there is very little financial patron­age of schools in this country by Old Boys or Old Girls, the fee-charging school might find it difficult to finance expensive expan­sion.) The neighbourhood school, if properly developed, could become the pride of the community. Parents, who ordinarily might be inclined to send their children to expen­sive boarding schools, might come to accept as a substitute for their snobbish inclinations, the fact of their children playing an impor­tant role in the curricular and extra­curricular activities of their neighbourhood school. This would be even more probable if parents were allowed a meaningful role in parent-teacher organisations. There are other possibilities in Boards of Governors and Scholarship Committees, etc.

The Department of Education claims that the comprehensive idea is more than the mere expansion of a curriculum and involves more than the teaching of a wide range of subjects. It is a new dimension in Irish Education. As such it is to be welcomed by all those who regard the present educational set-up as inadequate to present day needs. But the comprehensive idea is by no means a clearly thought-out system; it is still very much in the crawling stage and, before it can walk, it will demand the nurture of much discussion. It is to be hoped that all those, with a genuine interest in education, will contribute to that discussion.

<span class="postTitle">Tipperary’s Prominence in the Gaelic Athletic Association</span> G.A.A. Centenary Celebrations 1984

Tipperary’s Prominence in the Gaelic Athletic Association

G.A.A. Centenary Celebrations 1984

1. The G.A.A. was founded in Thurles on November 1, 1884 and while seven has traditionally been accepted at the number of persons present on the occasion in Hayes’s Hotel, it is now widely accepted that the number present was thirteen. While Clare man, Michael Cusack, was the inspiration behind the foundation, the great majority of those present were from Tipperary. They included Maurice Davin from Carrick-on-Suir, James K. Bracken from Templemore, Joseph P. O’Ryan Carrick-on-Suir, Inspector St. George McCarthy, though born in Kerry, was reared and educated in Tipperary and lived in Templemore, William Foley, Carrick-on-Suir, and Thurles residents, T. K. Dwyer, Charles Cullinane, William Delahunty, John Butler and Michael Cantwell.

2. Carrick-on-Suir man, Maurice Davin, was the first President of the G.A.A. Three other Tipperary men became President, Sean Ryan 1928-32, Seamus Gardiner 1943-46, Seamus O’Riain 1967-70.

3. Two Tipperary men were General Secretary (today, Ard Stiúrthóir) of the G.A.A., William Prendergast, Clonmel, 1888-1889, and Patrick Roger Cleary, Lagganstown, New Inn, 1889-1890.

4. Tipperary, represented by Thurles, won the first hurling All-Ireland, the 1887, played at Birr on April 1, 1888, beating Galway by 1-1 to nil.

5. W. J. Spain (1865-1936), Moanfin, Cloughjordan was the first man to win All-Irelands in hurling and football. Having gone to work in Limerick at an early age, he joined the Commercials Club and was selected on the Limerick team that won the first football All-Ireland in 1887. Limerick beat Louth by 1-4 to 0-3 in the final, with Spain scoring the goal, the first to be scored in an All-Ireland final. Two years later he was on the Dublin team that beat Clare in the 1899 hurling final by 5-1 to 1-6, with Spain scoring three goals for his side, and becoming the first dual All-Ireland winner.

6. James Stapleton, Thurles, was the first hurling All-Ireland winning captain.

7. The first inter-county hurling match between selected sides, rather than club sides, was played at Clonturk Park, Dublin on June 8, 1890, when Tipperary met Dublin and won by 1-7 to 0-1. The Tipperary hurlers wore white singlets with the words ‘United Tipp’ emblazoned on them in green.

8. Tipperary were the first county to win hurling and football All-Irelands in the same year. They did this in 1895 beating Kilkenny in hurling and Meath in football. Both finals were played in Croke Park on March 15, 1896.

9. The brothers, Paddy and Jim Riordan from Drombane, were members of the Tipperary teams that won the two All-Irelands in 1895, Paddy, playing with Tubberadora in the hurling All-Ireland, is credited with the team’s total of 6-8. Ten years later he won a second All-Ireland with the Thurles Selection in the 1906 final. His brother, Jim, won an All-Ireland football medal in 1895, when Arravale Rovers defeated Navan O’Mahony’s in the final.

10. Denis Walsh won five All-Ireland hurling medals with 21 years between the first and the last. He won the 1895, 1896 and 1898 titles with Tubberadora, the 1899 with Horse and Jockey and the 1916 with Tipperary (Boherlahan).

11. Both 1895 All-Irelands were the first to be played in Croke Park, then known as Jones’s Road.

12. The G.A.A. promoted athletics as much as hurling and football in the early years. James M. Ryan, Ballyslateen, Golden set up a world record in the high jump at 6ft 41/2in in the G.A.A. sports at Tipperary in August 1895. Tom Kiely of Ballyneale, Carrick-on-Suir was the All-Round gold medal in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, U.S.A.

13. At the first Munster Council meeting, held at Mallow on June 30, 1901, Dick Cummins of Fethard was elected President (chairman).

14. The All-Ireland winners of 1887 didn’t receive their medals until the end of 1911. No provision was made in 1887 for such expenditure and the money to purchase them wasn’t provided until the 1911 Munster Convention. The first photograph of the winning team – at least some of them – was taken on the occasion.

15. Tipperary won the first junior football All-Ireland, which was played in 1912. They defeated Louth by 1-4 to 1-3 in the final played at Jones’s Road, Dublin.

16. Tipperary were the first team to win the so-called hurling ‘Triple Crown’, winning the senior, junior and minor All-Irelands in 1930, defeating Dublin in the senior and Kilkenny in the junior and minor finals.

17. Tipperary, together with Cork, took part in the first hurling tour to Europe. This happened in 1910 when both teams were invited by the Pan-Celtic Congress to Brussels to give an exhibition of hurling. Tipperary, led by Tom Semple of Thurles, won the first of two games by 5-0 to 3-0, but lost the second, which was played on the battlefield of Fontenoy.

18. The first All-Ireland final in which teams of 15 took part was the 1913 hurling decider between Tipperary and Kilkenny at Jones’s Road on November 2. Kilkenny (Moincoin) defeated Tipperary (Toomevara) by 2-4 to 1-2

19. Tipperary were the first county hurling team to travel to the U.S. when they went on a ten-week tour in 1926. This trip visited New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. They were also the next team to visit the West coast in 1931 and the third team to do so in 1972.

20. Tipperary won the Golden Jubilee All-Ireland hurling final in 1937, when they defeated Kilkenny by 3-11 to 0-3 at Killarney. The reason for taking the game outside Dublin was because of work on the new Cusack Stand at Croke Park had been delayed because of a building strike.

21. One of the great hurling families of the country was the Leahy family of Tubberadora. Four of the family won All-Irelands. The oldest, Johnny, captained Tipperary to two All-Irelands, five Munster titles and one National Hurling League success. Sharing the same successes was his brother, Paddy. A third member, Mick, won an All-Ireland with Tipperary in 1916 and then, having moved to Cork and joining the famous Blackrock club, won two more All-Irelands with his adopted county, in 1928 and 1931. The youngest member of the family, Tommy, won an All-Ireland with Tipperary in 1930.

22. A Tipperary hurler was the first man to captain three All-Ireland hurling teams. Mikey Maher of the famous Tubberadora team captained Tipperary to three All-Ireland titles, in 1895 against Kilkenny, in 1896 against Dublin and in 1898 against Kilkenny.

23. Tipperary is the only county to win a senior hurling title in every decade since the foundation of the G.A.A.

24. The attendance at the 1945 All-Ireland between Tipperary and Kilkenny was 69,459, the first time the 60,000 mark had been surpassed

25. John Doyle is the only hurler with 11 National League medals. They were won in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1965.

26. In 1958 Tony Wall was the first recipient of the Caltex Award, predecessor of the Texaco and the Hurler of the Year Award

27. Tipperary played in the first hurling match to be broadcast,. The occasion was the replay of the 1926 Munster final against Cork at Thurles. The match ended in a draw. When Tipperary won the All-Ireland hurling final of 1971, it was the first game to by televised in colour by RTE

28. Tipperary were the first county to win the under-21 All-Ireland title, when they defeated Wexford by 8-9 to 3-1 in the final at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny on October 4, 1964.

29. Tipperary hurler, Jimmy Doyle, played in four minor All-Irelands. He lost the first to Dublin in 1954 as a goalkeeper and won the remaining three as a forward, against Galway in 1965 and against Kilkenny in 1956 and 1957.

30. Semple Stadium, Thurles was the venue for the G.A.A. Centenary All-Ireland 1984.

31. Roscrea were the first team to win the All-Ireland club championship, when they defeated St. Rynagh’s, Banagher in the 1970 final, which was played at Birr on December 19, 1971. The final score was 4-5 to 2-5.

32. Tipperary were first winners of the under-20 All-Ireland hurling championship in 2019, defeating Cork by 5-17 to 1-18 at Limerick.