Past Pupils Union Dinner at St. Josephs C.B.S

As a large number of St. Joseph’s past pupils originally come from and currently reside in Clontarf, loveclontarf.ie felt that this story would be of interest to many of our readers.

Pictured above: Fr. Finbarr Neylon with Mr. Paddy Walsh, President and Mr. James Rogan, Secretary, PPU

On Friday, the 27^th of February 2015, the annual dinner of the Past Pupils Union of St. Joseph’s, Fairview took place in Clontarf Castle. As well as the large number of past pupils who attended guests included the presidents of the Past Pupils Unions of O’Connell’s, Synge Street and Westland Row.

The St. Joseph’s Past Pupils Union was set up 60 years ago, in 1955, by Br. Thomas Munchin Ó’Catháin, the Christian Brother who introduced the Leaving Cert into the school. He originally insisted that meetings were conducted through the Irish language, though that aspect has declined in the intervening years. One detail that remains, however, is that the annual dinner takes place without fail on the last Friday in February every year.

At every dinner, two awards are given out, in the form of glass trophies: The Student of the Year award is given out to a student from the Leaving Certificate class of the previous year, who has excelled in academic or other areas of life. The Hall of Fame award is granted to a past pupil in recognition of his services and achievements. This year Shane Conroy received the “Student of the Year” award. Shane is currently studying Digital Media Studies in IT Blanchardstown.  While in school in “Joey’s” Shane travelled to Zambia as part of the school’s Zambian Immersion Project where he and his colleagues worked on a building project in a school for orphaned and street children.  Fr. Finbarr, as well as being a past pupil, was also a past teacher in the school, before entering into religious life. He continues to be very supportive of the school, including celebrating the annual Past Pupil mass and the Sixth Year Graduation.

The Principal Mr. Gerard Cullen informed the attendees of current happenings in the school. He also gave a demonstration of how past pupils could subscribe to the school website and so keep up to date with current developments in the school. Two trusts were announced on the night: the Christy Oonan Scholarship Fund and the Jim Teeling Tuition Fund. Christy and Jim, both recently deceased, were past pupils who came back to the school as teachers, with Christy going on to become Deputy Principal.  The two funds, which will help students as they prepare for leaving cert and college life are in recognition of the tremendous work done by both men in their time in the school.  The current and future students of the school will no doubt benefit from these and other past pupils initiatives in the future. 

Dinner was served, followed by a raffle, old friendships were renewed and a good night was had by all. The Past Pupil’s Union continues to be well supported by former students. The school hopes to see you all past pupils again next year so for all “Joey’s” men out there, mark the last Friday in February in your calendar and remember to check out the P.P.U section of Joeys website to be kept informed of future events.

Pictured above: Shane Conroy, Student of the Year 2014 with Mr. Paddy Walsh, President PPU and Gerry Cullen, Principal