Fine tribute to the late Mr O’Reilly

THERE was a fine tribute to Peter O’Reilly in the INTO magazine recently, courtesy of his former colleagues in St Joseph’s CBS.

His first anniversary is just around the corner in June and I believe a special memorial soccer tournament is being planned to mark that.

Peter spent over 50 years in the Joe’s, as a student and then teacher and colleagues recalled him cycling to school with his high vis jacket and how the boys would follow him around the school, asking when the next soccer match was on or did he think the Drogs would have a winning season.

‘During his teaching career Peter also got great satisfaction from engaging with children of the Travelling community and the pupils of St Itas in his capacity as a shared resource teacher over a number of years’, they explained.

The staff said they’d remember him as a gentleman and someone who would always help a colleague without question.

He was a member of the St Brigid’s Drama group and was known to ‘supplement’ a script on occasion, adding to the hilarity and fun for his fellow actors.

His lessons on art and local history revealed his wealth of talent and deep knowledge of his town.

Peter had been diagnosed with motor neurone shortly before his death on June 6 last year.

Peter’s legacy will always live on whenever the Joe’s is mentioned, that is certain.

I should also say the magazine also carried a tribute to former Lismullen teacher Pat Sheridan and the great role he played there.

EVERY time I’m up at the train station in Drogheda my eyes are drawn across the busy road below to a real gem of a house, Bayview. It was built between 1850 and 1855, described as a Victorian Villa, but it has seen better times and a lot of the windows are bricked up. It has been the subject of some controversy down the years and the last I heard was lined up to become home to 21 apartments. I recall the Bord Pleanala inspector on visiting the site about two years ago said the house still contained the ceiling features as well as the staircase, but obvious damage and vandalism had taken place. Hopefully some day Bayview will spark into life again.