Recalling primary 5th Class in CBS Mitchelstown

The happy group of boys pictured here are the 5th class of the CBS Mitchelstown Primary School taken in 1965 on the occasion of their Confirmation, almost all of fifty-eight years ago. Two that I know of have now passed on to their eternal reward, Gerry Whelan and Mark Barrett (RIP).

It was a far simpler and innocent time that we lived in, the most common name adopted by most of the class for their Confirmation was Columbanus, Finbarr or Fanahan.

All of us walked to school and the privileged few had bicycles available to them. Our friends from the countryside would walk many miles in all kinds of weather to school, many of them after helping out on the farm in the morning with needful chores. A family car was a luxury and a house telephone had a three digit dial code.

I have an outstanding memory of a great teacher, Brother Seaver, who we had teaching in sixth class. He had a commanding presence in the classroom and had no need to resort to corporal punishment to keep discipline and control. He was very dedicated and well ahead of his time in terms of teaching methods and technique.

The mysteries of Algebra and the solving of Fractions became a process of logic to all. We were obliged to join the library and keep a notebook record of ‘Gems’ of the book we were reading. These were sentences of outstanding literary merit which we would weave into essays. He would read the Examiner Editorial to us and asked us to write out our thoughts on its message. All of the class thankfully flew through the Primary Certificate examinations through his careful guidance and dedication.

His most outstanding contribution was in giving grinds to boys outside of class to prepare them to avail of the grant aid for payment of secondary school fees. Free secondary education was not available at that time. Many who availed of his valued input went on to become graduates and lead very successful careers.

Extracurricular activities were made available which included football, basketball, chess and of course there was the primary school band. I think society owes a great debt of gratitude to the Christian Brothers who took on the role of educating the youth of the country and in making such an important contribution to the high standards of education that we have today. Education has underpinned the success of the national economy, that we now enjoy.

Ni bheidh a leithead ann aris.

CBS Mitchelstown Primary School, pictured in 1965 - Front row (l-r): L Molan, J Wall, J Ryan, P Roche, M Barrett (RIP), R Gardiner, G Hayes and J Mullins. 2nd row l-r: G O’Brien, E Burke, M Maher, J O’Callaghan, M Considine, E Roche, T O’Brien and D Nagle. 3rd row l-r: B Fitzgibbon, C O’Brien, S O’Donovan (RIP), C O’Brien, M Barrett, M Aherne, J Casey and B Brown. Back row (l-r): J O’Brien, G Whelan (RIP), M Seymour, A Ryan, J Mulcahy, K Dwane, J O’Keeffe, T Roche and R Hanna.