I write these lines in advance of a class reunion in St Nathy’s College, Ballaghaderreen. It will see former pupils and classmates, who sat the leaving cert in 1981, gather to mark the forty years that have passed since those June days
The intention was to have this gathering in 2021 but, like lots of other things, that idea had to give way to the unwelcome presence that was, and is, COVID 19. In any case the idea remained and, thanks to a few members of the class who were anxious this would happen, the reunion takes place with people travelling from England, Australia and the United States as well as from all over Ireland. A WhatsApp group has kept us in contact for many months now and the sharing there was a bit of an eye-opener, tear-jerker and memory awakener.
Sadly, some of our classmates have died and some were not contactable but more that forty of that leaving cert class have responded and will meet. What will happen? What will be said? What will come of it all? At this moment in time, I have no idea! Perhaps I should have left this piece until after the reunion but, as Magnus Magnusson used to say, “I have started so I’ll finish”!!
One of the things that surprised and shocked me was the number of names that appeared in the WhatsApp group that I had forgotten. No doubt, my name, likewise, for others in the group. I suppose this really should not be that surprising as we all went our different ways that summer and, unless you lived local to someone or happened to go to the same college or profession, chances are that paths would not regularly cross. They didn’t for most of us and names brought back many memories.
Many of our teachers, including most of the priests who were on the staff of St Nathy’s during our time there (1976-81) have grown old, retired or died. As a priest of the diocese of Achonry, I was in contact with all of them through the years but not so for my classmates. In those early WhatsApp exchanges, a name might be mentioned with “Where is he now?” and, in many cases, I was the one to reply: “Sadly, he has died, R.I.P”. The same true of many of our lay teachers. I think of people like Frs Michael Joyce, Tom and Bob Flynn, Andy Johnston, Michael Giblin, Greg Hannan and some of our lay teachers like James Flanagan, Peadar O’Flaherty and Liam Carron – may they all rest in peace. My classmates were generally saddened to hear of these deaths, though we might not always have seen eye to eye with every teacher, nor they with us!!
As I have reflected on this Class Reunion, I am reminded of Masses I have celebrated through the years with children in sixth class of many primary schools. I have heard myself speak to them, asking them to roll the clock on twenty or thirty years into that place we call future. I tell them that they might be still in the parish or maybe in Adelaide or New York, Boston of Birmingham and whatever technology will be used for communications will alert them to a class reunion of their sixth class. I ask them to think about how they will respond. Will they delete? Will they re-read and decide: “Yes, I am going to be there?” If that is the response, plans will be made around travel, family, and work so that the reunion can take place. Could they imagine themselves not wanting to be there? I think most of them, could not.
Certainly, they would not believe that names mentioned might lead them to ask: “Was he, was she in my class?” As I speak to them in their classroom or assembly hall, they know each other so well. They can’t imagine that the passing of time might change that but, sadly, it does.
I finish by saying to them: “Don’t wait for thirty, forty or fifty years. The reunion is happening now – it happens every time you see each other, speak to other, share a game with each other, learn from each other and laugh with each other.
The reunion is NOW! Yours too, dear reader. Don’t wait to meet friends. Do it today.
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We had the reunion in August. A wonderful gathering and a joy to see so many there.