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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 03 June 2022
kilkennyobserver.ie
Feature
Free access to secondary education courtesy of Callan CBS Coláiste Éamann Rís have just launched a book to celebrate 154 years in Callan County Kilkenny.
It is a book chockablock with information, stories and photos that is a must for any former student or indeed those with an interest in the history of Callan. Many former students were asked to contribute an article to cover the different decades of the school. One such contributor is Dr Joe Kearney. Below, The Kilkenny Observer reproduces Joes article.
I
magine her propping the bicycle against Mrs Nolan’s side gate, adjusting the knot on her headscarf and walking through the narrow entrance into the school yard. It would be evening time, after her day’s work had finished and more than likely she was weary. The light would be low in the sky at that time of year. I imagine her walking through the concrete yard past the toilet block, the handball alley silent, no crows or gulls squabbling over discarded bread crusts, the bicycle shed empty. The oppressive loneliness
The original CBS stone
of a vacant school. She would have been uncertain of where to go. I see her looking about for direction, finally deciding to climb the stone steps, flanking her progress the severely pruned rose bushes not yet in leaf. She would have been impressed with the shine on the door brasses when she eventually stood outside the monastery. Before raising her hand towards the door did she pause to take stock of her surroundings? She was still a young woman and very much on unfamiliar ground. This was not the place for femininity. Here was a zone of brutal cement
architecture, straight lines and silence. I believe her heart hammered louder than the knocker when she rapped on that big door. I do not know how long she had to wait before it swung open. She’d have held the letter in her hand when she asked to see Brother Bourke. The letter that I was instructed to pass to her and that requested her presence to meet with the brother superior of the Christian Brothers in Callan. Maybe he saw how nervous she was, how she sat forward on the chair afraid to make an inappropriate move. Perhaps he offered her tea and a thin biscuit? I don’t know the words they spoke with one another but I do know that the exchange they made changed my life forever. PRIMARY CERTIFICATE MEANT END OF EDUCATION This was 1964, I was preparing to complete my Primary Certificate and that should have represented the end of the line for my formal education. There was no free second level education at that time and my mother did not have the resources to pay the required fees. I was destined for the labour market, more than likely destined for the boat to England. But this is where destiny
Brother Jim Dunne on left watching President Hillery sign the visitor’s book in Westcourt
intervened. Like a pointing finger from the Heavens in a Renaissance painting I was singled out. To this day it still astonishes me how and why that was the case. I was a very unlikely candidate for special attention, the child of an unmarried mother should have fallen through the education cracks and be allowed to cope with whatever chances life offered. However that evening in the Callan monastery changed all that. Brother Bourke explained that he thought I would benefit from secondary school education and that I would not be asked for
fees. No one would be the wiser and I would be treated equally with my fellow students. And that was the case during the years that followed. O’MALLEY INTRODUCES FREE EDUCATION Donogh O’Malley, the then education minister, announced plans for free second level education in 1966 even though his proposal had not been sanctioned by the Department of Finance. It was a brave move for any politician. The scheme was finally introduced in September of 1967. But
in the years prior to the implementation of that plan I was privileged to receive free access to secondary education courtesy of Callan CBS and in particular the superior Brother Bourke. I can see him clearly in my mind’s eye. A tall man with a great shock of swept-back steely grey hair. Bespectacled and severe in outlook, he was a no-nonsense Christian Brother. When it came to corporal punishment he was a believer, to quote himself, in the ‘board’ of education. This was a time when Ireland viewed the offerings of Telefis Eireann in black and white. Most of all we loved
Deputy Principal now retired Pat Ryan presents Rory Hennessy with an academic award
