Garbally - Class of 1969 Jubillee

A group of 28 past pupils of the 1969 Leaving Cert Class met in Garbally College this Autumn. Unfortunately in the preparatory work it was found that 9 of the classmates have passed away. May they rest in peace. When the group assembled in Garbally at 2pm on the 18th of Oct. some time was spent on who could recognise who! The current President Fr. Colm Allman, who co-incidentally departed Garbally for Maynooth College in 1964, the year this class first entered the College, gave a warm welcome. He celebrated mass and afterwards a number of past pupils said that he gave the crew a lot to chew on. He also gave a brief history of the Clancarty Mansion and of the wonderful art work in the house made by renowned Irish Sculptor, Albert Power.

​After receiving refreshments, kindly provided by Fr. Colm, the past students got the opportunity to see where most of them had spent 5 years and former dayboys got to see places they had never seen during their time at secondary school. It was a 50 plus years flashback. The past pupils then motored to Gullane’s Hotel for an evening meal. Just prior to dinner they were met by Bishop Kirby, who started teaching in Garbally in 1963. The “students” were amazed at his memory and very much appreciated his effort to meet them. During and after a first class meal the rest of the evening was spent “ar bhóithrín na smaointe” going back over the years at school and of course what people did since. Occupations undertaken were as varied as the personalities present. Most are now retired but they had solicitors, nurses, printers, tax and business consultants, bankers, teachers, computer experts, Gardaí, financial controllers, General Managers, Arts promoters, farmers and business owners among the troop. The excitement of the day left most wishing to meet up again - ach beidh le feiceáil!