Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Twenty Three past pupils and guests togged out in glorious sunshine at Woodbrook GC for the Spring outing on Thursday May 8th. The outing was superbly organised by Captain Dermot Soraghan and Secretary Tony Kenny. Woodbrook was in magnificent condition and scoring was very good on the day.

The overall winner, with a great score of 42 points, was Dermot Soraghan. Runner up was Eugene Murray with Alan O’Connor in third place.

James O’Connor won the front nine and Pat Neill won the back nine.

Paddy O’Donoghue had the best score (12 points) on the par threes and the visitors prize was won by Brian Cleary.

The next outing, the Captain’s day, is planned for Foxrock GC at 12.30 on Thursday October 2nd. Foxrock holds fond memories for us all and Captain Dermot is looking forward to welcoming a big group of past pupils and guests on his day.

Secretary Tony Kenny issued an appeal for “a bit of sponsorship” for the Society so that the outings can break even.

Below are some photos taken on the day. Note that blue sky.

Guests Philip Browne, Fergus Scanlan and Denis Guilfoyle enjoy a quiet pint before the presentation

Captain Dermot receives his prize from Secretary Tony after great score on the day.

Pat Neill (class of 1973) was elected as PPU President at the AGM on March 27th. 2025. Pat was elected Row Person of the Year for 2020 and has served on the committee for a number of years. He is a keen golfer and a regular player on the ROW society outings.

Pat joined An Garda Siochana in 1974 and was appointed Detective in 1978 involved in the newly formed anti terrorist unit. He reached the rank of Inspector.

In 1997 Pat completed his academic education with the International Executive Master in Business Administration at Smurfit Business school.

Pat had a long and outstanding career with the Guards and then joined Dundrum Shopping Centre as Security Manager.

Pat was invited on to the Board of Board of Dun Laoire Chamber of Commerce in 2008. From May 2016 to May 2018 Pat served as President of the DLR Chamber of Commerce.

Westland Row students invited to take part in Sail Training Course!   

The pupils of CBS Westland Row are now on their Easter holidays, but for those students who hope to win a place on one of the upcoming Atlantic Youth Trust sail training voyages in May 2025, they may well be busy over the next two weeks. 

Thanks to the efforts of Past Pupil Joe Ryan (Class of 1967), Atlantic Youth Trust (AYT) are offering three sail training places to Row students on board the magnificent vessel Grace O’Malley, KLEVIA (below). 

The first trip takes place on May 5^th next, and over 5 days will sail from Dublin across the Irish Sea to Wales, then the Isle of Man, on to Northern Ireland and back to Dun Laoire or Howth – all routes are subject to weather conditions on the day. 

With the co-operation of the Principal, Kate Byrne, Joe recently arranged a meeting and presentation to senior students at the school, explaining the activities of AYT along with great news about bursaries which have been arranged to cover almost all the cost of the trips for the selected students. AYT was represented by their Chairman, Mr John Murphy and by the Operations Director, Mr Peter Scallen. Along with Joe, they spoke to an enthusiastic group of around 35-40 students about the role of sail training in developing life skills, resilience, and co-operation among the young people who take part in the trips.  

Following the presentation, the students broke up into groups and discussed the skills needed for a successful voyage. It was agreed that Navigation, Steering, Chart Reading, Cooking, Cleaning, general communication skills, and co-operation would be essential. In order to help select three students for the trip, those interested were asked to submit reasons why they should be chosen, using either an essay, video, podcast, small work of art, or a short story! A deadline for submissions of April 28^th was agreed, and the school along with AYT will work to select the three students immediately after that date.  

Our Past Pupil Joe Ryan grew up in Sandymount, and along with his brother Adrian (Class of 1973) attended the Row up to Leaving Certificate. Joe spent a number of years at sea as a Ship’s Radio Officer, moving then to a role in the IT Industry, before spending almost 20 years of his career in the onshore division of the Irish Coast Guard. Joe has a keen interest in sailing and is firm believer in the work done by AYT in giving opportunities to those who might otherwise be passed by.  

Sadly, Joe’s brother Adrian passed away after a long illness in July 2017 and Joe has now created a bursary in his name. The objective of the bursary is to fund a Sail Training place for one disadvantaged youth each year from an inner city school in Dublin or Belfast. Joe is pleased to fund one of the three Row Student places this summer from Adrian’s bursary, and is also delighted that AYT have agreed to fund the two other places from bursaries that they have received. The PPU will make a small contribution, and to ensure “buy-in” from the selected students, they too will be expected to contribute, possibly through a school Cake Sale or other fund raising activities. 

We wish all the participants well and look forward to the results of the selection process and the voyage itself! 

In June 2015, Don Cameron (class of 1971), published a News Blog about the school’s 1964 Centenary celebrations which attracted huge interest from past pupils. The PPU produced a video of the events, which was available on DVD for many years. Don, who is proficient in the technological arts associated with blogging , publishing etc and a weekly columnist on Dublin Gazette, has reproduced his 2015 blog but, this time, he has incorporated the DVD. This enables us to click directly on the video and I attach the link below for your enjoyment. Hopefully, you will still be able to pick your young self out after all these years. Enjoy??

Incidentally, Don spotted Sean Canavan, who died last year, amongst the pupils on the video and he sent a link to Sean’s family in South Africa. The gesture was greatly appreciated by them.

https://westlandrowppu.blog/category/centenary-celebrations/

Forty Eight past pupils and seven guests attended the PPU Annual Dinner at the Westbury Hotel on Saturday January 25th 2025. This most enjoyable occasion also featured the presentation of the PV Doyle trophy to John Murray (class of 62), ROW Person of the Year 2025.

School Principal, Kate Byrne, addressed the gathering and advised that the school is doing well and has about two hundred students. She said that many of the students come to the school in very difficult circumstanes but they find a caring atmosphere where they can study and realise their potential. Kate praised Deputy Principal, Cathriona O’Sullivan and her staff for their great work. She also thanked the PPU for its valuable contribution including the provision of bursaries to two pupils and the purchase of “hoodies” for the ladies rugby squad which is enjoying great popularity amongst the girls.

The President also mentioned some of the ways the PPU had helped the school during the year before introducing John Murray for the presentation of the PV Doyle trophy. John has been a member of the PPU committee for over forty years and he served as President in 2010/11. He has been our main negotiator with the Westbury in respect of the Annual Dinner. Dan outlined aspects of John’s career in the Worlds of Accountancy and Life and Pensions. These were mentioned in more detail in News Blog of December 20th 2024.

Dan also thanked the many past pupils who attended the dinner or sent apologies as well as many who donated funds to support the raffle and dinner.

The excellent photos below are just a small sample of the many photos taken by John Murray’s son, Stephen, who is a professional photographer. Stephen is multi talented as he is also an Architect and an actor. He currently features very prominently in a popular ad for the FBD Insurance Co. Many thanks to Stephen. I hope to publish more of the photos in later News Blogs.

Welcome to our Annual Dinner at the Westbury tonight. I wish everybody a most enjoyable evening. Dan Ferrari, PPU President.

Below are some photos of recent PPU activities. Enjoy

The Past Pupils Union is delighted to announce that John Murray (class of 1962) has been elected ROW Person of the Year for 2025. John is one of six brothers who attended the ROW and who are still active members of the PPU.

John has been a PPU committee member for many years and served as President in 2010/11. He contributed greatly to all aspects of its work and social activities especially the organisation and running of the annual dinner. He has been our front line negotiator with the Westbury Hotel and has worked his charm on the young ladies, with whom he has negotiated there, to get a good deal, not only on the meal price, but on the little “extras” which make all the difference to our enjoyment. These include the drop of Pernod in the mushroom soup, the champagne afternoon tea for the raffle and the printed menu which includes information on past presidents and ROW Persons down the years. In recent years he has also acted as our photographer and many fine photographs of his can be viewed on previous News Blog pages.

John’s career, after leaving school in 1962, was spent in the Worlds of Accountancy and Life Assurance. He attributes his aptitude for figures to the excellent teaching in Maths which he got in the ROW. He believes that skill in numeracy is very important for all students on leaving school.

He started his career in 1962 as an audit clerk with Coopers and Lybrand and continued his studies in the evenings at the College of Commerce, Rathmines.

John’s next posting in 1963 was to the newly opened Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge where he got his first introduction to computers, an IBM 4200 punch-card system. During this posting, JFK visited Ireland so the entire hotel was taken over by the US State Department. Exciting times indeed for a lad fresh out of school!!

John’s next assignment was at Aspro-Nicholas on the Naas Road. Whilst there he took up a position in the Cost and Works, Purchasing and Production Planning functions.

By this time, John was studying at the IMI where he met two ROW old boys, Pat Stynes and Oliver Byrne who introduced him to Past Pupils events.

John’s further evening studies brought him to the NIHE where he made contacts who later enticed him to get involved in a start-up venture importing nursery/toy brands.

Around this time he attended many ROW meetings and annual dinners mostly at the Montrose Hotel.

John, standing left, with class mates from 1962, at golf outing at Craddockstown Golf Club circa 2013.

Around 1985/6 John joined a newly founded Life Assurance Company called Abbey Life as a Training/Sales Development Manager. Abbey Life was acquired by Canada Life in 1993 with whom John enjoyed a very successful period until he retired in 2007. He did not neglect his studies, even in later years, and achieved QFA and CFP designations.

John continues to put his experience and knowledge to good use as a volunteer strategist with the Credit Union.

John is a keen philatelist and has a full collection of every Irish stamp issued from the foundation of the State.

Genealogy is another of John’s hobbies and he has identified over 10, 000 relatives/ancestors dating back to 1688.

John with brothers Bernard and Eugene

No doubt, there will be a big gathering of the clans when John receives the PV Doyle trophy from President, Dan Ferrari, at the dinner in the Westbury on Saturday January 25th. next.

Booking for the dinner is now open so make sure of your place by email to rowppu.62@westlandrowppu.blog or by WhatsApp to Row News.

A large group of past pupils attended Mass for our deceased past pupils on St Andrews day, Sunday December 1st 2024. The Mass, at St. Andrews Westland Row, was celebrated by the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Paul Dempsey, who was assisted by PPU Chaplin, Fr. Eugene McCarthy and Fr. Alan Hilliard, the recently appointed Administrator at Westland Row.

The number of past pupils who died during the last twelve months was read out by Deacon, Dermot McCarthy, at the beginning of Mass and was a record high of fourteen names as follows;

John Duncan, Matt Wallace, Jerry Carroll, Paul Donohue, Ray McCarthy, Emmet Bergin, Fran Rooney, Sean Canavan, Paddy Walsh, Tommy Tracey, Fr. Myles Kavanagh CP, John Sherwin, John Henry, Jack McGinley.

It is with great sadness that we announce that Jack died suddenly on November 24th. 2024. Kieran Jack, or Jack as we all knew him, was a member of the class of 1971 and one of the great stalwarts of the PPU for many years. The PPU was in danger of falling apart in the nineties but Jack stepped in and rallied a group around him to keep the show on the road. He went on to serve five years as President. His many achievements as a trade union activist, labour historian, Trinity College bookshop operator and on the playing fields at the Row and Clanna Gael have been chronicled by his class mates and many friends and can be read by browsing through the PPU emails on row.62@westlandrowppu.blog.

There is a saying that a picture tells a thousand words so lets have a look at some of Jack in action at Row functions etc. over the years.

Fr. Myles passed away peacefully in Belfast on November 10th. and was buried at Holy Cross Ardoyne on November 14th.

Fr. Myles was elected ROW Person of the Year 2017 and received the PV Doyle trophy from President Brian Duncan. Fr. Myles made an inspirational acceptance speech which he started by quoting the words of James Connolly “the weakest link is ignorance” and he continued, in a riveting address, to remind his audience of the important contributions made by people like Nano Nagle, Catherine McAuley, Mother Mary Aikenhead and Blessed Edmond Rice in breaking the chain of ignorance, which made slaves of the people of Ireland, in their times and later. Fr Myles said that attending a Christian Brothers school like Westland Row inspired him to become a priest.

Fr. Myles’s working life was spent mainly in one of Northern Ireland’s “black spots”, the Ardoyne in North Belfast. in 1977 he set up the Flax Trust to bring about reconciliation through economic development. Since then he has been responsible for establishing a wide variety of projects and provide help to many charities. Fr. Myles took his message to America in 1988 when he founded the Flax Trust/America.

Fr. Myles lived an extraordinary life of service to his local community and further afield. On the night of his presentation in 2017 he presented a substantial five figure cheque to school principal, Kate Byrne, which was a great help to our old alma mater. Myles was a man of whom all ROW people can be truly proud. There will not be his likes again. God rest you old friend.