School Photograph - Independent House 1959

This week I am on holidays so Eye on the Past is largely comprised of what one man’s eyes saw through the lens of his camera in 1959. The occasion was a visit to Independent House in Middle Abbey Street in Dublin, home of the Independent group of newspapers by senior classes of the Christian Brothers School Athy. The one teacher I can recognise in the photograph was the then principal of the school, Brother Brett. The lay teacher standing at the back of the group I do not know, nor can I recognise him from the caption to the photograph when it appeared in the Irish Independent of 43 years ago. There he is identified as Mr. C. Buckley.

I believe the photograph is of pupils from the 5th year class as well as possibly the 2nd and 3rd year classes in the old Christian Brothers School in St. John’s Lane. The original photograph which was kindly lent to me by Ted Wynne has a note appended which gave the date of the visit as 1960. I think however since that was the year we sat our Leaving Certificate examination that it is more likely to have taken place the previous year when we were free of exam pressures. I am open to correction on this however and look forward to hearing from anyone who can identify some or all of the youngsters pictured in the photograph.

Many of those young fellows now approaching pension age will be coming to the class reunion scheduled for the weekend of 20th to 22nd September 2002. The latest bookings confirm that former classmates will be travelling from Australia, America, Canada, China and England to renew acquaintances with many they have not seen for over 40 years.

Details of the programme for the class reunion weekend are on the net at www.rawlinsons.com.au. If you know of anyone who was at school at anytime with the likes of Billy Browne, Teddy Kelly or Enda Dooley contact them and let them know of the upcoming reunion.

In the meantime let me have the names of those captured in this weeks photograph. Again, as with the previous class photograph, a book prize will be offered to the first person coming up with the names of the youngsters photographed on the roof of the Independent House in 1959 or was it 1960?