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newsletter deals with the history of the Patrician schools of Redfern,
Waterloo, and Forest Lodge.
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| December, 2000 - Volume 7 Issue 4 |
Table of Contents
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CLONOULTY COINCIDENCE The last issue of The Green Sash was in the post when one of our readers, Betty Spillane, was motoring to Galong, near Harden in New South Wales to attend a retreat conducted by the Redemptorists at St. Clementâs Retreat Centre. During her stay, on Tuesday 3 October last, took place the unveiling of an Historic Plaque to mark the first homestead of Edward (Ned) Ryan by the Lord Mayor of Clonoulty, Paddy Heffernan and the launching of Fr. Max Barrett C.Ss.Râs revised edition of King of Galong Castle. The Rector, Father Patrick Corbett and the local Mayor, Mr. Chris Manchester, welcomed those in attendance to Galong Castle. The program contained the following: A Touch of History A monument erected in Ballagh in the parish of Clonoulty, Co. Tipperary, tells something of the early life of Edward Ryan. It was unveiled by the Australian Ambassador to Ireland in 1988, the Australian Bicentenary Year. The Lord Mayor of Clonoulty, Mr Paddy Heffernan will read the inscription on the monument. Erected
by the people of Clonoulty and Rossmore
In the 19th century, two groups came from the parish of Clonoulty, County Tipperary to New South Wales. The first came as convicts in prison garb to build roads and work the land. The second, Patrician Brothers, came free to labour in Godâs fields. Those interested in the
retreat should contact the Retreat Supervisor, Ph. 02 6386
7214
MELBOURNE CUP WEEK For a number of years the township of Berry has welcomed an influx of visitors who choose to stay at the Sports and Recreation Centre located two kilometres from the centre of the township. Most of these are children from Sydney/Wollongong or country schools. However during Melbourne Cup week the school-children are joinedt by some 16 or so ãOldiesä who grew up in the ãwildsä of Glebe and Forest Lodge and welded childhood friendships that have lasted a lifetime. Some married those they had known from their earliest years. Their love had blossomed in the joyous years of the CYO. From Monday to Friday of Melbourne Cup week they recapture the glorious days of their youth. Wal Nolan, Les McMahon, Des Rochfort and Kevin Scott recall all the antics of the classrooms. Stan Fletcher and Geoff Vickers, alumnus of St Benedictâs and St Josephâs College, respectively, go with the flow. Both, however, were taught by Sister Declan Connelly at St. Itaâs on St. Johnâs Road, Glebe. Mary [Booler] Rochfort has a photographic memory and her recollections are confirmed by Maree [Alleyne] Kennedy, Pat [Wellings] McMahon, Pat [Bedford] Walsh, Cheri [Holland] Nolan, Sadie [Eves] Fletcher and Pauline [Eves] Vickers. All the girls and Wal, Les and Kevin were taught by Sister Imelda Mary Callaghan at St. James. Rhonda [Larden] Scott, alumna of St Kevinâs, Eastwood looks on in wonderment. Forest Lodge had a great CYO. We were fortunate to have the facility of the two-storey building on the corner of Bridge Road and Rosebank Street. It was the original [circa 1880] school building in Forest Lodge. The Hall and Stage were downstairs. Harry Ritterâs two-piece Band played there every Sunday night, immediately following Benediction. Entry two shillings. For those who needed dancing lessons, Pat Wyer was there on Saturday afternoons for the nominal charge of sixpence a lesson. It cost me two shillings and sixpence [25 cents in modern parlance] to learn the Gypsy Tap. Concerts were regularly held with Bob Martlew producing the show and doing his Danny Kaye impressions, Harry Ritter, of course, was on the piano with Brian Ronan on drums. Kevin Scott was compere, selected for the job simply because he was the only one who turned up in a suit. The cast included, Pauline [Eves] Vickers and Sylvia [Drinkwater] Martlew in comedy sketches. Our star was Max Davis who had a tenor voice to rival Mario Lanza. Ralph Rochester gave an outstanding rendition of White Christmas and other Bing Crosby favourites. Oh, it was a big night when the Concert was held. Regrettably, they ceased when Bobâs jokes got too risque. They wouldnât raise an eyebrow today. The 4th Class room became the table-tennis room and was a popular venue. The next room, the old 7th Class housed the three-quarter sized snooker table where snooker and billiards were in constant play. Somehow, on occasions, the game of pontoon captured the interest of the snooker players. This practice was not part of the prescribed activities and was definitely frowned upon, especially by the losers. The old 5th and 6th [combined] Class room housed the boxing ring. We did not produce any great performers, but it was always full of those who had hopes of going places. The remaining room, 3rd Class, Brother Fidelisâ old domain, housed the punching bag and change-room. We had one fellow who came over from Stanmore CYO to work-out on the bag, with his trainer putting him through his combinations. He looked great but I never saw him get into the boxing ring. Anyway, the CYO championships were held at Rushcutterâs Bay Stadium. He was scheduled to fight a chap from Newtown CYO. This fellow showed no finesse at all. He was a fighter. The bell rang out. The fighter from Newtown rushed across the ring with both fists in perpetual motion. The boxer from Stanmore didnât so much as reach the centre of the ring. He never landed a blow; it was a terrible sight. A decided lack of interest in the art of boxing ensued. Wrestling showed a definite upturn. The big drawcards were the girlsâ Netball competition and the Rugby League competition for the boys. Ah! How sweet are the memories. You can see what held us together. The girls were welcome partners in our activities. The weekly dances, the concerts, table tennis, some even ventured an attempt at snooker. In short, there was nothing odd about the boys and girls of Forest Lodge! They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Taken at the Berry Sports & Recreation Centre.
Stan Fletcher, Geoff Vickers, Des Rochfort, Les McMahon, Wal Nolan, Kevin Scott.
Rhonda
Scott, Pauline Vickers, Mary Rochfort, Sadie Fletcher,
HISTORY PROJECT Brother Paul OâConnor [1916-1993] recorded: 1892 Annual Retreat at Ryde attended by 24 Brothers. The names of the Brothers and the date of the retreat were not stated. Brother Paul only detailed the numbers in each community However, The Freemanâs Journal on page 16 of the issue of 23 January 1892 reported on the event. We shall endeavour to identify the Brothers. They appear in alphabetical order. The years shown are those in which the Brothers were in the province. ãAä immediately following the year indicates those Brothers identified as having entered the Congregation in New South Wales. The community also is shown. 1 Bergin Stanislaus
Bathurst 1885 1911
As the retreat was held in January 1892, the following Brothers must be excluded from the list. 17 OâNeill Dominic
[These Brothers listed on SS Ophir 21 April
Accordingly, of the 26 Brothers identified, only 23 Brothers could have attended. No record has been found of Brothers Dominic and Fintan OâNeillâs sailing to Ireland which had to occur sometime in 1891 ö perhaps to attend the Annual Retreat of the Irish province held in the month of August. The recording of Outwards Passenger Listings did not commence until 1898. It seems Brother Paul OâConnor was unaware of their visit to Ireland and subsequent return with Brother Bernard OâToole. In fact, Brother Paul recorded on page 4 of his document: Brother Fintan OâNeill went back to India about end of 1891. Returned 1901. Died Ryde 1932. Brother Dominic OâNeill attended General Chapter 1892. Remained in Ireland until his death in 1902. The above indicates that Brother Paul OâConnor had some evidence of the departure of Brother Fintan OâNeill from the province in 1891. But it poses the question. Did Brother Fintan previously serve in the Indian province? No. Therefore, should not India read Ireland? From the above comments we know that Brother Fintan OâNeill was not included in the 24 Brothers at the retreat. The Freemanâs Journal, dated 9 July 1892 reported: Three Patrician Brothers [Dominic OâNeill, Fintan OâNeill and Bernard OâToole] arrived on the SS Ophir [on 21 April 1892] and two left for Ireland by the SS Oruba. The Brothers [Dominic OâNeill and Fintan OâNeill] who have left Sydney are delegates to the General Chapter of the Order to be held this year in the Head House, Mountrath Queenâs [Laois] County, Ireland. The SS Oruba sailed from Sydney on 23 May 1892 (State Records, N.S.W. ö Reel 2772). So, Brothers Fintan and Dominic OâNeill sailed for Ireland to attend the General Chapter only 32 days after their return with Brother Bernard OâToole. This adds to the mystery of their first journey. The General Chapter began in 1892 and concluded in 1893. Brother Dominic OâNeill never returned to these shores. In a recent letter, Brother Linus Walker, the Orderâs archivist and historian in Ireland commented, As your ãClonoultyä extracts indicate Fintan OâNeill was at the 1892-3 General Chapter. I do not recall that he is stated to have returned to Sydney so early as 1892. I believe he was retained in Ireland until transferred to India in company with the returning Provincial, Bro. A. M. Hogan, who needed experienced men for a new undertaking at Coonoor. He actually placed Fintan at Madras much against the latterâs will. Brother Fintan OâNeill returned to Australia from India in 1901. Thinking there may have been a local novice of whom I was unaware I reconciled the numbers detailed in the communities and realised that Brother Paulâs totalled 26. Two Brothers were not at the retreat! Detailed below is the reconciliation of the communities:
Shown on previous page
Bro. OâConnor
It is clear that Brother Paul was aware that two Brothers were absent from the retreat, in all probability, Brother Fintan OâNeill and Brother Bernard OâToole. Therefore the 24th Brother had to be Brother Dominic OâNeill. But he, too, must be excluded. The variation in the numbers at some communities is of little moment. At the time of the retreat, the schools would have been closed for holidays. It is recorded in Once A Soldier- The life of Brother J. Howlin. - The Brothers in Australia had not been included in the degree of temporary approbation because of the financial arrangements entered into with the Bishops in 1880, but they were included by special indult in 1891. Was this the reason for Brothers Dominic and Fintan OâNeillâs visit to Ireland in 1891? Brother Ignatius Price was appointed Senior Superior in 1891. Why was this necessary? Was it because of the absence of the OâNeills? It is important to recall that Bro. Ignatius was appointed Provincial in 1893. A LETTER FROM IRELAND In October last came a letter from the Generalate archivist and historian, Brother Linus Walker, now located at Kingston, Galway, County Galway. In his letter Brother Linus makes a reference to you and your colleagues. It is felt that this embraces us all; Committee, Editorial Committee, our alumni and friends. With this in mind, we reproduce Brother Linus letter for the information of all. Braithre Padraig
Patrician Brothers
9. X. 00 Dear Mr Scott, Only this morning I took your address supplied to me nearly two months since, by Bro Mark Ryan and placed it on my desk in preparation of writing to you. Then in mid-morning the latest edition of ãThe Green Sashä arrived with the post and now twelve hours later and approaching an old manâs bed-time, I take pen in hand. Hopefully late will again be preferable to not at all. Thank you and God bless you for the magnificent work done over the years since you took up the history of the inner-city Patrician Schools. It pains me that of three of our earliest establishments (19th century) we have so little by way of records. You and your colleagues have conferred an immense favour on Patricians, on the Australian church and indeed on Australian society by your research and by the pleasant readable form in which you so diligently circulate the results. In a folder left me by Mark I observe some queries on which you observe, as falling within my scope as G. Archivist, that they may be referred to me. On the accompanying page I attempt such an answer as is present in my power. Our archival sources are all boxed up, nailed down and even divided between two separate locations, following the disposal of our Generalate earlier this year, so I cannot at present check anything against the usual authorities. I see by the current ãGreen Sashä that you have given the Tipperary and particularly the ãClonoulty Patriciansä to your readers. Bro Boniface Carroll, without whose labours we would have been left with very little, remarks in his version of the Australian saga that ãif not so many of the early pioneers had been selected from the same area of Tipperary the results may have been more happy.ä A man of strong opinions was Boniface, but himself a worthy pioneer in archival matters. Since I must leave Galway by the early morning train ö in pursuit of further history ö I must beg to finish now. Thank you again for your most valuable work and the devotion which lies behind it. Go inbuanai Dia thu. Gratefully and sincerely yours, (Brother) Linus (Walker) PATRICIAN BROTHERS 1883 - 2000 A total of 223 Brothers have been identified to the Australian province. As the province now includes Papua New Guinea we will need to add the indigenous P.N.G. Brothers to complete the record. Ninety-two Brothers are known to have been members of the Redfern community 1885ö1964. Forty-four have been identified as having taught at Waterloo 1908-1963 and 53 Brothers have been identified at Forest Lodge 1892ö1967. Of these 53 Brothers, 17 are known to have made the ãlong marchä during the years 1892-1922, the oldest being Brother Jerome McAuley, in his 84th year, in 1912. Many of the Brothers taught at any two of the three schools, some taught at all three. ARMIDALE On 19 October last took place the official opening of the refurbished Catholic Schools Office at Armidale. Brother Mark Ryan attended on behalf of the Patrician Brothers and presented notes compiled from The Freemans Journal during the years 1889-1896 which catalogue in part the story of St. Patrickâs College administered by the Patrician Brothers from 1889-1897. Researching eight years of a weekly newspaper, 418 issues, is an extremely daunting task. Brother Mark completed the exercise in a matter of days, extracting twenty A4 pages of historical references. Alumni will be pleased to know that our research assisted in identifying the 16 Brothers who ministered at Armidale and the community lists for those years. Brother Mark provided photos of six of the Brothers. At our Annual Luncheon at South Sydney Leaguesâ Club, Brother Mark passed on a copy of his document from which we publish the following record. Another link has been forged in the chain of the history of the Patrician Brothers in New South Wales in the 19th century. From the Brothersâ Archives. The records indicate the following Brothers, shown in alphabetical order, ministered at Armidale from 1889 till the end of 1896. Brother Louis Carroll
1889
The communities are listed below, with the Superior and Principal first shown. Interestingly, the Principal was addressed as President of the College. Perhaps this was at the behest of the Bishop, Dr. E Torreggiani O.S.F.C. [born at Porto di Rocanati, near Loreto, Italy on 28 May 1830. He was consecrated Bishop of Armidale at Peckham, England on 25 March 1879. The Freemans Journal, 6 July 1895, page 18 ö from Brother Markâs extracts.] 1889 Eugene Ryan, Louis Carroll,
Ligouri Higgins, Ambrose Ryan.
REPORT ON ANNUAL LUNCHEON We have all read of South Sydney Leaguesâ Club fight to be reinstated in the National Rugby League. We wish South Sydney every success in their quest. Our luncheon held at South Sydney Leaguesâ was an outstanding success. The venue, ambience, service and food were outstanding. We record our thanks to the Directors, Management and Staff for all that was done to make us so very welcome at South Sydney Leaguesâ. The Club again made the sports area available to us. This is a wonderful location on the ground floor of the building with bar service incorporated in the area. There was ample space to mix and chat, prior to and after dining. All thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. We were thrilled to have among us the Provincial, Brother Paul OâKeeffe and Brothers Charles Barry, Bernard Bulfin, Mark Ryan, Patrick Lovegrove, Joseph Guidera, Gerard Bulfin and Basil Downey. We also were delighted to welcome Martin Jackson, down from Queensland. While our numbers were slightly down this year the Committee was heartened by the support to the raffle and the donations received. The cost of the supplementary banner has been met and we broke even on the day with sufficient funds in hand to meet our operating costs for the year 2001. It was a grand day. Such a day recalls to mind Spencer Doyle (R.I.P.), a past President of the Glebe Rowing Club and an old associate of the writer. Spen had a wry sense of humour and would have described the day, with pursed lips and a shake of his head, as ö another ãdisasterä! We hope to see you all, and many more, again next year. IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER EXPRESSED Kevin Hilferty recommended this article by Paul Sheehan on John Patrick Doyle, better known as the comedian Roy Slaven which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on October 7, last. It is a delight. In 1994, when he went back to Lithgow to give the keynote speech on the night marking the departure of the De La Salle Brothers from Lithgow, he began talking about the violence routinely handed out by the Brothers, the straps they used, the techniques, the expression on their faces as they meted out pain. How you start is important, but how you finish is key, too, and this is how John Patrick Doyle finished the keynote speech on the last night of the Catholic Brothers at Lithgow: While it is possible to be critical and accuse them of being unnecessarily rigid, the world of the Î50s and Î60s was much different. Then the world was able to be divided neatly into the non-colours they wore, black and white, good and bad, us and them, whereas the overwhelming opinion of today is that the black and white has become the differing shades of grey. But I am grateful for a time,
a formative time, I was privy to seeing the world through the dependable
disciplined comfort of their prism. For my relationship with knowledge
and how I view the world was determined either because of them or in spite
of them, but certainly by them, so much so, that whenever I am asked where
I was educated, and it is something I am often asked, I donât say Lithgow
High School or Newcastle University, I say De La Salle Academy, Lithgow,
and whenever I do say that I am automatically reminded of that small group
of giant men who dressed in stark black, sat in the front row on the right
hand side of St Patrickâs Church, who made us all stand up to answer questions,
who said ãItâs not braâ itâs brother ö we donât wear themä, and who did
their level best to shape us into something of some substance, and I think
I can speak for all of us here who wouldnât have had it any other way.
Wholly set up and printed at Forest Lodge, 34 Ferguson St., Forestville, 2087
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