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Post by stephen162 on Dec 14, 2009 19:25:54 GMT
Hi My name is Stephen Murphy. i went to school in the curragh national school in the early 60s. 63/64 when we started.In my class there were 4 sets of brothers, myself and my brother Donal, Tom and Pat Martin, Nicky and Johnny Tobin, Laurence (Dema) and Paddy Houlihan. Dan Whelan, Bobby Harris, Finbar McAllister, Paddy Berry, Tom Henry, Brendan Delaney, John Brown, Johnny Houlihan are just some of the 41 lads that were there at that time. Butt McCormack was the head at the time. Any help in remembering the others would be appreciated.
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Post by johnny houlihan on Jan 25, 2010 0:34:15 GMT
hi stephen just seen you posting, its a bit late tonight but will get back to you tomorrow with 43 names that your looking for from our class. all the best johnny
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Post by johnny houlihan on Jan 26, 2010 21:43:12 GMT
hi stephen these are the names that i remember from our class. david donavan, paddy o`connor, finbar mc allister, john dunne, john brown, billy harpur, eugene o`brien, anthony cleary, derick lynch, dema houlihan, paddy houlihan, peter karney, tony brennan(r.i.p), fergie pearson, tom henry, johnny tobin, nicky tobin, brendan delaney, dan whelan, john dempsey, johnny houlihan, tom martin, pat martin, donal murphy, stephen murphy, aiden butler, paddy berry, dermot mc carthy, ronan murry, colm foley, noel shanahan, bobby harris, seamus moore, ger tobin, paddy fahy, frankie hall, john rochford, mick sullivan, dermot royle, collier farrell, whacker o`brien, joe kelly, (jimmy welch last 2 years ?) and nial o`donnell for a short time in first class. thats 44 in total, hope i havent missed any one but if i have i apologise. i hope this has been of some help to you stephen and hopefully jogged some good memories, all the best johnny.
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Post by Brendan on Jan 27, 2010 3:22:16 GMT
Stephen & Johnny,
Your memory blows me away.
Great hearing from you both.
Brendan Delaney
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Post by gercollinsfurlong on Jan 27, 2010 17:23:45 GMT
Hi Brendan Just wondering would you be related to rosemary Delaney, or Ursala Delaney, both lived around connolly and i went to school with both of them. GERALDINE
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Post by Brendan on Jan 28, 2010 1:55:39 GMT
Hi Geraldine,
Nice hearing from you. Yes, Rosemary is my sister. She's married, has two kids and lives in Newbridge.
Do you have any older siblings?
Cheers,
Brendan
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Post by Sean Tracey on Jan 28, 2010 10:37:02 GMT
Hi Brendan. Sean Tracey here it never ceases to amaze me how most of us can remember all those that we went to Primary School with. I often lie awake at night thinking about them ie where they all went and what everyone is doing, as i sit here it is a cold wet morning here in Bridlington and i am opening up at eleven o clock i cant escape to the Curragh Plains but i do so in my mind every day , i show some of my customers pictures of the Curragh plains and they all say that is some place you grew up in. how are all your brothers, Ants ,Mick and John, when you are speaking to them them i said Hello . Cheers Sean Tracey.
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Post by gercollinsfurlong on Jan 28, 2010 14:07:17 GMT
Hi Brendan I see rose from time to time she always looks well, Do you remember the other Delaney family cant remember any of the lads names but do remember Ursala. I have an older sister Ann,younger sister majella,two brothers Niall, better known as [skinny]furlong and Brian,better known as [butsie] don't know how they ended up with them names i must find out some day. Well Brendan nice talking to you bye for now. GERALDINE
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Post by Brendan on Jan 28, 2010 15:46:08 GMT
Hi Sean,
Good hearing from you. Like you, I often reflect on times past and about the lads in the class. Until Stephen and Johnny listed everyone’s names I was blown away realizing that there were 44 lads in the one class. My daughters went to school in NYC where there is over 1 million children in school. There were never any more than 26 in a class.
With the classes so big growing up I’m surprised I learned anything. But what I did know was all of the lads were unique in their own inimitable way, whether it was their jokes, how they laughed, smiled or dressed. There was also a special bond drawn between us even those of us who clashed. We were all the same! The only thing I could boast about was I had an extra hole in the sole of my shoe.
I feel proud and privileged to have known all of these lads. Four and five decades on, I’m nostalgic and sad because we may never meet again because we are all over the world. Sadly, some of us have passed on, but will never be forgotten. That’s why this forum is awesome because it allows us to “meet” indirectly.
Glad to say that all the brothers and sisters are alive and well. Thanks for asking.
Regards,
Brendan
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Post by Brendan on Jan 28, 2010 16:40:09 GMT
Hi Sean,
Another thought about the Curragh. I do volunteer work in some of prisons here in NY where some of the most notorious criminals reside from murderers to robbers. During group sessions they hear my accent and ask me where I come from. Ireland is a mere dot on the map to most of these guys. I then ask them if they ever saw the movie, Braveheart starring Mel Gibson. They all say YES with a smile.
Then I tell them about the location where the battles occurred. They are quickly riveted. I tell them about growing up in the Curragh and about the plains and gallops, the sheep and horses. I’m old enough now to realize that we had a wonderful upbringing. Was it perfect? Absolutely not! But I gain solace speaking with these young, because I too, can only visualize what they have come from. They are a product of their environment - no family structure, living in poverty and doing drugs. They got caught up in the dog-eat-dog world of crime and violence. As one young man serving life without parole told me. “I’m not the only one serving a life sentence; my family is serving it with me.”
Telling them about the Curragh brings a visual freshness to their predicament, however brief that may be, and by God that feels good.
Regards,
Brendan
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Post by andybrennan on Jan 28, 2010 19:45:01 GMT
Hi Sean hope all well your end,
Well Brendan tis true you have a way with words in these last two postings you manage to conjure pictures of our past with those words, I agree that with the advent of age, a realization of what a good life we had on the Curragh as kids, now I realise that other children of our times had it tougher out side our realm with lack of some of the basics that i.e electricity, running water indoors , flush toilets and many without shoes to boast any type of hole in,
I now appreciate that the camp was like a city with all the amenities we had, hospitals, cinemas, swimming pool etc, the common thread with us all was basically poverty and we came through that . here is to as good or better times then we have and this forum is like a time machine linking us all by our past.
keep safe
Andy
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Post by joemurray on Feb 4, 2010 20:56:27 GMT
Stephen and Johnny.Wish you could bottle some of that memory and sell it off to me.How did you remember all those names from nearly 50 years.Do you also have an image of each of the lads to go with their names?Forty four pupils.Its no wonder some of our teachers were quick with the stick,or hand .There are a few names I remember besides my brother Ronan.He is keeping well working and living in Kilcullen.I must tell him of this list of names
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Post by Brendan on Feb 5, 2010 0:27:44 GMT
Hi Joe,
Please give Ronan my kindest regards. I have fond memories hanging out with Ronan as a kid. I went to your house and he came to mine. We may have experienced a visit or two to a certain Headmaster's office. Fear played a big role back then.
Ironically we were often given given a choice as to what cane or strap we were to be punished with. Sadly it was one of the downsides of growing up in that era.
Cheers,
Brendan
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Post by dan whelan on Mar 14, 2010 21:00:41 GMT
hi brendan dan whelan we spent many years in school together and also in the engineer corps mc dermott bks good to hear you rembember some of the class i got the roll from mr byrne a few weeks ago having a memory nostalgic time at present i will be in nyc in march 2010 24th for ten days might get a chance to meet up to fill you in on some of the old mates cheers
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Post by Brendan on Mar 15, 2010 1:45:26 GMT
Hi Dan,
Great to hear from you. We hung out many at time as teenagers and as soldiers. Hope all is well.
Brendan
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