Templeogue College | Past Pupils Union

Opening and Blessing of the
Memorial Garden for
Deceased Past Pupils and Staff
of Templeogue College C.S.Sp
Thursday 10th September 2015
Gar
dár
gcroíthe
shíor
Garden Designed and
Built by Arbutus Landscaping,
Brendan Jennings Class of 1986.
Ogham Stone Artwork by Matthew Healy.
de
Gar dár gcroíthe de shíor
‘Close to our hearts forever’
Introduction
Welcome to this special place of reflection and
remembrance dedicated in honour of those who will be,
as the inscription says, ‘Gar dár gcroíthe de shíor’ – close
to our hearts forever. We hope that from this day forth
you will visit this special garden and reflect upon the days
when your loved ones laughed and created memories with
their teachers and classmates. These are the very same
classmates who have now built this stunning garden in their
memory. In the leafy shade of the College grounds, we hope
this memorial garden will give you some small comfort in
knowing that your loved ones are so fondly remembered.
I offer heartfelt thanks in particular to Vincent Gibson,
Brendan and Kevin Jennings, Matthew and Niall Healy and
Brendan Toolan. Their vision, resolute determination and
tireless work has brought this beautiful garden from a wish to
a reality. On behalf of those gathered and future generations
of Templeogue men and their families, I thank you for giving
us this meaningful and symbolic memorial.
‘A beam in the darkness: let it grow’
‘In Memoriam’ by AL Tennyson
Ms Aoife O’Donnell
Principal – Templeogue College C.S.Sp.
President’s Message
It is an honour for me to serve as President of the Templeogue College
Union as we approach the 50th Anniversary of Templeogue College next
year. The TCU is a vibrant community of former classmates and friends. We
facilitate events to enable and maintain social and professional ties between
alumni and most importantly we promote Spiritan education, its ethos and
values, which help to form our respective characters. I am proud to say that
over the course of the past two years the development of the memorial
garden in the College grounds has been the project with which the Union
has been most aligned, in anticipation of this forthcoming anniversary.
The Union has invested much time and resources in the development of
the garden, and we are extremely grateful to all who have supported the
initiative with expertise, time, materials and donations. The development
of the garden is a fitting tribute to commemorate those who have passed
away and will provide a tranquil place for the Spiritan community, students,
teachers and most importantly the parents and families of the deceased to
visit for reflection and prayers.
As President of the Union I particularly look forward to meeting with
the families of deceased students and past students at this ceremonial
opening event. I am always deeply saddened with news of the untimely
and premature death of a past student. My thoughts and sympathies remain
with the families and my first words of comfort are that as past pupils
even in death we remain forever in union. Our deceased past students
have completed their schooling, played their final match and are fondly
remembered by their teachers and classmates with whom the most heartfelt
memories are shared. The memorial garden will provide a setting which will
allow our deceased to remain forever as students of Templeogue College.
Mr Brendan Toolan
President – Templeogue College Union
Beannacht “Blessing”
by John O Donoghue
On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life
Templeogue College C.S.Sp.
Deceased Past Pupils
CLASS OF
1971
1972
Tony Glynn
Paul Doyle
Kevin O’Neill
Peter Faulkner
Kevin Flynn
Paul Flood
Anthony Craig (Tony)
1974
Cormac Mahon
Matthew McParland
Brian Daly
Brian Buckley
1976
Kevin Bardsley
Michael James
Michael Costello
1980
Eoin Bailey
Gary O’Connor
Martin McGinn
1978
Gabriel James
William Kissane
Pat Merrin
Pat Moran
Patrick O’Hanlon
Eamonn Rynne
Declan Brady
Stephen Byrne
David Walsh
Paul Howard
Kevin O’Doherty
Peter Feeney
1981
Conor O’Riordan
Kieran Clear
John Caffrey
1982
Fergal Nolan
Niall Kernan
Edwin Carr
John Corcoran
Rory O’Neill
Tom McBride
Peter Brown
Declan McMahon
1973
1975
1977
Alan McNulty
Francis Feeney
John Naughton
Aidan Halligan
Declan Carroll
Brendan Helly
Cormac Hudson
Colm Nolan
John O’Shea
Paul Swift
Tom McLoughlin
Joe Kavanagh
Dave McCullagh
Cathal McCarthy
Joe Reynolds
Brendan O’Connell
Patrick Duffy
1979
Gregory Bardsley
Alan Gillis
Dermot Hughes
Cyril Ryan
1983
1984
1985
1986
Chris Furlong
Ronan Kelly
Trevor Kiernan
Alan Tiller-Sheppard
Derrick Healy
Martin Byrne
Owen O’Reilly
Paul Kearns
Cormac Scollard
Karl Delaney
Donal Sheehan
Andrew Humphreys
Shane O’Connell
1990
Gary Walsh
David McNamara
1992
Andrew Godson
1993
Frank Dunne
James Leonard
1994
Gareth Brennan
1996
Peter O’Connor
1997
Robert Hester
1999
Ken Fetherston
2000
Gary Cooney
Paul Cusack
2001
Neil Kenny
1987
Stefan Roche
2007
Christian Hanrahan
1988
Christopher Doolin
2010
Seva Cannyghin
We also remember at this time, recently deceased former staff members
Fr John Byrne CSSp, Fr Aidan Lehane CSSp, Fr Frank Mulloy CSSp, and Mr Jim Quinlan.
Some notes on
Standing Stones &
Ogham Script
Compiled by Matthew Healy
Altogether, there are 400 examples
of Ogham stones to be found
throughout Ireland. All large, single,
upright standing-stones come under
the generic classification of being
Monolithic types of monument and
have an extremely ancient tradition.
In the Old Testament, Jacob, the
grandson of Abraham, poured oil over
a stone that he had erected following
his dream in which angels used it
to climb to heaven. Symbolically
rock is the ultimate embodiment of
permanence, stability and reliability.
It is cold and hard, yet eternal and
often is used to represent the divine
and immortal. In Christian teaching,
Peter was ‘the rock’ upon which Christ
built his church. The pillar, or standingstone, signifies the bridge between
Heaven and Earth, the vertical axis
which both unites and divides these
two realms. The standing-stone is
closely connected to the symbolism
of the Tree, which also represents
stability. The tree is dynamic life itself,
the result of Heaven, Earth and Water;
it is the feminine, nourishing, sheltering
image of the Great Mother, rooted
in the earth and reaching toward the
heavens, evocative of eternity. An
evergreen symbolizes immortality,
and the Tree of Life and the Tree of
Knowledge are both in Paradise.
STAGES OF PREPARATION FOR INSCRIBING THE OGHAM STONE
Ogham lettering was designed for
carving on stone by chisel or axe and
is over 1600 years old, dating to the
late Iron Age in Ireland. It remained
in use for about 500 years. These
inscriptions were incised on standing
stones for commemorating purposes,
such as burial monuments. Ogham is
believed to be the earliest known form
of primitive writing in Ireland and the
invention of the script is attributed
to Ogma Grian-Aineach, the god of
eloquence, who was brother of the
Dagna, father god of the Túatha Dé
Danann. The Irish had no other written
alphabet until later when Christian
missionaries introduced Latin.
The 20 characters of the Ogham
alphabet are comprised of between
one and five, perpendicular or angled,
lines placed adjacent to or crossing a
midline. Most often the midline was
the edge of the stone on which the
inscription was carved; this is called a
‘Druim’ which means ridge or spine.
Normally, the reading direction is from
the bottom upwards on the lefthand side. With long inscriptions the
lettering continued over the top and
down the right-hand side. Accents
and punctuation do not feature in the
earlier alphabet. The script is restrictive
in that the simplest of phrases occupy
a lot of space. For instance, when the
wording on the Memorial Garden’s
Ogham Stone ‘Gar dár gcroíthe de
shíor’ (Close to our hearts forever),
is converted into Ogham lettering it
reaches almost 165cm in length.
1. Draw and layout the characters to actual size
2. Transfer drawing to template-card and cut out the characters
3. Transfer the images from the template to the stone
4. Images transferred to the stone and ready for carving
The Ogham Alphabet used for the Memorial Stone is derived
from the monument at Monataggert, Co. Cork, which is on
display at the National Museum, Kildare Street, Dublin.