UCG Grads of 1978, 1979 & 1980

Commerce Students February 1980

2010-03-10T18:12:00.005Z

Click on picture for larger image

This is an interesting photograph that I recently came across.
I believe that it is of the Faculty of Commerce students that arrived in UCG in September 1977 and graduated in 1980.
It was probably taken in February of 1980.
I based this assumption on the fact that some of the students are wearing what I believe are Student Union Presidential (VOTE FOR ....!) election stickers.
One of the candidates in that election is actually in the front row- Eddie Ward (third from the left).
Can you help identify the individuals in the group? Click here to find out who has already been labelled!

Mary ‘Ma’ O’Driscoll, UCG Lady Dean of Residence

2010-03-09T20:36:00.006Z

The death occurred a number of weeks ago of the much-loved Mary ‘Ma’ O’Driscoll, the Lady Dean of Residence at UCG for many years.
Even for us in the late 1970s, she was very much a throwback to a long vanished and more innocent era when a 'Lady Superintendent' watched over female students to ensure that they behaved properly at all times.
She told me once of her early days as a Dean of Residence in the college when she would be traditionally presented with a bouquet of flowers by female attendees at a college dance before taking her high seat at the top of the hall when she, along with the Catholic chaplain, kept a close eye on the night's proceedings to ensure that no 'inappropriate' close dancing or 'hanky panky' went on! Which was made even more difficult for the youngsters by the fact that, in those far-off days, women had to back at their college-sanctioned lodgings by 10am.

By the mid 1970s, the world had changed beyond recognition with late night discos, house parties, music pubs, feminism and gay rights becoming part of the Galway student scene. But 'Ma', as she was affectionately known, still provided a sympathetic ear and friendly support to generations of students.
She will always be remembered with great fondness by all those that knew her.
May she rest if peace

Death of Richie Cazabon, lead singer of Nightrider

2010-01-10T16:11:00.006Z

Nightrider

Richie Cazabon, known by many UCG students of the late 1970s and early 1980s as the lead singer of the band Nightrider, died a few days ago.
At the end of his Leaving Cert year, he and his school friends formed a music group that played cover versions of Thin Lizzy, who were then Ireland's most famous rock band on the international circuit. With his afro hair style, ethnicity and musical tastes, Richie was Galway's answer to Phil Lynott! His band, originally known as White Ivy, got their first gig playing at Caroline Graham and Speedie's joint 21st Birthday Bash in O'Leary's Bar in Salthill.

They later changed their name to Nightrider. Though none of the members were then university students, nevertheless they were very popular on the college circuit. They actually played the famous Unity Variety Concert that became the launch pad for the FUZE.
Richie himself was a personal friend of many students during that era.
May Richie Rest in Peace Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

Was It As Good For You As It Was For Me?

2009-12-04T19:17:00.033Z

Reflections from participants of the 78/79 Reunion of Nov 7th 2009

It was Fun! Fun ! Fun! Its so lovely seeing so many of our classmates well and happy. The disco was great- you’d know that we don’t get out too often!! And was a great way to end the evening. It doesn’t feel like 31 years, does it!?
Linda Gillen Byrne

I'm writing this in a state of happy exhaustion after a wonderful weekend!
The Reunion was a triumph yet again, with the delight of Hubert's insights into James Joyce, the surreal entertainment of Lit and Deb, and the terrific evening performances , with the songs of the FUZE sounding as fresh, vibrant and original as the day they were minted.
Ursula Killeen

Just wanted to say a very big ‘Thank You’ for organising the great Reunion on Saturday night. I really enjoyed it and it was such a success - once again!...
Getting the Fuze together and to have Gerry Sexton there was amazing!!
I met up with such wonderful people and such great stories. We have all been through the mill so to speak and it is wonderful to meet up at a 'happy occasion' rather than the usual 'funeral' or hear of old friends for sad or tragic reasons. Thanks so much!
Maria Silke

It was a great day - right from the very start. I honestly thought I'd stay for an hour or two and then head off, but found myself staying right up until the very end! It was great to see so many "old" faces looking so young. Many of them I hadn't seen since leaving UCG (can't get used to NUIG) in 1980 with the H.Dip. in my hand.
The day was brilliantly organised from start to finish, and great fun! It was marvellous to hear Hubert lecture again. I thought it was only in my fond memories that he was so brilliant, witty and incisive. It was good to find out that he was exactly as I'd remembered. And the photo slide show - well, what can I say? What a time we had of it back then! As for the Lit 'n' Deb .... what a performance!

Tom Cassidy in full flow! Tom requested that this photo is NOT to be used for his Memoriam Card!

Many of the people I spoke to that evening I had only known to see when at college, so it was even more interesting to have the chance to actually meet and chat.
As for the Fuze & Gerry Sexton's disco, what a night! Thoroughly enjoyable…. Joyce was right when she said it was worth the journey - the people were great, the atmosphere was fun! What a joy to see everyone in such great spirits.
So, thanks again!
Edel Cleary

Just a quick message to thank all the committee once again for a really enjoyable reunion on Saturday last. It was great fun and wonderful to meet up with so many from our student days…how wonderful it was to see ye all on Saturday night and thanks for such a great event! I had a ball, although I probably don't need to tell you that, it was probably very obvious from my general state! I haven't danced so much in years and I enjoyed every minute of the night…it was a very special night and I'm really grateful…
Eugene Scanlan

Congratulations to Maria and all the committee for organising a fantastic weekend. I haven’t laughed so much in years!
Joe Rice

"...we are lucky to have been able to reconnect with so many people and its brought such pleasure and a sense of recognition that we were lucky 30 years ago and lucky now. I am certain that I will stay in contact (with so many)..."
Maria O'Malley

Thanks for organising the reunion party…Good to see the old faces .. some unchanged by the years and others a lot better than they were .... I thought at college that we would have changed the world maybe we have in a small way.
Margaret Geraghty

Well done on a truly wonderful night and day for the over 50s!!!,who still know a thing or 2 about partying and disco dancing till the early hours!!
Catherine Hickey

Ye "pulled it out of the bag" yet again--another great reunion! Thanks again.
Mary Murphy

Firstly, thanks for doing such a sterling job in organising this year’s reunion - AGAIN. I know fun was had by all.
Eileen Mahoney

"Bravo…that was a wonderful gathering that none of us will ever forget.
Joyce McGreevy

Hope they all enjoyed the get together on Saturday last!
Gerry Sexton

…My husband and I really enjoyed ourselves…It was so nice to meet some old friends ( or rather friends from the past!). My husband really enjoyed the night…He went to UCD and was so surprised by the friendliness of everyone in Galway. It was a great place to go to college and the characters we met during our time there were unbelievable. In those days we really didn't know how good we had it. Everyday was as interesting as the next!
Cora Stack

What a great night, thank you and the committee for organizing such a memorable event. Dare I say it was better that last year, the smaller numbers made it more intimate, sure what can you expect when you get the cream of the crop!
Liz Cassidy

I am writing to thank you and your team for a great reunion. It was great fun to meet up with old friends and acquaintances and we had such a good laugh...great medicine!! It was fabulous to walk in and immediately reconnect with people I hadn't met for 30 years, listen to and relate stories from those halcyon days...the connections remain despite the absence of sight or sound.
Gwen Culligan

It was great to see such a good attendance, with revelers dancing to Gerry's disco right up to the very end of the night.
Happy times indeed, and well done again,
Caroline Graham

I just loved the weekend!!!
Sinead O’Neill

Thanks so much for another wonderful night…great thought and work into the whole weekend again…The music was great, very nostalgic.
Eileen Keary

The afternoon began with a riveting lecture from the forever wonderful Prof Hubert McDermott...He treated us to a beautiful take on James Joyce's The Dead, unwrapping the layers within it, and highlighting the Galway connections with humour and hubris as ever. He played a clip for us - how wonderful was Donal McCann eh? (Was still thinking about the whole story when stuck in traffic at the Bodkin roundabout on the way home). Have to go read the story now. I had to leave early, but I think about now everyone has finished their meal, and the music (Seisiún Mór, The Fuse, Disco with the Big G) should be starting. It was great to see Emer Walsh, Una Tierney, Eleanor Geoghegan, Kathlyn Hennelly, Una Byrne, Fergal Hassett, Liam Breathnach, Gerry Sexton and everyone there
Mags Amond (posting on her website).

Click here for further photographs from the Nov 7th Reunion

Many apologies came from those that could not attend the Reunion. The comments of one of the 'missing' came from Eugene Quinn, who reminiscing about an single event from his college days, probably best summarises the fondness that many of us still have for the old alma mater.

Thank you for your invite to the 78/79 UCG graduate reunion. Unfortunately I live too far away in Australia to make it this time. Speaking of long journeys to distant places, Joe and I traveled to the University of Bradford in Feb '78 to represent UCG at a Debating tournament. This was in the days where only Aer Arann could be viewed from my window, Sean O'Rourke was yet to take to the air waves and only the Cadets of Renmore could have four wheels. When Mary, Joe & I arrived in Bradford we had a quick cuppa and went straight into a photo shot for the local press. The snow was thick on the ground in Bradford and this place, for me, was a long way from windy Galway. We traveled by train to Dun Laoghaire, overnight boat to Liverpool and then train again along the wonderful canals of outer Manchester & across the Pennines & Yorkshire moors. On our return we stayed overnight in the residences of the University of Lancaster. As most of the U of L students were away for the week-end, the place was much too quiet and only during the summer months would UCG obtain such a low decibel reading. Since then Joe has gone on to help throw open the gates of the Maze Prison with the inspiration and conviction that I'm sure was nurtured during his undergraduate years in Galway. We encountered at UCG a strong indication that the island of Ireland had a lot to offer particularly in an environment where respect for each individual is fostered and diversity encouraged. Having been sentenced to Van Demon's land for more 21 years now, I very much welcome to get out on parole and visit the motherland. I am still on my bike but don't get wet now as often as when I headed up Dr Mannix drive in a force 10 gale.
Dia Dhuit and best wishes to all,
Eugene Quinn

Seisiún Mór!

2009-10-23T21:29:00.029+01:00

The great

Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh

(of 'De Dannan' & 'Arcady' fame)
& Sean Ryan
will be joining the bould Eamon Behan
& friends
at the Seisiún Mor in the College Bar from 6pm.

We are advising all would-be attendees for the Nov 7th Reunion to book your tickets with the Alumni Office asap for what promises to be an exciting schedule of fun-packed events!

Contact Colm O'Dwyer Alumni Office at 091 493750 or email: alumni@nuigalway.ie

__________________
Motion for the Lit 'n' Deb re-enactment on Nov 7th

That This House Believes That You
Cannot Trust Anyone Over 50 Years Old!

For: Joe Rice & Ronan Tynan
Against: Tom Cassidy & Benny Irwin (photo left)

P.S. Thanks to Maria O'Malley for the motion

Remembering their behaviour
as students
while attending UCG,
a very anxious
Hubert McDermott
surveys his notes for his lecture to the graduates attending the Nov 7th Reunion on the topic of
Finnegan's Wake

The following of our friends from UCG days have confirmed their attendance for the November 7th 2009 Reunion:
Brien Allen, Maeliosa Stafford, Maria O'Malley, Sinead O'Neill, Bernie Mannion, Mary McGwynn, Mary Logan, Jonah Sullivan, Speedie Smith, Oliver Foley, Tom Cassidy, Joe Rice, Eileen Mahoney, Eileen Keary, Mary Flanagan, Mary Murphy, Linda Gillen Byrne, Emer Dyar, Victor Laing, Hubert McDermott, , Joyce McGreevy, Margaret Mary Amond, Kevin Byrne, Catherine Hickey, Peadar O'Maoileoin, Maeve McDonogh, Seamus Gilroy, Eamon Brennan, Eamon Behan, Grainne McMorrow, Riona Hughes, Liz Cassidy, Maura Henderson, Jim Browne (NUIG President), Gerry Sexton, Gerry Humphries, Sean McGovern, Ursula Killeen, Maria Silke, Brigid Broekhoven, Cepta Mannion (ex-SU Travel Office), John Loftus, Martin Ridge, Fidelma Dunne O'Higgins, Eugenia Kelly, Enda O'Reilly, Mike McArdle, Paul Clarke, Kathy de Hora, Charlie Byrne, Ann Freeley, Mary King, Cepta Clifford, Mick Brougham, Ann O'Meara, Liam Breathnach, Sheila Moroney, Karena Doyle, David O'Malley, Tom Costello, Billy Moyles, Ailbhe O'Flaherty, John Mulcahy, Alibhe Mulcahy, Donie O'Keefe, Norrie Nugent, Mary Durnin, John Durnin, Kyran O'Gorman, Charlie McBride, Benny Irwin, Brendan Doheny, Stephen O'Grady, Mary Dundon, Dave Niland, Celestine Rowland, Bartley Fannin, Una Byrne, Eugene Scanlan, Liz White, Mike Hanley, Ronan Tynan, Breda Brennan, Annette Burke, Richard Burke, Ger Clarke, John Coll, Noel Fleming, Brendan Fogarty, Padhraic Harris, Mary Heaney, Mary Irwin, Anne Kenny, Gerard Moyles, Brendan Murray, Jackie O'Dowd, Bernadette McAleer, Una Tierney, Mary Keaveney, Tadhg Kenny, Maureen Joyce, Mary Johnson, Patrick Lanham, Barbara Loftus, Carmel McCarthy, Mary Mulligan, Stephen O'Grady, John Fitzpatrick, Caroline Graham, Edel Cleary, Bernadette Lally, John Morgan, Colm Finnegan, Martin Ludden, Anne Freely, John Cunningham, Brian Hanney, Gina Roche, Carole Harte, Deirdre Cunningham, Elizabeth Fahy, Paul Gannon, Brenda Murphy, Catherine Hennelly, Mary Johnston, Mary Mulligan, Nora Neary, Mary O'Hara, Liam Smyth, Mary Corbett, James Harrold, Ultan de Burca, Cora Stack, Sean McEoin, Robert Duffy, Edward Fahey, Margaret Geraghty, Muriel Fahey, Eddie Munnelly & Breda Dowling, Eleanor Geoghegan, David Jackson, Kathleen Turley, Helen Murray, Donal Downes, Fergal Hassett & Kevin Connolly.
If your name is not on this list & you will be attending, please email bspeedie@eircom.net asap. Likewise, if you also know of others that intend to be there, please forward details.
Míle Buíochas!

__________

Leaving Behind a Lasting & Valuable Legacy to our old Alma Mater

Even though they were in 3 different countries, Joe Rice, Joyce McGreevy & Speedie earlier this week held an Online Video (brainstorming) Conference via Skype to discuss ways that the graduates assembling for the November 7th Reunion could create something innovative and different that would form a lasting contribution to NUI Galway and to society.
It was agreed that Joyce & Joe would co-chair a short informal forum at the winter gathering whereby participants could present ideas on how this could be achieved. This would allow people from all backgrounds, experiences and expertise to debate the possibilities and methods on producing some lasting and beneficial legacy which could vary from sponsoring a research scholarship, publishing a thematic book or fund-raising for a worthy cause.

Out of Fun, the Goodness will Come!

Many graduates were inspired by the fact that our fun-packed light-hearted 2008 Reunion produced a surplus that provided houses for poor indigenous communities in Honduras through a current NUIG student/staff volunteer programme known as 'Habitat for Humanity'. So much so that they wanted us to build on the 'feel-good' factor generated and come up with further schemes that could help make a positive difference to people's lives in the college and elsewhere.

Do You Remember...

2009-07-31T23:16:00.035+01:00

The Brilliant Fun-Packed 'Rag Week' Programme!?(Click on Image to View Larger Version)

Padraic Breathnach & Charlie McBride leading a Student Union Protest?

Listening to a denim-clad Terry Smith Playing his Guitar while Queuing Up outside the Claddagh Palace on a Saturday Night?

When
UCG
had
its
own
humourous
'Agony Aunt'
Page
with
a
'Dear Angela'
columnist
known
as
'Contra'
(aka Paul Moore)!?

(Click on Image to View Larger Version)

The great actors & actresses of Druid Theatre?(Click on Pictures to View Larger Version)

When
there
was
a
college
officership
known
as
the
'Lady
Superintendent'
occupied
by
the
very
kind
Mrs. O'Driscoll?

May & Ailish on Graduation Day?

Those Sun-drenched Botany Field Trips?(Click on Pictures to View Larger Version)

The UCG Diving Club's wonderful Party Posters?
'Smokie Joes' in the day-time (café)
'Smokie Joes' in the night-time (folk club)?

Barry Moore

The Rag Week 'Pub Crawls'?
How those those never-ending speeches in Latin on Graduation Day use to effect our thoughts & concentration!?

(Click on Pictures to View Larger Version)

Trying so hard to keep those caps from slipping off on a windy Graduation Day?
When Seapoint use to played host to big name music acts such as the Undertones & the Cimarrons?

How intense & serious were the students that served on the Students' Union Assembly?

The Fun & Frolics of 'Crazy Boat Race' in Rag Week?

Posing with your college friends & classmates on Graduation Day?

The Army Lads having to Dress up in all their Finery whenever they went out for a Beer?
Lennie when he had to be taken off the stage at the Unity Variety Show when he tried to do a 'Patricia the Stripper' routine?

The craic in the old student watering holes such as the Skeff on Thursday nights? The Science Dress Dances?
Going to the Back-Room of the Skeff with other committee members for a few drinks & a chat with distinguished guest speakers after a college society lecture?

Student Union Stalwarts such asJerome Hynes (Societies Officer '80/'81), Grainne McMorrow (SU President '79/'80) & Peter McEvoy (SU Administrative Officer) at opening of UCG College Bar Oct 1980

U2 Playing Student Gigs in Galway?

Student Protests Marches to Eyre Square (& the pubs afterwards!)?______________
Newsflash! FUZE To Reform for Nov 7th Reunion!!

Before the Stunning, Before the Sawdoctors, there was the FUZE!
Thanks to the efforts of our fellow graduate Ursula Killeen, Galway's first rock group to achieve national fame will reform for the first time in over 25 years to play at the UCG Grad Reunion Bash!
Five or the band members were UCG students who got together in early 1979 and launched themselves onto an unsuspecting world at the Unity Variety Show; later supported U2 & Pretenders... and achieved success in the Pop Single Charts with 'Stone Age Man' & 'It's A Sunday Morning' before splitting up in 1982.

Interestingly, their first gig outside the UCG campus was sharing the bill with Big G at a HistriSoc Party in Salthill. So history will repeat itself in November when DJ Gerry Sexton will return with his magical 'Ration of Passion' 70s-themed Disco!

The full events programme will be published later this week on the website. The NUIG Alumni Office will send out a postal invitation to all 1978 & 1979 graduates at the weekend.

___________________________

Drama Soc's spell-binding productions?

Philadelphia Here I Come

'Big Girls Blouse' (aka female rugby players)
Students who bizarrely dreamed of a future career that would end in ruins (if maybe not in tears)?Archaeology students of course!

The Goodwill, Generosity of Spirit & Respect shown by the audience at a Lit 'n' Deb Gibs Symposium to First Year speakers!?___________________

When a Garda Call to "Round Up The Usual Suspects!" usually meant a raid on the UCG Enge Block by the Special Armed Response Unit!?
Loudon Wainwright in Concert at the Jesuit Hall?

Opening Night of the UCG Students' Bar?
The Science Class of 1977?

The legendary 'Fir Bolgs'?

Do You Remember...

2009-07-08T01:13:00.012+01:00

The College Girls That Had a Fetish for Nude Greek & Italian Men?

Those Crazy Fun-filled Summers Working in the 'Big Apple'?
When Ultan de Burca spent all of 'Rag Week' Monday banging a bottle off the top of Archimedes!?

Alma Quinn, the ever-friendly SU secretary , always willing to photocopy or type up reports for college clubs & societies?

When your makeshift float made out of cardboard & wire capsized in the Crazy Boat Race!?

When Britain's first successful all-female Rock Band played the 'Aula'?
Dramsoc productions?
with players that included Debra Evers & that handsome rascal Eugene Scanlan!

Please Put a Name to the Face of a Science Student!

2009-06-03T19:15:00.009+01:00

This photograph of the Science class that arrived to UCG in September 1976 was taken in the Summer of 1979 on the steps leading up to the Library and Concourse buildings.
We want a name for each of the students shown!
Quite a few of the individuals have already been identified as you will see by clicking on the image above. If you can identify any of the others, it would be greatly appreciated. Just send us the information by emailing bspeedie@eircom.net.

'Big G' To Headline Reunion Dance Gig on Nov 7th!

2009-04-12T14:32:00.022+01:00

(Click on Images to view Larger Versions)
'Big G' as Emperor Geraldus from a UCG Histrisoc Poster advertising a
1979 'Fancy Dress Party' in the Beach Hotel

2nd Annual
'78/'79(+'81s)ers Grads Reunion
Takes Shape

After months (well maybe minutes!) of negotiations, Gerry Sexton aka 'Big G' has finally agreed to be the main DJ at a 70s/80s themed Disco that will endeavour to re-create the atmosphere of a Salthill Nightclub as a finale to our celebratory events of November 7th 2009.
He promises to ensure that everyone once again gets what he use to so eloquently call their 'Ration of Passion'!!
While we no longer have the Beach or the International to dance the night away in, a re-vamped College Bar will serve as a fitting tribute venue to the student discoteques of days gone by.

___________________

Photo Film of College Life from 1976-1981!

"Those were the day my friends, we thought ..."

For a nostalgic photographic trip back in time to University College Galway Ireland during the halcyon days of the mid 1970s until 1981, click here

Nov 22 2008 Reunion Photo Gallery Now Online!

2009-03-22T19:31:00.019Z

"Can I Buy You a Pint?"
Former Student Political Opponents

Mike Jennings & Eamon Brennan, now the best of friends!

Who Says "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!"
(Certainly Not in this Case!)
Patricia & Brian Mannion

More Than Just A UCG Get-Together, it was also a 'Belles of Salerno' Reunion!

Rosie Nee Searches Desperately for her last set of notes from a Hubert Lecture!

Eileen Keary & Billy Moyles Discuss Their Favourite Aspects of Quantum Physics

It may have taken years, but Páraic Bhreathnach finally gets his wish to have his photograph taken with Maria Silke (or was it the other way round!?)

Many 'Offaly' Nice People Turned Up at the Reunion

Click here to view photographs of the November '08 Reunion that have been forwarded by attendees.
Should you wish to add identifying labels (i.e. names) to the images, please email bspeedie@eircom.net. Furthermore should you wish to upload your own photographs from the night directly onto the website, please also make contact.
The ID and password will be provided to you.
News Flash! Maria O'Malley's selection can be accessed by clicking here.

Was It As Good For You As It Was For Me!?

2009-03-08T20:03:00.023Z

Friends Reunited!
Rosie O'Connell, Ciana Campbell, Jimmy O'Brien Moran, Maura Henderson, Jonah Sullivan

The responses that flooded in from attendees of the 78/79 Reunion held on November 22nd 2008 was so positive that we have decided to re-enact the whole event again this year with everyone welcomed particularly those that graduated up to 1981.

It seems that we graduates from that halcyon era have still some unfinished business together!! So mark off November 7th in your calendar!Dolly Birds & Army Reunited!
Mary Flanagan, Kevin Byrne & Mary Murphy

The Reunion was very magical for so many people.
Happy memories came flooding back as long-lost college friends were reunited in smiles, hugs, kisses, tears of joy, dancing, singing and much merriment.
A nice final touch to proceedings was the fact that a 2,000Euro profit made from the Reunion's ticket sales was donated to the college's ‘Habitats for Humanity' that will help send student volunteers to Honduras to help build houses in poor indigenous communities.

Barney Callaghan Enjoys a Good Laugh as
He Tells Himself Another One of His Finest Jokes!

________________

What Did I Think of the Night?

Included below is a summary of extracts from people that attended the November 22nd 2008 Reunion starting with a wonderful piece from Joyce McGreevy

Mairead Manifold, Deirdre Cunningham, Eta Burns & Ann Grennan

Dear friends,
It was so lovely to see you and our fellow alums in Galway—November seems both a moment ago and a dream too wonderful to have possibly been real. Thoughts of that all too brief reunion keep returning to me, and not out of mere nostalgia. I couldn’t help feeling that we had all been drawn to UCG again not simply to revisit the past, but also to re-engage with the present, and to do so in some measure together.

For unlike many student reunions I’ve heard about from bemused or disappointed acquaintances here in the States, the gathering in Galway showed little evidence of people out to impress each other and every sign of friends who could not help but inspire each other. Before you dismiss that as sentimentalism, consider what we carried within us during those days at UCG: a concatenation of irreverent purposefulness, boundless energy, heart-hunger for justice and a readiness even then to see it through, communicative versatility (did we ever not know in those pre-mobile technology days where Galway’s pulse was beating and how to spread the Where and the When of it to all our friends?), blithe refusal to allow such petty things as lack of funds or sheer impossibility to get in the way of crafting dreams into reality, and through it all, a keen curiosity that on more than one occasion drove us, to the surprise of our professors, our parents, and indeed ourselves, headlong into learning. Two of the Stars of the Reunion - Prof Hubert McDermott & Linda Gillen Byrne

Some thirty years and many narrative complications later, those essential qualities, and not the nametags that we wore, are what identified us one to another. What are a few gray hairs (or no hair) compared to all that? It is a dynamism that rides change, and changes, too, by deepening, not diminishing, fed by maturity but not sated by it. Who wouldn’t want to gather such human energies together again and discover, through our conversations and shared stories, our ideas and intentions, our plans and actions, what new good might come of it?
While we are now living 200 or more different epilogues to the UCG story--and that is as it should be, I cannot help but feel that we still have work to do together. What it is I cannot say for sure—some group effort to meet a clear and urgent need in the community or the college? A more informal networking and partnering of alumni around common interests such as the arts, technology, medicine, education, and the environment? I don’t know. But I do know that were we to pick up the threads of our November conversations, they would inevitably lead to brainstorms, aspirations, goals, and the resourcefulness to carry them out. I don’t mean to sound grandiloquent here. I’m simply trusting the breadth of our UCG education, the wealth of our varied skills, the depth of our post-UCG experiences, and the strength of our common values.
So let’s find out, shall we?
…Thanks, also, to our beloved Hubert McDermott. Framed by the sly hilarity of his delivery, he offered a lecture that was generous and incisive in its wisdom. And of course, who else but the great Professor McDermott could mine the metaphorical riches of Shakespeare, Yeats, Synge, and “Paddy Hanrahan and the Oklahoma Showband” all in the same lecture?
And so I sign off, but just for now, and in the hope that we will all see each other again soon. In Galway, of course, bringing our past, present, and future with us to some place now known as NUIG, but which we’ll forever remember as UCG.
Slån go foill, mo chairde,
Joyce (McGreevy)

Probably UCG's Favourite 2 Americans!
Eileen Mahoney & Joyce McGreevy

__________________

We had such fun and Yes, it really was lovely to see so many "old" faces after all this time. I haven't laughed so much in years!

Linda Gillen-ByrneEmbarrassed to be seen in public with well-known troublemakers Speedie & Victor, nice girl Linda attempts to hide her face from prying photographers!

… That was the best! There was not one minute of it I would have changed. You know the club structure in the Alumni Association? Why don't we start a branch and call it ‘The Fun and Freedom Club ‘ (graduates of the late seventies)!?...

Sinead O’Neill (Lenehan)

Sinead O'Neill Gets Visibly Upset When Victor Reminisces About the Food Served in the old UCG Canteen

Thanks for a great reunion night! I enjoyed it a lot. I think it would be great to repeat and I suspect it will gather momentum as everybody was moved by all that old camaraderie and nostalgia.
Rosie O Connell

What a Glorious Crowd!

Well done to all on the reunion at the weekend. I've been at 3 over the years and this was by far the very best. Great work and thanks for the presentation - my disco lights needed upgrading after nearly 3 decades! Imagine it's that long ago! We loved meeting everybody again.
Seamus McKenna & Kathryn Shannon

Just want to say how much I enjoyed the re-union and what fun we all had. Hubert's lecture and the debate that followed had me in stitches. Such a great start to the evening…I will always remember the 22nd November 2008 as the best night.
All the best

Emer DyarLast Days of a Bachelor Boy!

A smiling Gerry Jones (at the Reunion) 2 weeks before he married for the first time!

I was delighted that there was this opportunity to renew old friendships. It is amazing how one can just pick up the traces in such circumstances… Nobody but those of us who shared the space along the banks of the Corrib for a time can understand the collegiality that can exist amongst such a diverse group- be they pals, friends or acquaintances.
Maith thú, Tom Cassidy

Really enjoyed the night and the whole gig…What a day! -You took years off us all (I firmly believe hugs are good medicine).
Mags Amond

It was a great success. Billy Moyles, Una Tierney and I were still going until 6:00am in the Westwood; XXXXXX tried to nick my jacket from the bar; and we all ended up with vintage hangovers! So nothing really changes!
And for us Enges, it was a momentous occasion to be present at a Hubert McDermott lecture at long last. I just wish I had heard it in 1979. It was also great, for Paul Riordan and me, to chat with him over a dinner reminiscent of those slapped up in dens of iniquity like Rivelinos and
Twiggs. I loved his telling us that some of his favourite oxymorons are "civil engineers" and the "University of Limerick"! Onward then!
Mike McArdle

Lying In the Arms of Mary!
Eugene Falls Asleep in Mary's Arms

What a Good Night! We had an absolute ball at the ‘do’, we are definitely coming again!
Maybe we will round up even more stragglers.
Jonah Sullivan

Thank you so much for a special night. It was great to meet so many ‘heads’ and to catch up on 30years.
Bartley Fannin

It was wonderful to meet up with so many former (not old!!!) friends. The years were really rolled back. Am still on a high. We all really had such fun then and we still can. Again many thanks.
Una Byrne

I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday afternoon. Prof Hubert's lecture reassured us that he can still entertain and broaden and enlighten our minds simultaneously. What better entertainment than a Lit & Deb debate on whether our UCG days were fun or not; the topic was excellently debated and certainly left some of us wondering why we had missed so many back in the 70's choosing instead the Skeff, Cellar or sadly 'Rich Man Poor Man' on a tiny black and white TV! Thanks for the opportunity to meet past friends and enjoy the memories.
Eta O’Brien

After a fantastic trip down memory lane on Saturday I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everybody who organised a great day.(And especially to Mairead Manifold who got us all together )It was super to see everybody and what a buzz there was all night, even at 2.30 am watching more slides ,and after not being back for 29 years I remembered the friendly fun place UCG was and thankfully still is BRILLIANT FUN.
Ann Grennan

I'll be at the 09 Reunion! Should be a hoot and a half.
Maura Henderson

The Reunion was a true ‘Lá d’ar Saol!’
Eamon Behan

Teachers in Love!
Aideen Ward & Kevin Jordan. Still together after 25 years of marriage. Congrats!

Firstly thank you for an excellent night in November. We all really enjoyed it. Without someone to grab the throttle as they say in aviation - nothing happens and I want to complement you on this. I look forward to next November already.
Eamon Brennan

Just a short but sincere ‘thank you’ for the huge effort you and your team put into the recent graduate reunion in UCG. It was a wonderfully enjoyable evening from beginning to end, a real “noble effort of the imagination”.
Míle buíochas, bhain muid an-taithneamh as.
Le dea ghuí
Joe agus Cathy Connolly

(…in Reply to a letter of thanks from Eileen Mahoney)
I'm obviously very pleased to know that my talk struck a chord with so many people -- in fact, I was extremely nervous, afraid that I might not be on the 'wavelength' of my audience: this is why your comment is particularly welcome.
Ah, the Latin Hall -- I'll never forget it, either!
Did you know, Eileen, that a reunion such as last Saturday's had never occurred before…So, I,
for instance, never before addressed a gathering of graduates -- in all of 43 years on the staff of the university!!
Thank you, again, Eileen, most sincerely, for getting in touch.
Yours,
Prof. Hubert McDermott

Well Known in UCG, Well Known after UCG- Cathal Guiomard & Ciana Campbell

Thanks so much for a hugely enjoyable and very well organised reunion. Seamus and I had a really great day and evening.
I would be very grateful if you could send on that photo of my mother dancing with the gatecrasher. I know the rest of the family would love to see it. I was really touched by the number of people who spoke warmly of her to me after that photo was shown. I told her all about the event... For MY own part, it was a great reminder of the ways things used to be.

Maeve McDonagh

Still Smiling After All These Years!
Patricia Crombie. Billy Moyles, Pete McGovern, Una Tierney, Speedie & Mike Turley

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the Grads Union. It was terrific fun and wonderful to see so many old friends... We are hoping that this great event will be repeated next year…It was a triumph!
Grainne Mc Morrow

What a great night! Thanks very much for all the work and effort put into it..All the best
Charlie Byrne

…I am still over the moon with what we managed to do…
Maria O’Malley

… Sean McGovern phoned on Sunday with a very positive report to make me feel worse about missing the reunion. I'll definitely do my best to make the next reunion…
Caroline Graham

It was a fantastic day highly entertaining and enjoyable with memories of great times and to see so many again was fantastic. Thanks again still keeping an eye on the blog even rooted out my own grads photo
Olivia Harris

A marvellous weekend. It was a fantastic success and I have no doubt that it can act as a platform for further reunions in years to come. ‘Ulster says Yes’ (at last)!!!!
Joe Rice

“…such a fantastic night - really enjoyed the evening…”
Ollie Daniels

Thank you so much for a wonderful night. We all had a really great time.

Eileen KearyDedicated Followers of Fashion! Anthony Ryan & Rachel McNicholl

The whole night just seemed to fly by in a blur and before I knew it, it was over and there were still so many people left to talk to etc. …..oh well, I'd say that night could have been 10 hrs long and it still wouldn't have been long enough!
faces, I think they all did to! Joe Rice was saying that Hubert either said to him, or he heard that he had said, that he had been to other reunions before but he thought this was the most special one of all and that his eyes even welled up a few times because of the heartfelt and palpable joy and happiness there was in the room that night…Anyway, thanks again What a GREAT GREAT GREAT w/e - starting with the Skeff on Friday night, continuing on Saturday with Hubert and Lit & Deb (by the way - was any of that taped?) I thought it was fab… And then followed by Saturday night and on into Sunday when a gang of us met for coffee and then on to an all afternoon brunch. I just LOVE those w/e's and from the looks on everyone'ssooooooooooooooo much..Until the next one…!!!!
Eileen Mahoney

Here we go again! Put it in the diaries! Especially the people who didn't make it the first time around! You know who you are …Plenty of notice so no excuses this year! And spread the word to anyone not on these 2 emails..... And everyone work on finding even more people!
Eileen Mahoney

Well done on the Reunion. Looking forward to the next one already!
Liz Cassidy

…such a wonderful reunion. I really enjoyed spending time with so many 78/79 grads again. Hubert's lecture and the debate were marvellous additions to the day. It was great to find ourselves seated in the back row and reverting to type!
Ciana Campbell

Really enjoyed the night and the whole gig…a fantastic job!
Mairead Manifold

I'm still digesting all that happened. It was great. Thanks again for encouraging me to attend. You and the others deserve great credit for a super event. I'm collaborating with Brian Walshe to identify all the people in the science class photo...If I were religious I'd say 'bless you'!
Mike Donohue

…the reunion…was brilliant…if emotional!...THANKS xx
Mary Murphy

I went to a book launch last night and there I met Fr. Brian Allen. He put Nov. the 7th in his diary and is looking forward to it already. He heard wonderful stories from Linda and Kevin. I also texted Victor Laing and Eamon Behan since both of them had begged for more. So the merry-go-round has started again. It's great! I know Bernie Hartigan will be a great support on the Board and Cepta and Mick Brougham who were away last November are dying to get involved (they live in Athlone and Cepta was a member of the board for a few years.) Jim Byrne (army) will be back from serving abroad by then and he asked me to let him know if there was going to be another. He hated missing the last one. He would be a great asset in mobilising the army. I know it's really early to be advertising it but the more people who put it in their diary the better.
Sinead O'Neill

...To be honest, I was in two minds about whether or not I should attend, since I thought that I wouldn't know anyone. So it was just great to walk into the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre and meet up with so many old friends! I really enjoyed the Lit 'n' Deb re-enactment not to mention the Slide Show you put on...(where)...I saw a few old flames..by the way!..It was a great afternoon and evening in Galway - I miss the place greatly...I will keep an eye on the website...
Bernie McAleer

Do You Remember...

2009-02-02T00:09:00.004Z

Dedicated Followers of 'Coat' Fashion (as exemplified by Science & Engineering students that strutted their stuff along the nightly walk home!)?

Do You Remember...

2009-01-29T23:35:00.004Z

Donning White Coats in order to grab a Drink in places such as Avonmore Dairies & Smithwicks Brewery!?

Click on photos to view larger versions of images

Do You Remember...

2009-01-27T22:15:00.003Z

Couples requisitioning all the table space at the nightclubs on Thursday nights!?

Do You Remember...

2009-01-26T01:01:00.006Z

The Ribaldry & Friendships of Sleep-Overs that were a hallmark of Student Union Occupations of College Buildings?

Do You Remember...

2009-01-25T12:22:00.002Z

The Craic in the King's Head on Thursday Nights!?

Do You Remember...

2009-01-23T21:31:00.005Z

How Serious We All Looked During the Graduate Conferring Ceremony!?

Do You Remember......

2008-12-15T00:14:00.004Z

The Gigs with the Big Bands?
& the Gigs with the 'not-so-big' acts!? ______________

Girls that hung around the Library!?

Do You Remember......

2008-12-05T23:42:00.002Z

Freddie White in Concert?

The Reunion: A Journey Back in Time to Happy Student Days

2008-12-04T11:01:00.002Z

What a Wonderful Magical Reunion We had on Saturday November 22nd 2008!
Many thanks to the circa 220 people that attended what we hope was a fun-packed event that brought laughter and tears (of joy) to ye all.
For many of us, it represented our first opportunity in decades to rekindle old friendships that were the bedrock of our student days at UCG.

Over the next few months, we will set up a separate (but linked) special Grads Reunion website containing images & videos of Nov 22nd 2008; an online UCG photo gallery that members can access in order to upload & update (with names of students) images; a web map of UCG in 1978... Plus Lots More!! So Watch this Space!!!
In the interim, if you have photos from Nov 22nd, please forward them to bspeedie@eircom.net asap

Do You Remember......

2008-12-03T23:19:00.004Z

Punk Rockers?
'Head-banging' in the 'International' Nightclub?
When Condoms were new & unfamiliar to UCG students?
When Pipe Smoking was fashionable?

Do You Remember......

2008-08-19T19:03:00.136+01:00

Fun & Friendship with Our Student Housemates?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

Dancing with Gatecrashers at Grads Ball?
The Infamous "Comm & Econ Soc's" Historical Tour of Famous 'Watering Holes' of Connemara!!?

Commerce Dress Dance?
Graduation Day?

The Time When Males & Females actually Shared House Cleaning!? Dressing Up for Tramps Ball?

Summers Working in New York?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

__________________

Dedicated Followers of Fashion...

Long Coats?
Mink Coats?
Duffle Coats?
Wooly Jumpers?
Americans in Aran Sweaters?
'Guna Deas'?

The Field Trips?
Visits & Lectures from National Politicians?
Professor Rynne versus the 'Save Woodquay' Campaign?

Pogo Dancing in College Week?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

Tug-of-War in College Week?
Assembling the Crazy Boats for College Week Racing?
The Crazy Boat Race Finishing Line!?
Our Sporting Heroes?
ArtsSoc Concerts?

Ladies Football Teams?
(with male minders!?- Strange!)(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

Graduation Night (residents of party house- No.80 Hazel Park!)?

Scientists on Graduation?

____________________

The Unity (Mega) Variety Shows of 1978 & 1979?

When Dr. Hubert McDermott

Preached Revolution...or so the media claimed!!!

Plus...Nightrider

'College Days' as performed by ‘The Unity Community’
( à la 'Summer Nights' from 'Grease')

Winter nights hit me a blast,
UCG happened so fast
In the lib’ry most of the day
But at night I go my own way

Chorus
College days drifting away but Oh! those College nights
Wella wella wella huh!
What a bore what a bore if you’re not getting jarred!
What a bore what a bore if your features are scarred!

Met an ‘enge’ crazy’s can be
Could hardly see him, hair to his knees
Soon found out he wasn’t alone
Two thousand fleas had made him his home

Chorus

Met a ca-det he had a car
We went driving, didn’t get far
In the boot most of his friends
When I saw them it was the end.

Chorus

(slow verse)
It’s getting warmer, that means the end
Time for study, parties be damned
Getting closer, two weeks to go
Bad results, prospects are low

College days drifting away …but Oh! Those bloody exams! (What a bore, what a booooore!)

_____________________________

The Greasy Pole during Rag Week?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

__________________

Pushy Photographers on Graduation Day!?

Grads Night?__________________

UCG Fianna Fáil's "Teddy Boys"!

______________________

Newsflash!!!
Photo of 1976 First Year Science Students Uncovered!

A wonderful photograph of nearly 100 First Year Science Students taken in 1978 sitting on the steps near to the UCG Library was emailed from Brian Walsh now living in Australia. Above is a small section of this fantastic image (a smiling red-haired Brian is in the middle of photo). The full photo will be shown in all its glory on Nov 22nd!
Below is the text of Brian's email:

Speedie, Enjoy!
Who's the ugly bastard up at the back :-) it's you!
I wonder where they all are now? I can only remember a small fraction of the names. Maybe people will recognize themselves/others and provide updates on how things have worked out.

I *think* this was taken by "Farrells" of Woodquay....you should remember, you organized it!
And there were several class fotos taken - comm, arts, etc.
So would Farrells' (or what's left of them, if anything) still have negatives? I'll leave that to you.

Regards,
Brian Walsh

___________________________________

The SU Characters?

HistriSoc's Irish Student History Conference in the Great Southern?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

HistriSoc's Christmas Party with 'Big G' (Gerry Sexton) & the Fuse?
HistriSoc's Lecture on Hitler by Frank Noonan- UCG student, resident of 80 Hazel Park & WW2 military buff !?

HistriSoc's Lecture on DeValera & the Bishop by popular UCG historian T.P. O'Neill?
HistriSoc's great Arts Dress Dances?

Graduation Day?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)______________________

When Fashion was

Long Hair, Big Spectacles &
Beards!?
Females in Uniform on Graduation Day?Males in Uniform on Graduation Day?

Slow Dancing in the Aula?(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

Discos with the 'K-Tel Kids'?
Discos with 'Big G' (Gerry Sexton)?

Party 'Blueshirts' on campus?

Making Water Balloons for Rag Week Shenanigans?(Photo may show in fact Com & Enge Students in their failed 1978 'Condom Re-Use & Recycle' Initiative!)

Wearing Fancy Dress in Rag Week?

(Click on Photographs to view larger size)

Travelling to Lisdoonvarna to Enjoy the Craic and the music of Jackson Browne, Planxty, Moving Hearts, Dave Edmunds...?

(Click above to hear Christy Moore sing Lisdoonvarna)

_____________________________

Nervous Enge Students Guarding 'Dick' Magazine Stores Against Threatened Arson Attack by Angry Feminists during College Week?

Enge Students Demonstrating 'Scare' Tactics to be used against Angry 'Dick' hating Feminists?
Feminists Burning 'Dick' Rag Mag Outside Enge Block?

Enge Student Casualty outside Enge Block after Successful Arson Attack by Angry 'Dick' Hating Feminists?________________________

Transforming Damp Cold Chalets & Dinghy Garage Flats into Palatial Dining Rooms for Invited Friends (at least for one night!)?

The Fun & Banter of Student Mags?

Taking One Last Photo of Good Friends Together on Graduation Day?

Being Conferred in Latin?
The Conferring List?

Grads Night?
Rowing Boats for Hire from the old College Boat Club?

The Members of the Upper Echelons of UCG Society?

Looking Gorgeous at the annual Faculty Dress Dance?

Dashing Young Musketeers & Swordsmen Roaming the Campus?

When 'Bushing' Meant Something Altogether Different from Today?
The 'Slow Set' at a Salthill Disco?
Expert Relationship & Sexual Advice from 'Contra' (aka Paul Moore)?The 'Ms. & Mr. College Week' competition?
Friday & Saturday Nights in the Aula?
Being on a J1 Student Summer Visa in New York?
When the Campus was full of 'Officers & Gentlemen'!?
Inaugural Gig of 'FUSE', Galway's First Super Group, in O'Flaherty's Theatre?

When Marriage created the strangest of Bedfellows?

Sporting Lassies?
Sporting Lads?

Enge 'GAA GAA' Boys
Closing Time(11pm) in the Reading Room?
Thursday Nights in the 'Kings Head'?
The Crazy Boat Race during Rag Week?
The Kelly & Taylor Band?
Proud Family Members on Graduation Day?
The Annual pre-Xmas SU Protest March to Eyre Square?
Being Slightly(!) Intoxicated in the Cellar Bar?
Feeling Sick in the Skeff at the end of the Ladies Pub Crawl in Rag Week?
Our Very Own On-Campus Cinema courtesy of SU Ents Officer Padraic Boran?
The Poetry & Short Stories of VOICES?
'Societies Day' for First Years in the Concourse?Singing in the Choral Society?
The 21st Birthday Parties?

The Life & Times of UCG Students

College Life in the latter half of the 1970s was a truly liberating and empowering time for young Irish people.We were part of the generation that finally benefited from third level state grants and free post-primary education. With the arrival of the multi-national corporations; the introduction of new technologies; public discussions on family planning, homosexuality and other once strictly taboo social issues; the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland and our entrance into the European Economic Community, the country was experiencing unprecedented change that was at times painful but oftentimes enjoyable. So began the journey along the road to today's Global Village.The students of this era were true pioneers being both recipients and initiators of this new Ireland.
On a personal level, many that came to UCG then were the first members of families ever to attend a third-level college. Our Moms & Dads were very proud and expected great things from their sons and daughters. But for us it was a pure Teenager's Dreamland! We found ourselves all of a sudden living away from home with no real constraints surrounded by thousands of young active people of our own age.But then reality would set in as we found it difficult to party more than one day (Thursday) a week due to the miserable council grant monies that we got every term!!
Yet we left a enduring legacy behind us not just nationally but locally as many of our colleagues began to re-shape Galway City into an internationally renowned economic and cultural hub.
Come Join Us!

It would be really nice to meet each and every one of you again after so many years. Let's share a laugh and drink or two on Saturday November 22nd in NUI Galway. Some of our favourite college academic and administrative staff have also promised to join us for the event.

Professor Tom O'Neill with Tony Broderick (our friendly campus bank manager!)

So if you remember any of the following- GIBS in Seapoint; late night Toga Parties in Hazel Park; Terry Smith playing guitar outside the Claddagh Cinema; Afternoon Coffee in 'Peggys'; discos at the 'Aula', 'Rivelinos', 'Beach' & 'International'; the 'Kelly & Taylor' Band in the King's Head; Boomtown Rats in 'Smokie Joes'; Furey Brothers in Terrapin 5; Captain Joe Fiddle (aka Ollie Jennings); the disc jockeys known as Big G & the 'K-Tel Kids'; 'Fir Bolgs'; 'Mná Bolgs'; Cider flagons from 'Peter Michaels'; the after-pub Curried Chips; 'Garbage' & 'Reaction' mags; Lit 'n' Deb motions from Ronan Tynan & co; Lectures in the Latin Hall; Morning Cycling to college; U2 in Leisureland; Rag Ball; Teac Furbo; SU marches to Eyre Square; 'Blue Bottles' in the Library; Padraic Boran's great Ents posters; 'Stickies', 'Trots', 'Revolutionary Struggle' & Fine Gael's 'Young Tigers'; the furore over Rag Week Fund-Raising for the Family Planning Centre; 'Dick'; H-Block Protests; the showing of the banned 'Life of Brian' film in college; 'Opus Dei'; 'Campus Crusade'; 'Crusade for Satan'; Hitchhiking home for the weekends, Dolly Birds in the Skeff... then you should be there!!!

So Who has Already Confirmed?The following graduates (& UCG staff friends) have confirmed their attendance:
Maria O'Malley, Sinead O'Neill, Barney Callaghan, Speedie Smith, Oliver Foley, Olivia Harris, Mike Jennings, Mike McArdle, Ursula Killeen, Tom Cassidy, Tony Broderick, Mike Turley, Joe Rice, Cha Taylor, Eileen Mahoney, Fergal Hassett, Eileen Keary, Mary Flanagan, Mary Murphy, Richie Moore, Ollie Daniels, James O'Kelly, Linda Gillan Byrne, Emer Dyar Kerrigan, Martin Ridge, Marcella Corcoran, Sean McGovern, Eugene Kelly, Sindy Dowling, Liam Walsh(Breathnach), Bernie Mannion, Billy Moyles, Tadg Kenny, Jackie O'Dowd, John Broderick, Maureen O'Malley, Breda Coady, Roger Lee, Debie Fitzgerald, Kevin Connolly, Linda Gillen, Nuala Clancy, Nodlaig O' Grady, Pat Byrne, Victor Laing, Bertie Hartigan, Hubert McDermott, Mary Hyland, Ciana Campbell, Mary Dundon, Caroline Graham, Mary Farrell, Rosie Nee, Joan O'Brien, Anne Donald, Frank Noonan, Sean Farrell, Ray Flaherty, Padraig Quinn, Charlie Byrne, Kathy deHora, Hubert McDermott, Joyce McGreevy, Michael Fitzpatrick, James Harrold, Margaret Mary Amond, Padraig Harris, Trish Harrington, Bartley Fannin, Martin Ridge, Cathal Guiomard, Paula Walsh, Tony McDonogh, Maura Grealy, Mike Irwin, Katherine Shannon, Seamus McKenna, Maria Silke, Kevin Byrne, Una Tierney, Bernie McAleer, Padraig O'Ceidigh, Aideen Ward, Kevin Jordan, Una Ní Chaoimh, Maeve McDonogh, Seamus Kilroy, Donal Downes, Mary McArdle, Maura Butler, Anne O'Grady, Gerry Jones, Mary McCabe, Mike Hession, Eleanor Cahill, Eamon Brennan, Caitriona McCullough, Teresa Guinan, Deirdre Cunningham, Breda Brennan, Mary Burke, Anne Donald, Ciara Hartigan, Nuala Clancy, Siobhan McKiernan, Una Byrne, Eugene O'Kelly, Eamon Behan, Sarah O'Beirne, Mike Hanley, Damian Kelly, John Kehoe, Mary O'Sullivan, Mary Walsh, Brian Thornton, Bernadette Ogburn, Mary Fidelma Dunne, Breda Brennan, Paul Riordan, Emer Walshe, Sheila Moroney, Michael Keenan, Mary O'Sullivan, Richie Bowler, Eileen Grogan, Rory Hynes, Grainne McMorrow, Martin Ludden, John McGrath, Oliver Reynolds, Gerry Riordan, Aileen Burke, Bernadette Crehin, Olive Coppinger, Joe Connolly, Kathy Griffin, Mary McCann, Christina Conroy, Teresa Folan, Mary Grennan, Dolly Brehony, Bernie Kenny, Annette McCormack, Riona Hughes, Jimmy O'Rourke, Una Nealon, Mairead Manifold, Bríd Manifold, Anne Grennan, Eileen Cleary, Nigel McKenna, Stephen Collins, Brien Kiely, Margaret Murphy, Brenda Murphy, Oonagh Lysaght, Conor Maguire, Joe Boske, Nuala Lardner, Eileen Molloy, Pat Diskin, Shannon Goggin, Michael Conway, Mary Coldrick, Iggy O'Muircheartaigh, Mike Donohue, Brian Thornton, Frances Dooley, Rose Heffernan, Enda O'Reilly, Eugenia Kelly, Padraic Jordan, Dave Niland, Celestine Rowland, Enda O'Reilly, Paul Clarke, Nuala Clancy, Dolores Brennan, Una Byrne, Francesca Counihan, Michael D. Higgins, Padraic Breathnach, Mary McCabe, Sean MacEoin, Mary McCreevy, Liz Cassidy, Carmel McCarthy, Rachel McNicholl, Eta O'Brien, Mike Quinlivan, Alma Hynes (neé Quinn), Padraic Boran, Declan MacCuarta, Johan Sullivan and Maura Henderson.
Many of the above people have contacted former student colleagues to encourage them to spend a memorable November weekend in their Alma Mater. So the call has gone out and being heard by:
Marguerite Larkin, Declan Coogan, Moira Malone, John Reidy, Ross O'Driscoll, Johnny Burns, Mary Fleming, Jim Higgins, Peter Finnegan, Dave Niland, Barry Connaire, Martin Fitzgerald, Tommy Allen, Majella Coleman, Colm Feeney, Norrie Nugent, Ronan Tynan, Brian McCraith, Mary Rose Kelly, Jim McComb, Maeliosa Stafford, William Cahill, Martin Comiskey, Barry Connaire, John Coppinger, Aidan Corcoran, Gabriel Costello, Eamon Doyle, John Egan, Eamonn Fahey, Declan Garvin, Philip Harkin, Timothy Joyce, Paul Maloney, David O'Malley, Padraic O'Donoghue, Margaret Costello, Maureen Joyce, David Jackson, Malachy Eaton, Aenid O'Driscoll, Gabriel Hicks, Teresa Naughton, Kathleen Joyce, Ian Hanna, Jim Byrne, Betty Hynes, Dave Lannon, Fr. Brian Allen, Rachel McNicholl, Liz Fitzpatrick, Michael Gorman, Ann Marie Horan, Gerard Donovan, John Egan, Brian & Tish Mannion, Charlie McBride, Lelia Kennedy, Ger Farrell, Carmel McCarthy, Moira Sweeney, Dermot O'Connor, Jim Cotter, John Joe Conwell, Peter Faherty, Tim Flaherty, Jim Gosling...
So why not consider picking up the 'phone or emailing a few friends over the next few weeks to persuade your old college mates to join you for the Re-union? You may never get such a fantastic opportunity again!