I know, I know! This isn't strictly St Patrick's Convent School! But it is HOLY CROSS. Remember Holy Cross? Who among us didn't have their eye on some "cute Holy Cross boy"? Were you one of the girls who spent Sunday afternoons sitting on our school wall watching the Holy Cross Cadets practise in their school yard? Did you, with a vigorous nodding of the head and an innocent face solemnly assure your teacher, "Yes Sister, it's my brother" as you dashed off to Buckmasters Field to watch the Holy Cross Cadets strut their stuff at the Annual Army Cadet Inspection? Did you ever lose your voice cheering on our Holy Cross Crusaders at a Basketball, Soccer or Hockey Game? Enough said!
 |
| Holy Cross Sports Day, 1959 (Click on the photo to enlarge it) |
This picture was taken on 6th June 1959 at the first Holy Cross Sports Day held at the recently acquired Brother Egan Field on Leslie St. Most of you will recognise Msgr D O'Keeffe, Msgr R McD Murphy, Fr Leo Shea, Archbishop P J Skinner and Br L Angel. Msgr Murphy was our long serving Parish Priest and the well loved Fr Shea was also serving at St Patrick's at that time. Brother Angel was Principal of Holy Cross. (It's a shame that our handsome P P was snapped adjusting his glasses.)
I hope this picture brings back some happy memories for you. It did for me!
Hi Beth Anne,
ReplyDeleteThe duplex house shown behind Msgr. Murphy and Father O'Keefe is where Miss Murphy used to live. She taught at St. Patrick's Convent and I have heard she used to drive some of the students to school. I think she was the first lay teacher there and the only one for a long time.
Frank
Hi Anonymous/Frank
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and thanks for taking the time to comment.
You are definitely right abut Miss Murphy driving some students to school. She was my Kindergarten teacher and I was one of the children who got a drive to and from school with Miss Murphy. Miss Murphy's car was always full of children from her neighbourhood. That was something she did for years.
You are probably right about Miss Murphy being the first lay teacher and the only one for a long time. I don't really know that because when I was in Kindergarten there were at least two other lay teachers, Miss Fagan and Miss Howard. Of course Miss Murphy had already been at St Patrick's for years and years before I got there so you could very well be right about her being the only lay teacher for a long time.
I think she taught at St Patrick's for just about forever! God rest her soul.
hi beth ann.....its jacinta (tobin) doyle from warbury street and i am loving this wow never knew this site existed i think i graduated from st patricks in 1963....about the picture of holy cross sports day that duplex was not where miss murphy lived it was the house next to it....that house was minnie and gerry murphys house......miss murphy was my godmother and a really good friend of my mother i went to and from school with her for many years
ReplyDeleteHi Jacinta.
ReplyDeleteIt is absolutely great to hear from you! I haven't seen you for years. I hope life has been treating you well. Of course you are right about Miss Murphy's house. I remember where she lived because she was my Kindergarten teacher & several of us girls from McKay St had the pleasure of being driven to & from school with her for that year. Girls from Warbury St & Shaw St were also driven by her. We all piled into the car (no seat belt rules in those days) & off we went. Sometimes we would wait in her front room & sometimes we waited in the car. I remember one day her aged father gave us all a big bag of chocolate Lady Fingers to share while we waited in the car. Miss Murphy was a great lady & they were great days! If you have any pictures, stories, memories etc, of St Patrick's I would love to post them here on the blog. Thanks for getting in touch. You brought back some good memories for me because I knew some of your sisters & brothers too. I also remember your lovely Mom. Take care & please keep in touch.
Hi Beth Anne. Thanks for posting this. I was born in 1958 and attended St. Patrick's school. This picture is especially meaningful to me because Father Shea was my cousin, originally from Pouch Cove, and came to our house often for Jiggs dinner. He had a great sense of humour and a ferocious laugh. I am working in Ottawa and living in Aylmer, Quebec. I am also an ovarian cancer survivor and Father Shea had a hand in my recovery as I pray to him often. He was a beautiful soul and I still miss him. Janice Baird
ReplyDeleteHello Janice
DeleteIt is lovely to hear from you & I am grateful to you for taking the time to comment. I remember Fr Shea very well. He was a lovely man & a great priest. It was a great loss to the Archdiocese to lose him at such a young age. He was such a hard worker & did so much for so many. We were lucky to have had such a wonderful priest. God bless him & may God bless you too & keep you well.
Old Bro.Larry Angel.I felt his strap on my hands many times for getting to school late!He was hell on wheels!!LOL
ReplyDeleteI quit school in 1963 and was taught by Bro,Buckingham at the time.I left St.John's in 1964 and came to the USA to enlist in the Army in 1968 after having lived in Toronto from 1964 to 68.My name is Patrick O'Neill and I was raised on Barters Hill. Some of you on here may remember my 3 sisters who went to Presentation Convent School.Irene O'Neill,who has lived in Wisconsin since 1959,Maggie "Margaret"O'Neill,who lives in Toronto,Ontario and Shirley O'Neill who also lives in Totonto.I live in Houston,Texas and have 2 daughters.Does anyone on here remember any of my sisters?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to leave comments on this blog. I appreciate your input very much. I think some people will remember your sisters & I hope they will reply to your comment. It is a long time since you left Newfoundland. Do you ever come back for a visit? I hope you will keep looking in. It is nice to hear from you.
Sorry! My sisters attended St Patricks Convent on Patrick St I went to Holy Cross across the street!! It's been a long time!!
DeleteI've been back 3 or 4 times over the last 12 yrs. Quite a few changes. I always stayed in Flat Rock over looking the ocean in a little cottage. It was beautiful. I wish I could have tracked down more people that I knew when I visited. One Gal in particular, her name was Mick Walch, who also attended St.Patricks Convent! I had a boyhood crush on her that she never even knew about!! LOL...I'd love to find her some day!! Thaanks for this site. It's great!!
DeleteSorry it took so long to get back to you. Thank you for your reply!!!
DeleteI hated Larry Angel, Holy Cross Principle!! He hit me in the face so damn hard one time i couldn't hear for a week! When I got back from Vietnam many yrs later if I had run into him he would have been walking around without a shadow! Br. Fitzpatrick Br Buckingham Br. Fahey were my favorites. Later on in about 1962 I saw Br.Fahey at a Water St dance with his fiance. He had given up trying to teach with a bunch of tyrants!!I had some good memories of Holy Cross but I have some bad one's too. This was one of the bad ones!!
ReplyDeleteHello there
DeleteNice to hear from you again. Yep, I know what you mean when you say some good memories & some bad ones. That's how it went wasn't it? It was pretty much the same for us all. Personally, I do my very best to forget the bad ones & just remember the good ones. For my own part, the good memories far outnumber the bad ones & I hope it is the same for you. Thanks for getting in touch. Please keep in touch & I hope you find your friend. Who knows, she just might have had a secret crush on you too. God bless you.
Does anyone have or know where to get school pics of students from Holy Cross School during 1959 and 1960?? Would love to see them.
ReplyDeleteInterested Crusaders:
ReplyDeleteBen Gillard "Original"
Holy Cross School that was located on Patrick Street.
Professionally framed.
36L x 26H Oil on stretch canvas.
$900 Firm. 725-9979.
Completed in 2007.