As well as St Patrick's Convent Schools, St Patrick's Parish, Holy Cross Schools, and Holy Heart of Mary High School are all part and parcel of our school experience so we like to post about them also. Today's post, which is in honour of another of our "GLORIOUS SURVIVORS", has a Holy Heart connection.
I am a big fan and follower of 'Archival Moments'. On 25th February 2019, 'Archival Moments' featured the story of the return of Private Michael Ryan to his home in Calvert. The Holy Heart connection comes through Michael Ryan's daughter, known to some of us as Sr M Reginald and to others as Sr Marie Ryan. Whatever name you knew her by, Sister spent many years at Holy Heart of Mary High School and quite a few of us had the good fortune to be taught by her.
Michael Ryan had enlisted at St John's on 8th February 1917. According to 'Archival Moments', it was in February 1919 that Private Ryan "arrived home from France by the Corsican, he was home after two years of service having seen some of the most severe fighting of the war, but came through without a wound." It went on to say that on 14th February "the ladies of the Harbour tendered Private Ryan a splendid reception in St Joseph's School."
The MC for the occasion was Joseph Sullivan and he welcomed the young man with the words: "We are glad to have you back again and our only sorrow, and we feel sure yours also, is that your poor chum Charlie who enlisted with you, is not here tonight to share with you our joy, but God willed otherwise, and tonight he, like so many others of our "Better than the Best", sleeps in a hero's honoured grave in France, a martyr to the Huns' frightfulness." Private Ryan was then presented with a purse and a gold watch and fob as a remembrance of his home coming.
Michael Ryan eventually married Bridget Clancy and they raised a large family which included two priests, Fr Kevin and Fr William, and a Nun, Sr Marie P B V M.
According to his obituary, Michael Ryan lived the rest of his life on his "beloved Southern Shore". On Sunday morning, 3rd April 1955, Michael Ryan was preparing to take his family to Mass when he died suddenly of a heart attack. Again we quote from his obituary: "Having lived a life given over first to the fear and love of God, it was perhaps fitting that he should die on the way to worship Him."
His son, Fr Kevin, was the main celebrant at Michael Ryan's funeral. Private Ryan was escorted to the cemetery by a Guard of Honour of the Canadian Legion. When the final prayers had been said and the Legion ritual completed, they dropped red Poppies into his grave. "And they buried him among the Fir Trees where the Hill slopes towards the broad Atlantic - within the sight and the sound of which he had lived all his life."
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| Sr M Reginald/Sr Marie Ryan, Holy Heart of Mary High School, circa 1964 |
The MC for the occasion was Joseph Sullivan and he welcomed the young man with the words: "We are glad to have you back again and our only sorrow, and we feel sure yours also, is that your poor chum Charlie who enlisted with you, is not here tonight to share with you our joy, but God willed otherwise, and tonight he, like so many others of our "Better than the Best", sleeps in a hero's honoured grave in France, a martyr to the Huns' frightfulness." Private Ryan was then presented with a purse and a gold watch and fob as a remembrance of his home coming.
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| Pte Michael Ryan, Regimental Number 3468 |
Michael Ryan eventually married Bridget Clancy and they raised a large family which included two priests, Fr Kevin and Fr William, and a Nun, Sr Marie P B V M.
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| Fr William Ryan |
His son, Fr Kevin, was the main celebrant at Michael Ryan's funeral. Private Ryan was escorted to the cemetery by a Guard of Honour of the Canadian Legion. When the final prayers had been said and the Legion ritual completed, they dropped red Poppies into his grave. "And they buried him among the Fir Trees where the Hill slopes towards the broad Atlantic - within the sight and the sound of which he had lived all his life."
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