How did we celebrate St Patrick's Day at St Patrick's in days gone by? Well, thanks to Kim Barrett-Doyle and Craig McAllister, I have some wonderful old photographs that will give us an idea of how it used to be in the 1970s and 1980s. (Remember, just click on each photograph to enlarge it!)
Kim's beautiful coloured photo is from 1984/85 and was taken at a St Patrick's Day Concert in the School Gym on Patrick Street. Kim tells me that Christina Mallard Cooper, Connie Lambe and Pam Power are in the picture but she isn't sure of any other names. Debbie Thomas Meyer has also supplied a couple of names. Debbie says that one of the girls in the picture is indeed Kim Barrett-Doyle and another is Kerri Jones Smith.
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| ST PATRICK'S DAY, 1984/85 |
The rest of our photographs were taken by Craig at one of the St Patrick's Day Plays that were for many years a fixture of St Patrick's Parish life. These plays were put on by The St Patrick's Dramatic Troupe under the direction of the wonderful Miss Kathleen Hayes. Hang on to your "Caubeen"now because here are the photographs of one of Kathleen's plays!
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| WAKE HIM UP! THE CURTAIN HAS RISEN! (Eleanor McAllister and ?) |
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| OH GOOD, HE'S AWAKE! I THINK SHE IS ANNOYED AT HIM. |
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| WELL, SHE IS DEFINITELY THE MAID! (Doreen Healey, Shannon McAllsiter & ?) |
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| COULD HE BE THE HANDYMAN? AND WHO IS THE GUY IN THE SUIT? WE HAVEN'T SEEN HIS FACE YET. |
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| ANOTHER GUY IN A SUIT! WE CAN'T SEEN HIS FACE EITHER. (?, Doreen, Shannon & Gerry Costello) |
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| PALM READING PERHAPS? (Joe Newman, Doreen, ?) |
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| SOME OF THE CAST MEMBERS (Tom Price, Mary Gosse, Doreen Healey, Shannon McAllister, Frank Newman, Helen Molloy, Joe Newman, Gerry Costello, Mary Downey) |
I wish I knew what it was all about because it looked like a lot of fun. I think we are missing some of the cast members but I can't be sure. If anyone remembers this particular play, maybe you would be kind enough to share your knowledge with us. We have some of the actors names but we would welcome more if you know any. Those we have are: Tom Price, Doreen Healy, Eleanor McAllister, Gerry Costello, Shannon McAllister, Mary Downey, Helen Molloy, George O'Brien, Pat McAllister, Mary Gosse and Blondie Horan.
At these wonderful concerts you never got a chance to be bored because even between the acts there was top quality entertainment. The next couple of photos are the young dancers who entertained the night of this particular play. Again, I have no details of who they are but I am ever optimistic that someone can help us out. They could be the St Pat's Dancers or they could be the Holy Cross Dancers. Please, someone, search your memory for us?
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| GREAT YOUNG DANCERS! |
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| WHERE ARE THEY NOW? I HOPE THEY ARE DANCING SOMEWHERE THIS ST PATRICK'S DAY! |
I am really grateful to Kim and to Craig for sharing these beautiful memories with us. Again, I hope that someone out there will be able to tell us something about these pictures. If you are able to help us, please contact us at mcallistersmith@gmail.com and add to the pleasure.
I have greatly enjoyed doing this post and I sincerely hope that you too have enjoyed it. To all St Patrick's people, far and near, have a very Happy St Patrick's Day!
