FRIENDSHIP AT ITS BEST

Joan Reynolds Fogarty sent this picture of a long awaited reunion lunch which took place late last month.  

"Don't stay away so long, Bern"

On 29 October Joan wrote: "Lovely get-together for Lunch today with Bernadette Miskell Redmond, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Patricia Connolly Leonard, and Mary Bulger Corcoran. We are all St. Patrick's girls. We haven't seen Bernadette in over 30 years. Don't stay away so long, Bern."

Thank you Joan for all the great pictures and for your support. It is really wonderful to see you ladies maintaining this most beautiful friendship over the years. Long may it continue . God bless you all.

PS I look forward to hearing about your Christmas get together. 🎄🎅

☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘

A GOLDEN CHAIN

"Friendship is a golden chain, the links are friends so dear, And like a rare and precious jewel, it's treasured more each year"  Helen Steiner Rice  ⏳⏳💖💖

Pat HURLEY McDonald sent this photo and news of a delightful time with treasured friends.  

Bernadette, Mary, Lila, Cynthia, Margie, Nancy, Maureen, Sheila, Pat

Nancy STANLEY Cook hosted a lunch at her home on Saturday, 4 January 2025.  The longtime friends, St Patrick's Girls all, had a wonderful time.  

Many thanks to hostess, Nancy, and to Pat for the news and photo.  

Helen Steiner Rice was not wrong!

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO11, MORE REUNIONS!

It seems St Patrick's girls have this strange little quirk.  They just can't stay apart!   That's definitely a beautiful little quirk to have. Here they are again, various groups meeting up over the years in happy get togethers.  Well done ladies!  Lets keep the reunions going and enjoy one another as long as possible.  

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO 10, ALL ABOUT MAY

The month of May held many customs and traditions.  Some are still observed, some have dwindled considerably and others have completely disappeared.  One which I am pretty sure disappeared with the closure of our Catholic Schools is the wearing of the blue ribbon and medal in honour of Our Lady. Oh, and May Altars.  Remember those lovely May Altars in classrooms and even in some of our homes? 

Another tradition was the daily recitation of the Rosary.  When the Virgin Mary appeared to the three children at Fatima in 1917, she asked that the Rosary be prayed daily.  

Of course there was that wonderful and still continuing tradition of getting away for the 24th weekend!  Up to the cabin or to a favourite fishing spot for a revitalizing breath of fresh air - never mind that it could very well snow!  That didn't diminish the pleasure of the 24th weekend one iota.

The St Patrick's Girls went off for the weekend too. Lawrence Pond or Seal Cove, anywhere at all, they were together and they enjoyed themselves!

Audrey Dawe-Sheppard reminded me of the beautiful May Crownings that were such a part of our young lives.  We sang some very lovely hymns and one of my favourites was this one, sung here by Emmett Cahill.

https://youtu.be/PxFux66sLWo?si=mpKpPXzDTLerdjED

I hope you will enjoy this little look back at the month of May.  If you have any memories, stories or pictures of May, Mary's month. please share them with us.  You can send them to me at mcallistersmith@gmail.com.

🌷🌻🌷🌻🌞⛅⛈🌂🌈⛄☔🌷🌸🌹🌻🌼🌹

FRIENDS TOGETHER AGAIN

Maureen O'Brien Roach, Kay Johnson Parsons, Carmel Hayes, Diane Mulcahy Jackman, Mary Johnson Godsland, Phyllis Reardon, Brenda Murphy and Janet McGrath Crane, a group of St Patrick's girls who, though not all in the same class, went around together while growing up in St John's. Their bond of friendship proved strong and they have done their best  to meet up every year.  Sadly, Brenda passed away in 2009 and she is much missed by her friends.  Diane now lives in Calgary but recently spent some time at home.  Of course,  that meant a happy little reunion for those of the group who could make it.  Mary Johnson Godsland sent this photo of the ladies.

Friends together again

L-R: 

Maureen O'Brien Roach, Carmel Hayes, Diane Mulcahy Jackman, Kay Johnson Parsons, Mary Johnson Godsland

It is always inspiring to see how friendship flourishes and survives despite the  years and the miles.  Thanks for sharing, Mary.  Please keep us up to date with any and all of your get-togethers.  

AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE PAST

These pictures were posted quite awhile ago by Maureen Sullivan and Mike Power on our facebook page. Because they are such interesting photos, I think they deserve a wider audience.  Maybe, and it is a very big maybe, someone out there can give us a name or two.

Maureen tells us that this picture is of the Holy Cross First Communion Class of 1928.  How awesome is that!

Holy Cross First Communion Class, 1928

Mike's picture is of a group of unnamed St Patrick's Girls.  Mike speculates that it was taken sometime in the 1940s and I think he might be right.  I think the month is either May or June because one of the girls has a ribbon and medal pinned to her uniform.

A group of St Patrick's Girls.  Who are they?
Where was the photo taken?

I would like to thank both Maureen and Mike for sharing these two amazing photos with us.  They are really special. If you come across any other photos that you would like to share, either St Patrick's or Holy Cross, we would be more than happy to post them.  You can send them to us at mcallistesmith@gmail.com.   

PLEASANTVILLE LUNCH DATE

Pat Hurley McDonald has sent us a nice photo of herself and some St Patrick's school mates who recently shared a very enjoyable lunch date. On 12th September the friends dined at The Royal Canadian Legion Restaurant in Pleasantville.  

Lunching Ladies

The ladies are L-R:

Sheila Moyst, Lila Mercer, Judy Comerford, Carol Cromwell, Pat Hurley, Cynthia Murphy 

As always, a good time was had by all and another get together is now being organised. 

Thank you Pat.  We are always pleased to receive news of what St Patrick's girls (and boys) are doing these days.  So, please keep meeting up and please keep us informed.

ST PATRICK'S GIRLS AT JACK'S RESTAURANT

Getting together with school friends is still very important to former pupils of St Patrick's Convent Schools.  Joan Reynolds Fogarty sent us news on their latest gathering.  In May the ladies met for dinner at Jack's Restaurant in the Capital Hotel.

GETTING TOGETHER AT JACK'S RESTAURANT 

Back Row: Brenda Casey Grouchy, Joan Reynolds Fogarty, Rosemary Ashley Healy, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Joan Connolly Alston, Bonnie Beck Byrne, Rita Kielly, Betty Fitzgerald Pye, Mary Fitzgerald

Front Row: Patricia McCarthy Philpott, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Mary Bulger Corcoran, Patricia Connolly Leonard, Eleanor Sears Vatcher, Madeline Adams Thompson

Thanks very much, Joan, for sharing this with us. Don't forget to send us news of your next meeting.  You ladies are just amazing!  

Joan also informed us that a stalwart of this class, Catherine Corbett Stanley, lost her beloved husband, Winston, in early May.  We send our deepest sympathy to Catherine and to all Winston's family and friends.  May he rest in peace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

We have received a lovely email and photograph from Joan REYNOLDS Fogarty.  Joan & her school friends have had their Christmas party and she very kindly shared it with us.     The closeness and loyalty to one another of this group of St Patrick's girls is inspiring. They help us see the importance of maintaining the bonds of friendships that were forged in childhood and youth.  Also, all those happy, smiling faces tell us that there is a lot of pleasure in it too.  Keep it up ladies!

 

Joan wrote:

"We had our Christmas party last night at Rosemary ASHLEY Healy's home. We had a wonderful catered three-course meal, exchanged gifts, and had a wonderful evening together. There were fourteen of us this time."

MERRY CHRISTMAS

SEATED:

Madelyn Adams Thompson, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Eleanor Sears Vatcher.

STANDING:

Betty Fitzgerald Pye, Joan Reynolds Fogarty, Catherine Corbett Stanley, Joan Connolly Alston, Bonnie Beck Byrne, Mary Fitzgerald, Rosemary Ashley Healy, Patricia Connolly Leonard, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Joan Ryan Cobb, Mary Bulger Corcoran.

 

Joan's email continued:

"Our next get-together is May 13.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2015 to everyone."

 

Thanks for sharing this with us Joan.  We look forward to hearing about your next adventure together.

FRIENDS FOR LIFE, AND BEYOND!

I have heard it said that in order to have a friend, one must be a friend.  If that is true, then Eileen Maher Hickey must have been a most excellent friend indeed!   I am happy to post the following article which I have received from Betty Simms.  I think it perfectly illustrates that ties of friendship can last a lifetime and longer.

 

"Some St Patrick's girls and friends of Eileen Hickey (nee Maher) gathered at Lucky's Restaurant on May 27th to honour Eileen on her Birthday.  Eileen, who passed away in April, always enjoyed going out to lunch with the girls."

 

Friends who gathered to honour the late Eileen Maher Hickey
on her Birthday

 

 

"The St Patrick's girls in the picture are Doreen Noseworthy (Walsh), Mary Kennedy, Maureen Sullivan, Betty Simms, Marina Grace, Bernadette Moyse (Grouchy), Alice Flynn (Hennessey), Jenny Finlay, Bernice Devereaux (Rose) and Bride Ryan (Colbert).  Dot and Nettie are long time friends of Eileen's."

 

Betty has sent us the Order of Service Sheet from Eileen's funeral.  It includes a beautiful and very touching poem written by Eileen's son, Martin.

 

 

Page 1, Order of Service. 
Note Martin's  touching poem.

 

 



Page 2. 

 

Page 3.  
Family and friends have all 
played a part in Eileen's Funeral

 

 

Page 4

 

 

Thank you, Betty, for sharing this with us.  We have lost a great friend in Eileen and we will miss her very much.  But, oh, the happy memories she has left us!  Rest in peace, dear Eileen, our friend for life, and beyond.

"SMART IN THEIR UNIFORMS"

There isn't much information with this photograph.  All we have is that it was taken in the 1960s, and that it could be a class of Grade VI or Grade VII students looking "smart in their uniforms".    I think it is too small a group to be a whole class because in the 1960s classes consisted of at least 30 girls and very often up to 40 students.  However, it certainly is a smart looking group and if anyone can name any of the girls or tell us anything about the group, it would be enormously helpful.  You can email us at mcallistersmith@gmail.com or leave a comment in the comments section of this post.  So very many of you have been extremely helpful in the past and I am confident you will be just as helpful with this little puzzler!   So, I thank you all very much and I look forward to hearing from you.

UPDATE:  I never give up hope that someday, somewhere, someone will supply us with a name or a snippet of information about a photo.  Well, it has been a long time coming (4 years!) but we now have some names to add to this photo.   Only ten more names and we will have everyone so come on now, have another look at the picture and see who you remember.  You can send any names or information to me at mcallistersmith@gmail.com.   Once again, thank you all for your help.
FRONT ROW, L-R: ?, Barbara Parsons, Bonnie Beck, ?, ?, Lucy O'Keefe 
MIDDLE ROW, L-R:  Connie Jackman, Betty Broderick, ?, Patricia Roche, Sharon Horan
BACK ROW, L-R:  Sheila Carew, Patricia Ann Power, Marie Carter, Fay Murphy, Patricia McCarthy

A group of St Patrick's Girls, looking "smart in their uniforms"

ST PATRICK'S REUNION 2008, PART 2

Following an exciting night of renewing old acquaintances and meandering down Memory Lane, the Class of 1958 met again the next evening, Saturday 2nd August.  This time the venue was the B I S where the celebrations continued with dinner and entertainment.  Dinner was an excellent hot and cold buffet and the first-rate entertainment was provided by the ladies themselves.  (If anyone reading this post has the grave misfortune of  being  unacquainted with any St Patrick's Girls, I hasten to inform you that St Patrick's Girls are multi-talented!)  

 

SATURDAY NIGHT:

EVENING DINNER AND ENTERTAINMENT AT THE B I S

Catherine Corbett Stanley and Yvonne Stephenson Meissner

 

 

The late Carmel Madden O'Mara as Sr Immaculata
(note the infamous Rubber Bag)

 

Madeline Adams Thomson

 

 

Brenda Casey Grouchy, Carmel Madden O'Mara (deceased), Mary Bulger Corcoran, Mary Morey Matheson,
Irene Viscount McCrate, Joan Predham Janes (deceased)

 

 

Betty Fitzgerald Pye and Judy Fitzgerald Squires

 

 

For Part 1 see yesterday's post at this link.  For Part 3 of this Reunion, remember to look in again tomorrow.   Once again, thank you Joan for these great pictures.  I would guess that the entertainment provided much hilarity! 

 

COMMERCIAL CLASS

Here is another great picture from Enid O'Brien along with the e-mail that accompanied the photo.  The only thing I will add to Enid's information is that the Commercial Class was taught by Sister Mary Imelda.  She taught at St Patrick's for years and years and her students received excellent training.   Sr Imelda was transferred to Holy Heart of Mary when it opened and she served for many years as Secretary to successive Principals.  I think her heart belonged to St Patrick's though because even at H H M, she still kept an eye on all the St Patrick's girls there.  Sr Imelda died at the Mother House in Cathedral Square and she is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. 

 

 

"Hello Beth Anne

I am enclosing another picture for your St. Patrick’s School archives. This is the 1956/57 Commercial Class dressed in their uniforms all prepared to take on the business world. Not only did they get good training they were also found positions in offices when they completed the course. St. Patrick’s girls had a terrific program and local employers would sometimes leave their names with the Sisters to send their girls for interviews when their training was complete. Unfortunately I can not identify all on this picture. However, with the help of former students I have been able to identify most and would be grateful for your readers to help in the identification. If there are errors I would appreciate hearing as well so we can make corrections.

 

St Patrick's Commercial Class 1956/57

 

 

Front Row (Seated L-R) #1 Anna Cahill; #2 Joan Morgan; #3 ?; #4 Helen Brewer; #5 ?; #6 ?; #7 Helen Hearn; #8 Alice Kavanagh

2nd Row (L-R) #1 ?; #2 ?; #3 Mary Lou Ryan; #4 Kathleen Grant; #5 Betty Broderick; #6 ?'; #7 Marguerite Murphy; #8 Elizabeth “Betty” Mason; #9 Frances Cooke; #10 Rosalie Horan; #12 ?

3rd Row (L-R) #1 Mary O’Brien; #2 Joan Cooper; #3 ?; #4 Theresa McCarthy; #5 Rosemary Stanford.

Best wishes for 2013

Enid O’Brien"

 

Thanks once again, Enid, for this trip down memory lane.

"THE TWENTY-FOURTH OF MAY IS THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY..."

"The twenty-fourth of May

is the Queen's Birthday.

If we don't get a holiday,

we'll all run away!"



That little ditty was an oft repeated one when I was in school.  Perhaps no one chants it anymore.  Even in my time at school it was out of date because the "Queen" referred to was not Queen Elizabeth II but her great-great-grandmother, the illustrious Queen Victoria.  However, it was part of our repertoire of silly rhymes and we trotted it out every year around this time.  This was probably the most welcome verse because when it made its yearly appearance we knew that we wouldn't have to "run away" because we would definitely get that 24th holiday.

St Patrick's girls enjoyed their long twenty-fourth weekends as much as every other Newfoundlander.  These two photographs are proof positive of that! 

(To enlarge the photos, double click on them.) 



A Twenty-Fourth Weekend at Seal Cove

This is a group of St Patrick's Girls enjoying a 24th weekend at Judy Comerford's parents' summer house in Seal Cove.  Judy Comerford, Betty Simms and Doreen Walsh are perched on the rail.  Valerie McGrath is sitting on the chair in front of them and Alice Prim is peeping out around Valerie.  The other silly folks on the ground are Myra Walsh, Bernadette Grouchy, Elizabeth Meaney, Beth Anne McAllister and Diane Hawley.  The photographer was Barbara Sharpe.  Myra was the only girl who wasn't a bona fide St Patrick's Girl, having gone to Mercy Convent.  Myra was Doreen's cousin, Bernadette's bosom buddy, and the good friend of us all, so her credentials were more than good!

The eleven jived the night away and before going to bed in the early hours of the morning, all eleven knelt down and said the Rosary.  How amazing is that!  The next morning the ground was white with snow.  By mid-morning the hot sun was beaming down and had frightened the snow away.  It was warm enough for the merry band to sit outside and eat lunch as the sun continued to smile down on them.  There are a few other stories from that weekend but they are best left for another time - or maybe just best left!

A Twenty-Fourth Weekend at Lawrence Pond

Another 24th May weekend and the girls are still together, this time at Lawrence Pond.  Mr & Mrs Simms, Betty's parents, have kindly and trustingly, allowed them the use of their summer house at Lawrence Pond.  This group consisted of eight or nine girls but only four were brave enough (should I say foolish enough?) to take the boat out on the pond.  The intrepid sailors are Elizabeth Meaney, Betty Simms, Beth Anne McAllister and Barbara Sharpe.    That weekend generated a few stories too but suffice it to say that "a good time was had by all".

There has been a lot of water under the bridge since those carefree weekends.  They have left us all with many golden memories.   Today, as we celebrate another 24th weekend, savour the memories but make new ones too.  Wherever you spend it, have a great Twenty-Fourth of May weekend! 



REUNION 2010

In August 2010, a group of St Patrick's girls held a reunion. It was fifty years since they left St Patrick's so there was a lot of laughter and a few tears as old friends and classmates got together. I have been sent some pictures of this happy occasion so I will post some of them for all to enjoy.

By the way, if you are planning a reunion, get together or other function involving St Patrick's, if you let me know the details, I will happily post them here.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these photos from the 2010 reunion.  (CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM.)

This is the reunion cake.  Mary Kennedy has informed me that this beautiful cake was made by Tom Greene.  Tom is the obviously talented husband of Florence Furey.  You got a winner there Florence!  Thanks for the information Mary. 

Two popular teachers, Miss Fagan and Miss Howard, cut the reunion cake.

Doreen Walsh  provided some excellent entertainment with her singing and guitar playing.  My first memory of Doreen entertaining us goes back to  Miss Murphy's Kindergarten Class.  Doreen entertained us then with her singing but she wasn't playing guitar.  She played the Spoons and we thought she was amazing - which, of course, she was!

Entertainment was also provided by Mary Kennedy and her Line Dancing Friends.  Even after fifty years, St Patrick's Girls can still cut it!

Thanks to Betty Simms for these photos.