Sir, – It is regrettable that Sean O'Donnell regards his schooldays at his and my old school, Coláiste Mhuire, as such an unsatisfactory experience ("Gaelic Catholic nationalism and corporal punishment in 1966", Rite & Reason, December 29th). While the school could never have been described as a holiday camp, and the regime was certainly strict, it could be argued that it was something of a hothouse for the cultivation of a variety of talented people, a great many of whom came to later prominence in public life. Despite its relatively small size and almost unique ethos, a roll-call of the school's past pupils is impressive by any standards. It would include PJ Mara, Brian Farrell, Alan Dukes, Patrick Honahan, Brian Mullins, Paddy Glacken, Robbie Kelleher, Dr Peter Bacon, Hugo Hamilton, Dr Brendan Whelan, Ferdia MacAnna, Des Cahill and Gary McGann. This list could easily be doubled or tripled. Mr O'Donnell did not do so badly himself.
As an exact contemporary of Mr O’Donnell’s, I was just as wary as he was of the leather strap and withering sarcasm, universal features of most boys’ schools at the time. However, I suggest that nothing was more normal for an all-Irish speaking school, situated just a 10-minute walk from he GPO, to celebrate, in dramatic form, the 50th anniversary of the seminal event of Irish history in the 20th century. The show itself and others like it, (there was a different pageant every year) engendered in me a life-long interest in history. Like your correspondent, I also participated in the 1966 event, but unlike him I found it to be highly educational, very entertaining and, I have to admit, emotionally uplifting. – Yours, etc,
GERRY HICKEY,
Dundrum, Dublin 14.