Ted
I've had a very enjoyable half hour reading through the old posts. I now see that I was too cowardly to admit that several teachers were cruel *******s. The cane was much over-used. I wasn't present, but knew about Beardy beating his own son - Beardy was a nasty piece of work. I am less ashamed today to admit that when he left weals on my brother's thighs, my irate wee ma went up Chapel Hill and used foul and abusive language to the tyrant. There may still be a man or two alive who was there to witness that incident.
My brother Robert was a wee divil -he broke his thumb at the school break-in - but Beardy was over the top.

Hi Barney, can you recall any names from your class/classes. Was there just one classroom for all the children??

Sarah

Ted, Barney. We had a kid at the Central who took a swing at McMinn with a cane whilst in the Principal's office and then took off out the door with both adults after him they didn't catch him for a couple of days and then only after his Dad brought him in. Mauri

Hi Mauri, I would say we were talking about the same person, Ronnie just couldn't stay out of trouble the story was told one Monday morning Mr Chittick's son opened the shop and Ronnie walked out and bid him Good Morning with a parcel under his arm and walked on up Bow St, he also had a sister called Bernadett I think she went to London, Regarding Mc Minn I would admire the kid that had the gall to take a swipe at him, reading Barney you realize there were real cruel people we came into contact with in our youth, How things have changed though not all for the better,
Regards Ted

Barney Donald & Frank
Frank you discribe Brendan Fitspatricks room exactly on the morning of the exam, however on the morning in question I was in line with the rest of class and if you remember along the back wall there was a large long picture that ran along the wall depicting great icons of history and of course I am gaping at this and didnt hear Mc Namara call my name or the question , well what I got after that I still remember, I thought sure I was for excomunacation I was told I had let the school down etc Memories!
Regards Ted

Hi!Barney,I never called you Barney when I lived in Lisburn,Barney was your father.Eddie McCavana was a vicious man with the cane,but he was great at Music,Playimg the organ in the Chapel and trying to get us poor sods to sing in tune,a hopeless task.We had a Mr.fitzmaurice for a while,and I think the ladies name was Miss McAleese,I was very young but thought she was gorgeus,she let us get away with murder,not like Miss O'Boyle If I remember there were about 240 Boys at the School,you will recall behind Mr.Fitzsimmons desk was a little Blackboard where he chalked up the Daily numbers for the school,I liked it there,not that I was in the bad books too often.You will recall putting the 1/3 pint bottles around the heating pipes to thaw by Midmorning,our treat!Hubert Blakely,Tom Smylie,Brendan Hodges,Brian Fitzsimmons Tough being the Headnasters Son,I was one of his few Friends.Why don't you throw up a few a names for us to chew over.....Frank

Mauri,Mr Mc Minn was a former Police Sergeant,who left the Police Force in dubious circumstances,He put the fear of God into many Children in Lisburn. I thought I saw him smile once,but later realised I was mistaken.When I was A student at St.Malachy's College in Belfast,a similar incident arose,Gerry Curran(son of Curran Cinemas)was up on a desk changing a light bulb when an unpopular teacher came in and with out any enquiries started belting Gerry with a cane,Gerry jumped down and flattened this Phys-ed guy who was taken to the Mater Hospital,he survived.Gerry was a hero ever after....Frank

Yiz'll all know that I got a laugh reading this stuff. Pleas do not be offended, but I wonder why the hell I never got the half crown for the catechism answers, because, honestly, I knew it from front to back. I still know most of it, though I no longer believe a word.
Ronnie Watkins may have broken into Jim's place for food, but he also broke into the chapel for the candlesticks.
Miss McAleese left the year I started, followed shortly by Miss O'Boyle. Not my fault. As far as I know. Miss O'Boyle gave me a picture that was hanging on the wall. My ma was delighted that I was teacher's pet. Jaze!
Brendan (Barney) must be the same age, or maybe a year older than I am. I knew the boys and teachers, but, as I said previously, I started school late. In fact, I was never taught by Bertie, as I didn't even get that far up the ladder in school.
Some other priest, or it may have been macNamara, came to question us on the Irish language.

Frank, Dominic mentions Russell Bell, Seamy Reynolds, Jimmy McMillen (Rimmel), Dessie Douglas, Ignatius Brown, Niall and Gerry Murray, Hugh Bradley, Geordie and Jackie Frazer, Francie, Denis and Gerald McGurnaghan, Gerald Stewart.

There's a few names from the past, but maybe younger than yourself - some of them anyhow.

I also remember Mr McMinn. He was a very tall, thin man and when he entered our classroom we all had to stand up and say, "Good Morning, Mr McMinn". In fact, when anyone from outside came into the classroom we had to stand up and greet them like this.

I particularly hated to see the nit nurse. I just forget her name at the minute. We were sent up to her singly; she had a jar of water with dettol added and two ice cream sticks. After dipping the sticks into the dettol mix, she would part our hair into sections, in front of the whole class, gurn up her nose and look for nits. God help the girl or girls who were found to have nits as the whole class would know. Mind you, I don't envy her job now.

I also remember Fr McNamara, but have no bad vibes about him. Then there was Dr Burns, the school doctor. We were sent over to the clinic in Seymour Street to be examined by him. He also was a tall thin man but his hair was black. He was nice.

Hated going to the dentist in the clinic. No injection to freeze your gums, no anaesthetic, just a bloody big drill that hurt like made. AND, no mammy with you - you faced it alone.

See the young ones now - we could show them!!!!!!!

Bernadette Watkins was in my class at school & was always laughing. I remember being in her house in Tonagh once & we went down past the watering trough to it.

Her Mother was a quiet woman & kept a nice home for them. I know Bernadette Watkins & Chrissie Cunningham & Lily mc Conville all went to England later, maybe not together, but we heard they went to London. Lily is dead but don't know what happened to the others, who were all classmates & all good laughs. Always had a smile on their faces. Devil may care girls.

Pat

Fr. Mc Namara came to examine us in our religious instruction before Holy Communion, Confirmation etc

Once he asked some nervous child, "What is Matrimony?

Being nervous the child got mixed up with Pugatory & answered "A place or state of punishment where some souls suffer for a time before they can go to Heaven"

No answer to that one, passed with flying colours.!

Ann, some great stories on here at the moment, keep it up. You mentioned Dettol for nits. Well good old Dettol it was used for everything years ago. I remember going to boyds the jeweller to have my ears pierced at the age of 5. Mum got me a bottle of good old Dettol for the offending piercings which had to be washed twice a day..................DID IT STING!!!!ouch. We must have smelt so clean Ann after using it!

Sarah

Nurse Anderson was the nit nurse's name.

Hi Dabbler

Brendan (Barney) must be the same age, or maybe a year older than I am. I knew the boys and teachers, but, as I said previously, I started school late. In fact, I was never taught by Bertie, as I didn't even get that far up the ladder in school.
Some other priest, or it may have been macNamara, came to question us on the Irish language.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arn,t you lucky Dabbler never to have been taught by Beardy Fitzimmons, he would not have been out of place in Hitlers Gestapo a sadist if ever there was one,his own son Brian he beat him unconcious one day ,anothr pupil he caned till he fainted was Dennis McGurnaghan,the priest who was into Irish teaching was none other than Father Mullholland, another sadist he carried a blackthorn walking stick, and like Beardy would often have said i,ll beat the back of you, Mullholland slapped the jaws of me one morning at communion because i had my hands over the cloth at the alter rails,2 evil bestards if ever there was any,Leo Phillips would never go to school because of them

Hi Barney I remember Mullholand at the Crsaders one Sunday calling Devil Smith out of the seat and belting him in the middle aisle in front of all the kids, I am not quite sure but I think it was for mitching, after I moved here to Suffolk many years later I heard he was in a parish near to me but they had to move him, in later years he wasn't to popular. Ted

Frank, Dominic mentions Russell Bell, Seamy Reynolds, Jimmy McMillen (Rimmel), Dessie Douglas, Ignatius Brown, Niall and Gerry Murray, Hugh Bradley, Geordie and Jackie Frazer, Francie, Denis and Gerald McGurnaghan, Gerald Stewart.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I knew them all, Shamus(small montana)Reynolds his brothers Dickie,Tony you remember him Frank im sure, Columb who lost half his hand in the spinning room Stewarts Mill, there was a sister Bridie i think her name was
they lived in the last house Brookvale Drive also in those houses were the ,Burns,McCormacks, McGanns, Dochertys,Bedfords,McKees,Roys,Turleys,Murrays those families all lived there then,happy carefree days indeed until the mornin when we all had to go to school