South West dinner
The South West branch held their annual dinner on Saturday 18th May 2019 in the Sunday’s Wells Boating and Tennis Club, Mardyke Walk, Cork City.
A few Past Pupils met in the River Lee Hotel before the dinner as seen in the photo above.
Some of the South West dinner regulars were missing this year as they had Holy Communions to attend. The dinner is usually held on a Friday in May rather than Saturday.
The South West branch chairman Gerald McCarthy organised and presided at the dinner accompanied by his wife Neans.
Brook Inn, Glanmire, provided an excellent meal (see menu below).
“CCR men in the Great War” slide show presentation by Gerry O’Meara opened the evening.
Pat O’Shea was introduced as the best dressed man.
The Union President Fergal Keane gave a speech to the attendees.
Dom Malachy gave his vision of the future which is:
“One Campus:- the college and monastery’s futures are both intertwined”
Dom Malachy plans to to make the campus, monastery, farm and college carbon neutral. An extensive Ecology Programme is being devised, incorporating the Farm & Forestry, increase the number of Beehives on site and for Waste Management for both the Abbey and the College. The feasibility of installing a anaerobic digester to extract methane gas to power both the monastery and college is underway. His vision is to make Roscrea the leading ecology campus in the Cistercian Order in time for the Cistercian General Chapter in summer 2020. Mount St Joseph Abbey & Cistercian College should be at the forefront of Environmental Awareness. He gave us a great belief in the future.
There were presentations to:
Gerry and Kay O’Meara,
Fergal and Marion Keane
Dermot Cronin.
Gerald McCarthy announced that the South West dinner will be held on Friday 22nd May 2020.
Menu for South West Branch dinner
Please click here to see photos (Photos courtesy of Fergal and Marion Keane).
Also a slideshow of photos from the dinner courtesy of Pat Hanratty are shown below: