The Green Fifty Years ago by Sr. Phyl Doyle
September 1943 – the second world war at its height in Europe – two weeks after my ninth birthday, I set off with my eight year old sister for The Green. The decision that we should go to boarding school was probably influenced by the fact that my mother was a non-Catholic, and she and my father wanted to ensure that we would get a sound Catholic education. The choice of school was inevitable as my only aunt went to The Green as a boarder in 1914.
When the day came I was excited, probably because I had some notion about boarding schools being somewhat like ‘St. Trinians’. Dressed in our wine uniform, complete with blazer and beret, we said goodbye to neighbours – in those days there were no mid-term breaks and Christmas was a long way off. Then, with mother, we set off from Wicklow to Dublin.
There were only seven Junior School Boarders – known as ‘The Kinders’.
From the outset we realised that the nuns were intent on making our school days very happy ones. They ‘mothered’ us in every way, while at the same time maintaining a healthy disciplinary code. I can vividly recall being very lonely leaving home for each new term but, in the activities of school life, the days passed quickly and happily. I can still remember the excitement of getting our cases / trunks from the trunk house as the end of term loomed. Boarders had no access to telephones. We wrote home every weekend and were in constant touch with the family as my mother wrote to us every day for nine years – and there was Saturday post too!
Then, as now, the Christmas Junior School play was a big event. We were always involved – my sister often playing the principal part – and that meant plenty of singing, dancing and rehearsals. Bean de Valera wrote an Irish play for us each year and came on Saturday mornings to help with the production. She was a gentle old lady and, even as small children, we realised that she was someone very special. Each year there was an Irish play and an Opera on the programme.
Because of the War, food and clothing were rationed. Everyone in Ireland was issued with a ration book which contained coupons for food and clothes. Years later I discovered that the boarders’ rations of butter and sugar were supplemented by the fact that the nuns cut back on their rations so that we could have more. What goodness! There were about 100 boarders. Our numbers rose to 110 when French and Polish refugees joined us. They were the lucky ones who could afford to escape the hazards of war by coming to school in Ireland. Many of them remained on for some years after the war ended, having integrated easily and become proficient in English. In 2000, one of them, Anne Lucien Brun, editor of a Paris daily newspaper, called to see me. We were able to contact several of her class friends for an unexpected and happy reunion.
Music and games were central to our school life. At that time there were only three secondary schools in Ireland that had a ‘Senior Orchestra’, because the prescribed programme was so difficult – The Green, Louis Monaghan and Dominican Wicklow. To become a member of the Orchestra was the dream of everyone learning an instrument. My joy was great when, as a First Year, I joined the second violins. I can still remember the speed of the Mozart Rondo and the haunting beauty of Beethoven’s No 1 Symphony. A Mendelssohn and Schumann Piano concerto, the Overtures of Rosamunder, The Marriage of Figaro and The Unfinished Symphony are some of the pieces we tackled over the years. Every March a ‘Green Concert’ was put on. This was a very special time. Dress was formal, and music critics from each of the daily papers attended. We awaited their next day critiques. One such that I can recall ended with, ‘If all the schools in Ireland are doing so much for music as Loreto, then the future of our choirs and orchestras is secure.’
Occasionally we went to concerts given by some world-famous musicians on tour in Ireland, and once Radió Éireann broadcast the Bach Mass in B Minor live from our Concert Hall. Because there were many special Liturgical events during the year, the boarders’ choir had a wide repertoire of four-part motets. I recall the joy of participating in that beautiful singing and am grateful for the musical appreciation that my years in The Green have given me. We were afforded a wealth of music. For this I pay tribute to Sr. Cecily Morris and Sr. John Bosco Curran. Feis Ceoil, then as now, was an important event. One famous Green entrant was Moira Briody, a gifted pianist with a golden voice. One year Moira won five of the most coveted trophies in the Feis – The Thomas Moore Cup, The Plunkett Greene Cup, The Leider Cup, The Wallace Cup and The John Mc Cormack Cup. Moira was the Boarders’ pride. She took her achievements with such ease – put the trophies on the sideboard in the hall and went to the study. Later Moira had her own music programme on Welsh Television.
The school election for Sports Captain was another big event. Voting was taken seriously as the Captain had an important leadership role. It was her task to assist in the team coaching and to encourage teams to keep our motto alive – ‘Modest in victory, generous in defeat.’ There were only four Netball and four Hockey League teams and so competition for places was keen. Getting ‘out’ to matches was a high point for boarders, even though we were not supposed to go into shops going to or from matches. (However, we often managed a visit to the Palm Grove Ice Cream shop in Grafton Street!)
I well remember 24th February 1951. On that day The Green won the Rose Bowl, (my sister and I were on the team), Ireland won the Triple Crown in Rugby, and my father died suddenly RIP.
It was in the area of games that our division into the Irish School and the English School was most felt. Pupils in the Irish School were taught all subjects through the medium of Irish. They had separate dormitories, a separate side of the refectory and actually played against the English School teams in the Games League. This was because they were not permitted by Department of Education regulations to speak English and we could not guarantee that Irish would be spoken to them if they combined with us on teams. It was during my term as Games Captain that the change came about.
Irish and English School Boarders joined forces as ‘The Green’ and then, with combined strength, we certainly were a force to be reckoned with in the League!
Rag Day in UCD (then situated in Earlsfort Terrace) always created a buzz! Groups of students in weird dress, would invade the school and one year they disrupted everything. The following year, the Mistress of Schools decided that day pupils would leave for lunch half an hour earlier than usual. With great contentment she locked the doors at noon, saying that that would prevent any Rag visitors. At 12.30 when we went into the refectory, two tables were occupied by UCD students, scantily clad in raffia skirts, partaking of the boarders’ bread! A day pupil had informed her student brother that the school was ending earlier, the UCD students came earlier and, actually, Mother Frances Raphael had locked them in instead of out! The crack was mighty!
On weekdays we wore navy dresses with white colours. Weekends, formal occasions and games saw us dressed in the same colour as today’s uniform. Our daily timetable – Mass at 7.30 each morning; class times more or less the same as now; study 5 – 7 pm, followed by Rosary in the Chapel ; Tea at 7.30, followed by half an hour’s recreation.; Another hour’s study ; Bed at 9.30 ; Lights out at 10.00 pm. Can you imagine no talking during study, on passages, in dormitories? (We always managed the annual ‘midnight feast’!) No television, no radio, and still we survived happily and healthily.
The ‘Children of Mary’ were the overall school leaders. These did more or less the same work as is done by present-day School Committees. There was a whole gradation of ‘ribbons’. The First Years, who were accepted as Sodality members, wore narrow purple ribbons ; Second Years, wide purple (St. Joseph’s) ; Third Years wore narrow green ; Fourth Years, wide green (Holy Angels) ; Fifth Years, narrow blue and then the final achievement – The Child of Mary Medal. The Reception of Children of Mary was a very special occasion, liturgically and partywise.
Memories bring me on and on but I must end. I loved my school days in The Green and consider it as one of the great blessings of my life that I was educated there. I learned much from the warm companionship of the boarders and the prayerful dedication of the sisters. My parents’ sacrifice of parting with us during term was well rewarded.
Before ending, I want to mention that when I returned to The Green as a member of staff in 1977, I discovered that the wonderful school spirit which was such a rich experience in my school days was still strong. I know it is the same today. Praise God!
Sr. Phyl Doyle
