From the Class of '91, John Lawlor, Richard Murphy and Kevin Cowman                                             The Leaving Cert. class of 1991 met for a  reunion over the Christmas period with over 40 of the cohort gathering in 'The Ship' on North Street. Organised mainly by Clem Power, Tom Galway, Michael McCormack and Kevin Cowman it was a very pleasant evening with lots of schoolday incidents being recalled, losing nothing in the telling. Other members of the class had been in contact to wish the gathering well even though for various reasons they themselves could not attend.   P J Doyle, Shane O'Brien,Martin Ryan and John Mackey  Continue Reading...

On Sunday, November 27th, the Parents' Council are holding an afternoon of Craft and Music in the college, from 2pm to 5pm. Many craft workers from around the county will exhibit on the day so  this may be the ideal opportunity to pick up some unique Christmas gifts. Music will be provided on the day by by the combined St Marys/Good Counsel College Orchestra and by a number of groups and solo performers from among our student cohort. Complimentary refreshments will be provided all afternoon on what promises to be a most sociable occassion. There will be lots of spot prizes on offer and admission is free. Come along and bring friends and family. Continue Reading...

A small group from the Leaving Cert. class of 1991 met last week with a view to arranging a reunion of their cohort later in the year. They have decided to go wih December 28th in 'The Ship, North Street, New Ross and will set about making contact with all members of the class over the next few weeks. Anyone from the class can get in touch with the school for further details or with forwarding addresses. Hopefully it might lead to a more regular and structured framework for occassions where Alumni can gather or make contact.

Just a note to alert you to the formation of a Good Counsel College Alumni group on the business network site 'Linkedin'. Perhaps some may be interested in checking this out and helping it grow. Always glad to hear from past pupils or to see you drop in if around.

Recent past pupil, Jack Harte, made the headlines this week winning the People's Choice award at the Blooms Garden Festival in the Phoenix Park last weekend. This was in addition to winning the silver medal in the small gardens category for his creation,' An Adventure with Thumbelina' . You can see an interview with Jack in his garden creation by clicking on the link below. Well done Jack!                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHPQjjxRsh4 Continue Reading...

John paul Phelan, T.D.

Congratulations to past pupil, John Paul Phelan on his recent election to Dail Eireann as a T.D. for the Carlow/Kilkenny constituency. A student in Good Counsel from 1991 to 1997, John Paul played on a number of successful teams during his time in the college, both hurling and Rugby.  No stranger to Leinster House, having been a senator for the past number of years we wish him the best of luck in his new role and hope that he and his colleagues in government will manage to restore hope and positivity to the Irish economy.


The 1992/93 Leinster U-14 A Hurling Champions. John Paul phelan is in centre of back row. Continue Reading...

On April 30th last, a past pupil of Good Counsel College, Dr. William P. Howlett was preseented with the MGA Distinguished Graduate Award by the UCD School of Medicine and Medical Sciences.
William graduated from Good Counsel in 1964, and from UCD in 1970. He went on to work in Tanzania as a neurologist and has been published in Brain and The Oxford Journals. He has conducted extensive research on the disease, Konzo, and was the first to identify the role played in this disease by high dietary exposure to Cyanide from Cassava roots.
Dr. Howlett has also published extensively on Aids and African Neurological related diseases. He was centrally involved in setting up a medical school in Moshi and has written a text book, 'Neurology in Africa'.
The alumni gathering at which Dr. Howlett was presented his award was attended by graduates from the classes of 1950, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 2000. He was the only one from these classes to be presented with the Distinguished Graduate Award, a measure of the significance of his achievement.
On behalf of all at Good Counsel College we congratulate Dr. William P howlett and wish him well for the future.

(Many of Dr. Howlett's publications can be accessed on the web. The Wilkipedia entry for 'Konzo' contains links.) Continue Reading...

Below is an article I came across about the man mainly responsible for the World Cup playing surfaces in South Africa this summer.  Continue Reading...

I received an e-mail and some photos attached from past pupil recently, a man who attended Good Counsel in the 1950's. Rather than trying to paraphrase him, I include below his own account of the photos and of some of those pictured. Obviously we would be delighted to post on the site any other material relating to the school from years past. It helps mark the long tradition of the school and is of great interest to many who passed through.
 
''I enclose 3 photos. Two are of students. The Prefect System (where the prefects were supposed to be in charge) was introduced to GCC around 1957/58 by Fr. Jackie Power and the school was divided into three house, Villanova, Casca and another.

One photo is of the Villanova house . Another photo is of the senior students around this time and the third is the winning Junior Hurling Leinster team that beat Portlaoise CBS by 1-8 to 0-3 in the final in Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow.

Most of that team played senior the following yearn and met St. Peters in the first round in Wexford Park, going down by a small margin. This was the backbone of the Peters team that won the All-Ireland B title and then the senior title in hurling. Our star player was Sean English of Ferns who later won senior All-Ireland with Wexford in 1960 and also played senior for Tipperary.''







OtherPhotographs from the 50's 
 
The photograph below is of particular interest because it shows the four legendary teachers, Maurice Foley, John Moore, Toby Kavanagh and 'Danno' Mahony with the entire school around the mid 1950s. In the 2nd row from the bottom right to left are: Tom Finucane (brother of RTE's Marian), Ken O'Hara (former head of ESB), A N Other, John Moore, Maurice Foley, Fr. Greg O'Leary, Fr. Hand (?), Fr.Jackie Power, Fr Coffey (Prior), ??,   Fr. Codd, Fr. Brendan Coffey, Toby Kavanagh, 'Danno' Mahony. Also in this photo is
Maurice Keane former CEO of Bank of Ireland and now a director of Anglo Irish Bank

 
 
The following photo is of the GCC Leaving Cert class of 1958/59.


The photograph below is of the Dungarvan Cup winning side of 1958/59 and to the right is the renowned trainer from this time in the school's history,Fr Whelton. The annual Dungarvan Cup games no longer take place, the last one having been played about 22 years ago, but there are growing links between the only 2 Augustinian schools in Ireland as the staffs of both colleges have an annual get together and representatives from both schools travel to the annual Augustinian Values Institute. In the current school year there was also a rugby blitz involving both schools and Austin Friars school fromm Carlisle in England.

 Continue Reading...

The Good Counsel College Diaspora are making  their mark in all corners of the globe.

In a recent ceremony, John Murphy, Leaving Cert. class '93, was honoured by New York City Council for his 'outstanding contribution to the city and beyond'. The Proclamation with which he was presented cited his chairmanship of IN-NYC of which he was also a founding member and furthermore mentioned his record as a defence lawyer for the city fighting personal injury claims on the public's behalf.

John Murphy making his acceptance speech.

The Proclamation also refered to John's birthplace of Ramsgrange and to his time in Mercyhurst College where he, like many Good Counsel Students before and since, undertook his third level education.

The prestige of the ceremony is underlined by the fact that John shared the stage with Caroline Kennedy who was receiving an award on behalf of her late uncle Senator Edward Kennedy. It won't have been lost on either that their journeys to the hallowed halls of this great city began very much in the same place.


We congratulate John on his great honour and thank him for his ongoing interest in his Alma Mater in New Ross.

Another Good Counsel and Mercyhurst graduate, Stephen Nolan, stepped into the ring in Hong Kong recently for his maiden fight against Ben 'Boom Time' Hartwell. Anyone of us who know or remember will have maximum respect for 'Boom Time's' courage, if not so much for his sense, in sharing the canvas with the Foulksmills giant.
Suffice to say our man dispatched his poor opponent with a minimum of fuss and we have no doubt there will be bigger fish to fry.



It should be pointed out that Stephen, who won a Leinster Senior Football medal with GCC in '95, has a considerable sporting C.V. having played for the Irish International Rubgy League side, The Wolfhounds, and having been captain of Terenure Senior Rubgy Union team for a number of years. We wish Stephen, and indeed all our past pupils well. Continue Reading...