Where did you go school in Waterford?

Deise Vu

wellboytoo wrote: »

Brother Boland and I had an amicable man to man chat in fifth year and we agreed to go our separate ways before it all fell apart. I would have been leaving cert 77 or 78 can't really remember Rocks Roche and I never got on so I guess he won in the end.

Rocks was some consequence alright. He spent years doing some sort of missionary work in Ghana afterwards. I hope it worked for him because he died about 10 years ago according to a sound teacher I met a while ago who used to be the leader of the anti-Rocks faction. What a school, the teachers even openly hated each other!

I met another past pupil in Fagans before the match yesterday, he said he saw Cyclops coming out of the train station yesterday morning. Another beaut, in every sense of the word.

Ostrom

High-Tower wrote: »

St. Paul`s for me too.

Some beauts of teachers back in my time e.g. Billy Womble, Hector, Chinbar and Podge Casey :rolleyes::)

Don't forget Mad Murphy, Barney Gumble, and Dob. Billy Womble was an epic name though.

High-Tower

Ostrom wrote: »

Don't forget Mad Murphy, Barney Gumble, and Dob. Billy Womble was an epic name though.

Yeah, I remember Dob and Murphy, cant place Barney tho, must be my old age

christy02

jimbojazz wrote:

Yip, he was also ushered away when I got into 2nd year - came back as the career guidance teacher of all things, where he would have one on one sessions with students - god knows what went on in that office. I still see him around and get the shivers when I see him because of what I witnessed in class.

I graduated waterpark in 1994 and he was still there. Taught geography during my time if I remember correctly.

BlaasForRafa

Aquos76 wrote: »

Mount Sion primary and secondary, left there in early 90's as others has said, delighted to see the secondary is starting to turn things around again, thankfully teachers like John McArdle, Bill Doherty and Domo Connolly has turned things around up there now.

McArdle?....As in Jock?

The three you named are amongst the few good teachers that used to be in that place along with maybe Spud Murphy, Farrelly and Tommy Walsh.

On the other hand there was the likes of Rocks, Click, The Jaw, The Freak, Robocop, Mocky and an a bunch of other incompetent a**eholes. I would have said a wrecking ball was the only way to improve that school but if Doherty and Dommo can turn it around then fair dues to them!

jimbojazz

christy02 wrote: »

I graduated waterpark in 1994 and he was still there. Taught geography during my time if I remember correctly.

Was he up to his old tricks up to then or were ye aware of what he was previously up to?

lassykk

High-Tower wrote: »

Yeah, I remember Dob and Murphy, cant place Barney tho, must be my old age

Barney was there in my time alright but I never had him as a teacher. I remember the harshest nickname was a female teacher that we called Emerson because she looked like the Brazilian Middlesbrough midfielder.

jimbojazz

lassykk wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

There was a lad in Waterpark nicknamed Pigsy - cos he looked like yer man in the TV show Monkey - that was harsh lol

lassykk

jimbojazz wrote: »

There was a lad in Waterpark nicknamed Pigsy - cos he looked like yer man in the TV show Monkey - that was harsh lol

Had to google who Pigsy was but yeah that's harsh enough alright!

Hope his ears weren't the same!

jimbojazz

lassykk wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Harsh but accurate - but I wouldn't have said it to his face as he was a black belt in tae kwan do - think his ears were pretty similar

Samsgirl

Repeated the LC in Waterpark 1992 /1993. Think it was the first year girls were allowed in. There was about 20 of us over in the Monastry. Was a great year, we were pretty much left to our own devices as we had about 3 free classes a day. I don't think they knew what to do with us re discipline.
There was one maths teacher - a very small man. We saw him hit some of the lads in 6th yr.

Samsgirl

Ws in the Presentation Convent till 1991 both Primary and Secondary.
Quite a mix of people in there. If you lived in one of the nicer estates like Lismore Pk you got on. If you were from Larchville / Lisduggan you were seen as a no hoper. Or maybe that was just me.
Like everywhere else of the time there was def some teachers in there that should have been no where near a classroom.
One of my maths teachers told me I would end up sweeping the streets for the Council. Ended up part qualified accountant. Will finish exams next yr.

taytobreath

jimbojazz wrote: »

Was he up to his old tricks up to then or were ye aware of what he was previously up to?

he was at a lad in my class in the one on one careers counselling thing in his office, we had a sex education class the day before from him and ill never forget it when the lad came up to us and said jesus christ i just got felt up i think. Apparently he was checking to see if both his balls dropped. He got in trouble for it but he was still working there 4 years later when i left

christy02

taytobreath wrote:

he was at a lad in my class in the one on one careers counselling thing in his office, we had a sex education class the day before from him and ill never forget it when the lad came up to us and said jesus christ i just got felt up i think. Apparently he was checking to see if both his balls dropped. He got in trouble for it but he was still working there 4 years later when i left

Yeah I heard that as well about the balls dropping. He was also a bit dodgy but never fiddled me 😀

christy02

Samsgirl wrote:

Repeated the LC in Waterpark 1992 /1993. Think it was the first year girls were allowed in. There was about 20 of us over in the Monastry. Was a great year, we were pretty much left to our own devices as we had about 3 free classes a day. I don't think they knew what to do with us re discipline.
There was one maths teacher - a very small man. We saw him hit some of the lads in 6th yr.

We were all excited about the girls starting school. Hormones everywhere!!!

Small guy was always a bit rough with students. Made me stand through a whole class 1day with my head in a locker. Good times...

taytobreath

christy02 wrote: »

We were all excited about the girls starting school. Hormones everywhere!!!

Small guy was always a bit rough with students. Made me stand through a whole class 1day with my head in a locker. Good times...

ahhh his bark was way worst than his bite, i went thru 5 years of him and never seen him lay a finger on anyone, he got lots of agro tho cause of his size which probably made him have such a roaring voice and temper

jimbojazz

taytobreath wrote: »

he was at a lad in my class in the one on one careers counselling thing in his office, we had a sex education class the day before from him and ill never forget it when the lad came up to us and said jesus christ i just got felt up i think. Apparently he was checking to see if both his balls dropped. He got in trouble for it but he was still working there 4 years later when i left

God, he was sick - there was a 1st year one day whose flies were undone and I saw him ask could he fix them for him. He'd always be hanging around outside the showers after training, looking in at the lads showering. He caught me in class one day with a Playboy magazine - was being passed around - he said what would your Dad do if he knew this - I said not half as much as he'd do to you if you dropped the hand on me like you're doing to some of the lads in the class - his face dropped.

He always wore a cape and it was obvious why - he'd wrap it around lads and start feeling them up.

He'd ring lads up at weekends or holidays asking if they wanted to go out to his house to help him with the garden and have have tea with him. He was a classic predator, he'd befriend parents who thought he was the bees knees then abuse their children.

There's a story of a well known incident with one poor lad he was abusing - but I'm not going to go into it.

He's still around - wont mention his name - but it rhymes with Bomb Scene - he looks disheveled and like someone trying to hide from people. Saw him out in the Lisduggan shopping centre one day looking at a load of young kids gathered around the puppet machine - he was wearing a long coat and had his hands in pockets with a big grin on his face.

As regards other stuff that went on in that school, I witnessed some lads get serious beatings in class - one in particular in 6th year - absolutely savage, the kid was been punched and kicked by the thug, in fairness he stood up to him but the beating was something I never want to witness again.

There's another teacher down there, who had a title as if he was a knight;), people thought the sun shone out of his arse - but I also saw him lose the head on numerous occasions, one was when I was in 4th standard out in the primary school on the Dunmore Road - he lost the head with one of the lads - we were age 10 - and beat the absolute crap out of him. The way it was with him if your parents had money he'd love you but if they didn't you were dirt as far as he was concerned - he was a nutter - he'd be going mental during choir practice, shouting his nut off. He'd keep a whole class back after school till we got it right and wouldn't give a monkey's about lads missing their buses etc.

Other than that the place was great:rolleyes:

Johnboy1951

A lot of us had our eyes opened very early in life regarding sexual abuse by those in authority.

My only regret is that there was no way we kids felt we could discuss or mention such things to parents. It just was not done.

Knowing my father, may he RIP, it is my estimate that if he had known of the events I regularly witnessed (was not a victim myself) he would most likely have spent time in jail after he dealt with it.

I had thought that such reticence to disclose things to parents had eased if not disappeared decades later, but obviously not.

This is the saddest part of the whole thing IMO, and is the one most relied upon by such deviants.

jimbojazz

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

A lot of us had our eyes opened very early in life regarding sexual abuse by those in authority.

My only regret is that there was no way we kids felt we could discuss or mention such things to parents. It just was not done.

Knowing my father, may he RIP, it is my estimate that if he had known of the events I regularly witnessed (was not a victim myself) he would most likely have spent time in jail after he dealt with it.

I had thought that such reticence to disclose things to parents had eased if not disappeared decades later, but obviously not.

This is the saddest part of the whole thing IMO, and is the one most relied upon by such deviants.

+1

Did you go to Waterpark also

lassykk

Jesus some of the above comments are tough to read. It is absolutely terrible what some kids went through in school back then.

The principal in Slieverue NS before I started there had a reputation for being inappropriate (a filthy **** in other words) but he left the year I started in there. I think he was relocated to another school though, not arrested.

jimbojazz

lassykk wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

To be honest, it's only the tip of the iceberg. There's some stuff too shocking to post - one like I said in particular is particularly disturbing.

crazyman

Went to DLS secondary school during the mid - late 90's, and really enjoyed it there. Played GAA so got on well. Some good teachers, some useless, and some absolute dickheads (as mentioned by previous posters).
However, although I came across the odd bullying situation, I never encountered anything 'inappropriate' from teachers, which seems to have been rampant in Waterpark from above posts. Some of it actually sounds quite disturbing.
Sounds like a number of people need to be reported to the authorities.

Johnboy1951

jimbojazz wrote: »

+1

Did you go to Waterpark also

No, DLS, Stephen Street.


One particularly disturbing incident that stuck in my mind was when a 'christian' brother berated a child for attending school without his school tie. IIRC it was in the wash and not available .... in fact given the home situation for a lot of children it was a wonder they could even afford a school tie.

That oh so very 'christian' brother took off the child's tie; tied the child's ankles together with it ....... and then hung the child up on one of those old large coat hooks, upside down.

I have no recollection how long he was left in that position ... not that it matters a whole lot.

That same 'christian' brother would regularly 'fiddle' with boys while sat next to them in their school desks.

My views of institutionalised religion has been coloured by many such incidents from 'christian' brothers and priests alike.

All others in those institutions could not but be aware of those events, but instead of having the offenders locked up, they covered up their deviancies and provided a support structure for the deviants thus ensuring the continued abuse, physical, mental and sexual, of children in their care.

It seems little or nothing has changed in those institutions ....

fricatus

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

That oh so very 'christian' brother took of the child's tie; tied the child's ankles together with it ....... and then hung the child up on one of those old large coat hooks, upside down.

I have no recollection how long he was left in that position ... not that it matters a whole lot.

:eek:

Jesus! When was this?

I was lucky enough not to have experienced or witnessed much violence at school, but I've long been well aware of stories like these. Nevertheless I have to say I'm getting angry reading some of this stuff.

To do something like that... to a child... Christ! :mad:

jimbojazz

fricatus wrote: »

:eek:

Jesus! When was this?

I was lucky enough not to have experienced or witnessed much violence at school, but I've long been well aware of stories like these. Nevertheless I have to say I'm getting angry reading some of this stuff.

To do something like that... to a child... Christ! :mad:

We had a "Christian Brother" who taught junior infants - if a kid - bearing in mind they would have been only 4/5 years of age - got a question wrong or was misbehaving he would dress them in a pink nightie, he called a Gúna and make him wear it for most of the day. the underachievers - at 4/5 years of age - were lined up against the wall and called wallflowers. he had a stick he called the stinger - basically a stick with thorns on it that he would mete out more punishment with - to remember kids age 4/5.

Another one taught 6th years - his nickname was Thrasher - make your own mind up on that one - he was also fond of fiddling with the kids and to this day has wriggled his way out of justice - they reckon upwards of 200 children in various schools were abused by him. His brother was a famous Irish international.

Yet I still hear some praise that school and how great it was - don't make me laugh

Rubberlegs

Good Counsel primary, Ferrybank, followed by SHM Convent. It was OK I suppose, no real bad memories. Although I remember in Careers Guidance if you were looking to do anything other than something absolutely fabulous after school, you were instantly invisible. I was told I was "only" going after a National Certificate in WRC.

deisemum

I didn't go to school in Waterford but my husband and children did and there's still teachers who are physically abusing pupils and it really is an eye opener when you meet parents from different schools and hear how they were treated by the principals and parish priests.

fiachr_a

Samsgirl wrote: »

Quite a mix of people in there. If you lived in one of the nicer estates like Lismore Pk you got on.

That happened in Declans/DLS too. If you didn't come from the Dunmore Road or your family was respectable you didn't get into the class with the better teachers. Some lads in my class failed LC English thanks to having a lousy teacher.

Samsgirl

Some of the stories on here are shocking.

taytobreath

Samsgirl wrote: »

Some of the stories on here are shocking.

shocking but true.