"... On May 10, 12:23 pm, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: ..."
> Thanks for your second installment! The "Boys Town" references got me > thinking about the strange way connections can be established; Fr. > Flanagan, the founder of the institution (played by Spencer Tracy in > the 1938 film) and I are both alumni of Summerhill College, Sligo, in > Ireland. Other past pupils include Albert Reynolds (PM of Ireland in > the 1990s) and the famous tenor, John McCormack. Are you sure about that? Flanagan's bio indicates he left Ireland at the age of 18. He was born in 1886 in Roscommon County and sailed with his brother for America aboard the S.S. Celtic, White Star Line, in 1904. As for the movie with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, I'm quite familiar with it. We had to watch it at least once a year, usually at Christmas, but also whenever Msgr. Wegner, the director, thought we needed an additional dose of inspiration. But I doubt any of us were inspired by it. I certainly wasn't. All I got from it was how Boys Town was started and what it had become by 1955. > .... My junior years were fraught by > incredible savage bullying, both by pupils and some teachers. Corporal > punishment was only banned in 1975, three years after I got there and > I well remember the snap of the bamboo cane and the incredible burning > on the palms of the hand. The cane was not only used as punishment for > misbehaviour - some teachers (including priests) used it as an > educational accessory; a major incentive when it came to learning > Irish and Latin vocabulary and grammar. One teacher allowed you two > mistakes free - for every one beyond it one whack with the cane was > administered. That sounds familiar. The counselor of my cottage was Phil Gaffney (another irishman, as were a lot of the personnel at Boys Town) and he was possessed of that same sort of brutality. Though Boys Town had banished corporal punishment, Gaffney was quite experienced in psychological brutality. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
