THE St Comhghall’s class of 1983 is invited to a very special night of nostalgia and craic in Donagh this June.
The first time the cohort of classmates from the Lisnaskea school have all got together since they hung up their uniforms 40 years ago, the reunion is taking place at the Clubhouse in Donagh on June 3rd.
While it may be still some time away, the organising committee are already hard at work reaching out to all those who were part of their school year to invite them along for the special gathering, and so far guests from as far away as New York have confirmed they will be making the trip.
Tickets, which are £10 and include entry into a raffle, are now available from those the organising committee, which is made up of Breeda May, Mary Collins, Celia Fee, Dolores Martin, Margaret Leigh, and Anne Smyth. You can get in touch via the group’s Facebook page or the specially created WhatsApp group. You can also contact 07518471795.
Those attending are asked to RSVP by May 1st, while payment for the tickets is due on May 7th, when the ladies will be in Frank’s in Lisnaskea to take payment. They will also be out and about in the local community in the coming weeks, while tickets will also be available on the door on the night.
While the night will of course be filled with many happy memories, it will also be tinged with sadness, with nine of members of the class having sadly passed away. The families of those sadly missing are also being invited to the reunion.
One of those who will be sadly missed, and represented by his family, on the night will be the late Newtown man Mickey McPhillips. Speaking to the Herald as they met up with their former PE teacher Ann Cairns, the ladies recalled how it had been Mickey, pictured left, who had first begun organising their long-overdue reunion.
Breeda, who now lives in England and had travelled home to meet up with her fellow organisers, recalled how she had run into Mickey at her 50th birthday at Blake’s in Derrylin several years ago, where she said he was “exactly the same” as when they were at school, including being impressively organised.
“He was taking pictures and having a bit of craic, and said we’ve got to do our 40th,” she said. “He was so organised with everything. He had the whole list of our class, that none of us had, and sent it to me.”
Having got chatting with the other ladies after Mickey sadly passed, they decided to run with his idea and organise the reunion. The WhatsApp group they created is even called ‘Mickey’s Angels.’
The organising committee thanked all the “very kind” local businesses who had sponsored prizes for their raffle – and said they will be displaying the names of all these businesses at the event – and also thanked Donagh Clubhouse which they said had been “incredibly good to us.”
Overall, Breeda extended a warm invite to anyone who was in the St Comghall’s Class of ‘83 – and their former teachers.
“Definitely come along. It’s going to be a bit of craic, a night of reminiscing and nostalgia,” she said.
Any money raised by the reunion will be donated to the Ray of Hope memorial weekend, which was set up in honour of Mickey, and support local mental health charities.
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