We sit down with Past Pupil Association secretary Conor Byrne to discuss the long-lasting connection between the Wexford CBS and its past pupils…
Wexford CBS, schooldays.ie
For so many Wexford people, the letters CBS evoke powerful memories and sentiments. The Christian Brothers schools have been a site for the growth and maturity of generations of people. The CBS has even found its way into our national consciousness, being namedropped in such classic Irish songs as The Saw Doctors’ hit ‘N17’.
Just three months ago, I sat down with veteran writer and fitness industry legend David Hegarty to discuss his book ‘Mindful Days’. Recalling a formative moment in his life, David singled out an incident where he was given support from one of his teachers in a CBS classroom.
David’s CBS experience continues to resonate with him profoundly over fifty years later. His story, while unique to him, is also the story of thousands of other CBS past pupils who find themselves reflecting fondly on their days in the classroom.
A former CBS student myself, I find that there is an unspoken bond between CBS past pupils. There is a certain beauty in watching another person’s face light up as you mention names and places that would only ring bells with someone who sat within those same four walls.
Naturally, I was delighted when I was informed of a CBS Past Pupil Association across various social media channels. I signed up for their newsletter and sunk my teeth into the stories of teachers and past pupils. This week, I had the opportunity to interview someone who plays an important role in connecting the CBS with its past students; CBS teacher, former CBS student and PPA secretary, Conor Byrne.
Conor graduated from Wexford CBS in 2014 and went on to study English and Geography at St Patrick’s College Dublin. After obtaining his Professional Master of Education in DCU, he returned to his old school. Only this time, he was on the other side of the classroom, beginning work as a teacher there in 2018. Speaking with Conor, his passion for CBS and its pupils, past and present, was abundantly clear.
Can you talk me through how the PPA started and how you got involved with it?
‘The old Past Pupils Union was a group of past pupils in CBS there a couple years ago. And let’s say in the last ten or twelve years it kind of died and it just stopped. I became a teacher in the CBS a couple years ago. And then in Christmas of 2020, John Hegarty was principal at the time and he approached me and said ‘Look, what would you think about a past pupils association being set up?’ So, we decided to change it from the Past Pupils Union to the Past Pupils Association or the PPA.
So that’s how I became involved. I just kind of put the word out there on social media and a lot of past pupils were interested in being involved. We decided to hold a meeting in early 2021 and we formed a committee then. That’s how we started out.’
What do you like about being involved with the PPA?
‘I suppose my biggest reason for being involved with the PPA is to show my current students the opportunities that are out there. There’s a lot of past pupils from CBS that have gone on to do big things. There’s lads in the school that think ‘I don’t come from anything’ and they think they can’t achieve anything. But it’s great when we get past pupils in to talk to the lads about how they got to where they are today and they’ve come from nothing as well. That’s the reason why I’m involved. I’d like to encourage my current students to keep working hard and pushing forward, even if they think there’s no options out there for them.’
For those unaware, what exactly does the PPA do?
‘What we do at the moment is we keep our members connected to the school through social media posts and emails. We try to reconnect them by holding events. Last summer we had our first five-a-side soccer tournament up in North End. This August or September, its gonna be actually held in school on our new astro pitch. And then we have our first golf classic coming up on the 17th of June in Wexford Golf Club so we’re trying to get as many people involved in that as we can. We also have a quarterly newsletter that’s published online on our social media pages. We invite past pupils to write on that as well so that’s how we keep people engaged.’
You touched on it earlier that many past pupils have gone on to do amazing things. Is there any names that jump to mind?
‘Yeah well our chairman is actually Colin Browne, he’s working high up in Microsoft. We have another past pupil, Dave Dempsey, he’s doing big things in a company called Salesforce, he’s the president of the European headquarters. There’s also Kevin Doyle who’s gone on to play soccer and he’s a physiotherapist.
I forgot to mention earlier that we have PPA career nights where we get people to come back and talk to current students. We had people join from Thailand, Canada, the UK and from all over. There’s a lot of past pupils out there. Those are the ones that came to mind but there’s a lot more. If you think locally, we have George Lawlor, he’s a past pupil, he’s a county councillor. We have Ger Carthy, he’s a county councillor as well.’
What events coming up are you most excited about?
‘We’ve the golf classic Friday the 17th of June. We’re trying to get people involved from the past. One problem we were having is that the generation from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s weren’t really interacting because they’re not as active on social media. So we’re trying to get them involved with the golf classic. We’re trying to get people to advertise and sponsor prizes as well.
After that, our next big event is our five-a-side tournament which is even more exciting this year because it’s gonna be on our brand new astro pitch which cost half a million to build. And then next October/November we’re gonna have a big in-person careers event for current students. It’s been online for the last two years and we’re hoping to do it in person in the school next October/November time.’
Speaking with Conor about the PPA flooded me with nostalgia as well as pride in my former school. Through its social media presence, regular newsletter and community-driven events, the PPA succeeds in uniting thousands of people with vastly different lives under the umbrella of one shared experience; the fact that they all sat within the walls of Wexford CBS.
Whether you’re a past pupil yourself or a friend of Wexford CBS, you’re welcome at the PPA. Click here for more information about joining.
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