Item 11 - Booklet for the 35th Annual General Meeting & Re-Union (College Centenary Year)

12 pp; typescript

A commemorative booklet published for the 35th Annual General Meeting and Re-Union of the Rochestown College Past Pupils’ Union (P.P.U.), marking the centenary year of St. Francis College (1884-1984). The item provides an administrative and cultural history of the union split across a comprehensive historical retrospective and a concurrent annual secretary’s report. The historical text, written by honorary secretary W. Cotter, outlines the P.P.U.’s origins from its founding in August 1950 by Fr. Eugene Carroll OFM Cap., detailing early executive appointments, the design of the presidential chain of office by Enda McCann, and extensive fundraising ventures like the Capuchin Bazaar at City Hall and the ‘Padre Pio Lectures’ by Fr. Pollock. This retrospective highlights the deep cultural life of the union, listing regional Dublin branch activities, dramatic productions like ‘The Country Boy’, and prominent past pupil concert entertainers such as Eamon de Barra, Captain Aidan Deasy, and Seamus O’Driscoll. The Secretary’s Report 1983/84 details contemporary operations during the academic term, including a formal civic visit to the Lord Mayor of Cork, a public Drugs Seminar held at Douglas Hall Lawn Tennis Club featuring community speakers, an Art Competition at St. Patrick’s Mission, and initial organizational efforts to establish a P.P.U. alumni branch in the United States.