A group of pupils from a Derry secondary school met up for the first time in 51 years thanks to the work of a small group of friends determined to see their old class mates again.
The reunion in the City Hotel saw many of the girls of Class 4B (pictured) from St Mary’s College meet each other for the first time since 1964.
Also in attendance at the event was their form teacher, Sister Assumpta O’Neill.
Philomena Kelly, explained how she and her small team of organisers were able to get so many of the girls back together after a gap of over five decades.
“I always wanted us to have a reunion, but with people’s commitments and other things it didn’t happen, but thankfully it was just the right time for us now,” she said.
“It was myself and Una McMillan who got together and decided we would do it, and git help from Linda Doherty and Stella McBrearty too.
“Una was on admin duties, and I did most of the contacting,”
Philomena added a trip back to St Mary’s College to mark its last weekend before closing also heralded a few welcome discoveries.
“We were up there and managed to get the old class roll with a list of all the names, and our class photograph too,” she added.
The work of tracking down the class of ’61 then began in earnest, but that too brought a few bittersweet experiences for Philomena.
“Unfortunately, eight of our classmates are now deceased,” she said.
“We were able to get a lot of the old class back together who live here, as a few of them live in America.”
Philomena continued that Friday night’s event saw her meeting up with old classmates now aged in their mid-sixties who she hadn’t seen she was a teenager.
“I was 15 when I left the school, and the one thing I really noticed on Friday night was that everybody looked so well,” she added.
“It was great to see everyone, but I think that Sister Assumpta being there was brilliant for everyone.
“She was our form teacher, and we had so much respect for her, and treated with us with respect in return.
“Sister Assumpta is 85 now, and she was delighted to be there, she just felt that it was lovely to be thought of in that way.”
The past pupils also said prayers with Sister Assumpta for the members of their class that have since passed away.
“We were thinking of them too,” Philomena said.
Philomena also paid tribute to both St Mary’s College and the City Hotel for their help in making the reunion such a memorable event.
“The City Hotel was very good to us, they gave us a great room, as was St Mary’s, as they provided us with old books for people to look through at the event, and goodie bags too,” she said.
She said the event had paved the way for future reunions.
“All being well, we’re hoping to meet up again when we’re all 70,” Philomena concluded.
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