UNION NEWS
A past pupils tribute to Father Kevin Browne
Date : Thursday, 10th September 2015
Date : Thursday, 10th September 2015Father Kevin Browne
In the old prefabs of Willow Park School in the 1970s, the recessed fan light above the old brown doors, could hold a small pile of neatly stacked text books, if carefully balanced with the door slightly ajar . Everyday, one of us on a chair would delicately position the books on top of the door just before English class. Rushing back to our miniature desks, with the little central holes, (a leftover, from a generation who used inkwells), we waited for the teacher. On a lookouts instruction we struggled keeping silent, with the giggling excitement and anticipation that all Ten year old boys have. Strolling in, Fr Kevin Browne would be battered from above by 3 or 4 copies of "Introducing English". Straight faced and shocked, he would peer around the class questioning every little face, to howls of childish laughter!
Our fondness for Fr Browne not only gave him a celebrity status in the playground, but for many pupils who lived locally and would encounter him outside school on Cross Avenue, (where he lived with his mother Kathleen) a friendship continued, a friendship that would last almost four decades when he finished teaching in Willow in 2005.
His sensitivity to the plight of bored, fidgety ten year olds must have been a factor in his legendary speed reading of the school mass .This would be later witnessed by Booterstown parishioners, who would received Holy Communion at five minutes to Eleven ( at the 10.30 morning mass ). An elderly lady also reported that Fr Kevin often took her confession, on the Rock Road, at the 7A bus stop.
It is with great fondness that we can reflect on a time long ago where one man stood out as a favourite to so many kids. I feel most fortunate that many years later I was able to tell him of his own legacy. I saw him recently in Kimmage and whilst age had crept up on him, he still had that familiar twinkle in his eye that many older 'ten year olds' may remember.
Of course, it was many years later that I realised that he knew the books were there. But for our amusement, and just for us, he would open that door, everyday, and let those books fall from above, knocking off his trademark stylish french berret. Solemn faced and squinting through his bottle end glasses, he would search the room for the culprit, a culprit that was never found ..
Thank you Kevin Browne.
Neil burke-Kennedy
Willow Park 1969-1975.
In the old prefabs of Willow Park School in the 1970s, the recessed fan light above the old brown doors, could hold a small pile of neatly stacked text books, if carefully balanced with the door slightly ajar . Everyday, one of us on a chair would delicately position the books on top of the door just before English class. Rushing back to our miniature desks, with the little central holes, (a leftover, from a generation who used inkwells), we waited for the teacher. On a lookouts instruction we struggled keeping silent, with the giggling excitement and anticipation that all Ten year old boys have. Strolling in, Fr Kevin Browne would be battered from above by 3 or 4 copies of "Introducing English". Straight faced and shocked, he would peer around the class questioning every little face, to howls of childish laughter!
Our fondness for Fr Browne not only gave him a celebrity status in the playground, but for many pupils who lived locally and would encounter him outside school on Cross Avenue, (where he lived with his mother Kathleen) a friendship continued, a friendship that would last almost four decades when he finished teaching in Willow in 2005.
His sensitivity to the plight of bored, fidgety ten year olds must have been a factor in his legendary speed reading of the school mass .This would be later witnessed by Booterstown parishioners, who would received Holy Communion at five minutes to Eleven ( at the 10.30 morning mass ). An elderly lady also reported that Fr Kevin often took her confession, on the Rock Road, at the 7A bus stop.
It is with great fondness that we can reflect on a time long ago where one man stood out as a favourite to so many kids. I feel most fortunate that many years later I was able to tell him of his own legacy. I saw him recently in Kimmage and whilst age had crept up on him, he still had that familiar twinkle in his eye that many older 'ten year olds' may remember.
Of course, it was many years later that I realised that he knew the books were there. But for our amusement, and just for us, he would open that door, everyday, and let those books fall from above, knocking off his trademark stylish french berret. Solemn faced and squinting through his bottle end glasses, he would search the room for the culprit, a culprit that was never found ..
Thank you Kevin Browne.
Neil burke-Kennedy
Willow Park 1969-1975.
FOLLOW US ON
