Father Sinnott's

It may be re-opening officially and it may have the politically correct title for the 21^st century but the club in Bishopswater will always be Father Sinnott's.

The official opening on Halloween will surely mark the occasion with names, committees and speeches so I will content myself to random reminiscences about the club. Some will be familiar but I hope you will indulge me if you heard them before.

The late 1950s and early 1960s were not boom times. The Celtic Tiger was not even a remote idea. People worked hard when they could find work, many had to take the boat to England. Rock and Roll music was coming into its own. Television was on the horizon and teenagers were being invented.

Maybe it was this phenomenon of the alien being the teenager that spurred on the priest for the Bride Street parish to think of starting a boys club. Then again it may have been the growth in corporation estates in the general area. Bishopswater was still the new houses at Distillery Road but there were also St Aidan's Crescent, Corish Park and the looming of Kennedy Park along with the older estates. Whatever the reason, this priest mobilised the people.

Carpenters, painters, welders, brickies, shop assistants and just about any other occupation came together to become builders. In an era before the spectre of insurance, planning notices and the like this motley crew started digging foundations for a building designed if memory serves me right, by a carpenter. Initially they got it wrong. They dug for weeks but could not get a solid foundation so they moved a couple of hundred feet to the present site. Remember this was before the JCB and foundation trenches like First World War relics were dug with pick, shovel and buckets. They worked in the factories by day, got the tea and were on site within an hour through winter and summer.

I do not have an idea of where the money came from. I have an inkling that Harry Sinnott wheeled and dealt with suppliers and they probably amazed themselves with their subsequent generosity. There was some fund raising with silver circles (if you are not familiar with this get back to us for another article) and the like.

The great fundraiser for younger people was the field day. One abiding memory is the magnificent slide constructed in John Conboy's field. There was a fabulous hill facing the tail end houses of Bishopswater – ending in a boggy swamp. On this hill the volunteers (there was little shortage of that commodity in 1962) built a slide about 150 feet long with hardboard base and timber sides. For a few pennies you got a hemp mat and away you went. It wasn't the big dipper but it was ours, cheap and fun.

I remember the opening of the club. Father Sinnott got hold of an 8 or 16 mm projector and showed the film of the Von Trapp Family – not the musical The Sound of Music, it has not appeared. There were also concerts and of course pongo, not bingo. Pongo made great use of the bottle tops to mark the numbers on wooden boards rather than printed cards. These were obtained from Jimmy Browne's pub. There was no talk of recycling but whereas now the bingo halls use up forests of trees tin those days you changed the board for every few games – no waste.

Basketball was the great new sport introduced by the club. GAA was important and was a mainstay but this import was great. There were players from all over town. I also recall a big steel bar for gymnastics. It was up on the stage and was very popular. My abiding memory is jumping from a form (our word for the long wooden bench an pronounced furm) to this bar, hands sliding off and slapping onto the stage.

Cross-country running was another sport introduced to us by St Joseph's. I remember the late Toddy and Tom Rossiter being involved in that. Father Sinnott used to load full teams into his car to go to the events around the country.

Table tennis and handball were also catered for along with football and hurling.

I won't even try to name the committee members and helpers because I have no wish to offend any of these great people by missing one out. What I do recall about them was that although most had children using the facilities there were a number who had no such family benefit but still gave of their time and energy. In many ways they were the unpaid and unpraised social workers, youth leaders and community activists of their day.

To the members of the club I can only remind you with items that will mean nothing to the general readers. Remember Humphry and Har? Did you build dams?

One of the many teams, Is that the team coach on the back right? Can anyone name the members?