Rahugh charms its native sons and daughters

The foothills of the Esker Riada proved the perfect backdrop for The Rahugh Gathering Festival, as hundreds of natives came together for the activities, beginning with open air Mass on Saturday week last at 5pm.

There were month-old-babies mixing with 95-year-olds, as grainy old black and white photographs were examined in detail, former teachers ‘meeted and greeted’, and friends, neighbours and families came out of the woodwork for the two-day celebration, which included the 60th anniversary of Rahugh NS.

They mingled and chatted and drank tea among the vintage cars on parade, art exhibitions, petting zoo, tug-o-war, music and dancers. The atmosphere was electric, and the showers with intermittent sunny spells did nothing to affect that.

Smiling family photographs were snapped, among them the Dunnes, the Coynes and the Scallys.

There was a petting zoo complete with woolly pigs, (really!), while the entertainment included the Clara Town Band, The Sailors, and a 30-strong accordion band reunion.

There was Bill Pilkington in his 18th century Irish kitchen, cooking pancakes and making tea for anyone who wanted to take a seat beside the turf burning open fire.

And now there are plans to make the Rahugh Gathering an annual event, albeit on a smaller scale. Sure isn’t that what The Gathering is all about!

Among the throngs were Sr Amy Dunne, Sr Catherina Dunne and Sr Patricia Dunne, who went on to become Sisters of the Dominican Order, who were told they would never return home again to Ireland, and to their beloved Rahugh, when they left for Africa.

“We went to school over there (Rahugh), we’re in Africa now for over 60 years,” began Sr Patricia.

“Amy and I went out together in 1950, we went by ship and we arrived in Durban on Christmas Day.

“It took us nearly a month to get there,” says Amy.

“We went on a cargo ship and it called in at every port,” explains Catherina. “Madeira, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Eastland and Durban.

“I was 18, just turned 18,” says Amy, “I was 22,” says Catherina. “I went to South Africa in August 1955,” continues St Patricia. “I was just turned 19.

“We were very young,” says Sr Amy.

“We did our religious training in England, and then when we were finished our training, we left for Africa where we continued our studies because we were going to teach in Africa,” adds Sr Catherina.

“The three of us were teachers,” explains Sr Amy.

“So we taught until we had retired, and then I went into hospital chaplaincy, and then into parish ministry, and I’m still in it,” explains Sr Catherina.

“I have retired from teaching too but you know there are hundreds of things we do,” continues Sr Patricia. “We visit people, we have meetings with people, we say the Rosary, we’re in a retirement place for the sisters and there we do knitting for the orphanage and for the different organisations, and some of us go out to help to feed the Aids babies during the day, you know those who are active are still all busy even though they’ve retired from teaching.”

Is Africa home now or do you still regard Rahugh as home?

“No!” they each cry in unison, “Here is home,” says Sr Amy.

Sr Catherina was based in Durban, Sr Patricia is based outside Johannesburg, in a place called Wattsburg, in the mining area, while Sr Amy has retired to England, in Harpington, near Luton Airport.

“We all knew each other growing and it’s lovely to be home here among our neighbours and friends,” says Sr Catherina.

“When we went out to Africa first we were told we were going for good, never to return home again,” says Sr Patricia.

“Now it’s changed and now we come home every three years,” says Sr Catherina. “We loved every bit of it here.”

“There’s no comparison to home,” says Sr Catherina. “You have the rich and the plentiful and then you have the have-nots,” says Sr Patricia.

 “You couldn’t compare it with home,” says Sr Amy.