School friends return to desk they sat at on first school day

Mike Fallon and Pat Clarke of Castletown Geoghegan first sat together in one of these school desks in St Michael’s National School in September 1951. It was their first day attending school.

They spent their school years side by side and they have remained good friends down through the years.

They both celebrated their 80th birthdays recently, Mike at the end of September and Pat at the beginning of October.

To celebrate the milestone birthday, they decided to try sitting in one of the old desks saved from the school.

It was perhaps a little more difficult to fit in this time but it brought back many good memories of being in school and many good friends who are no longer here.