Pat Barron RIP
We sadly announce the sudden passing of Pat Barron, one of our OBs from the 50s who attended Carlekemp as well as the Abbey. Pat was a regular attender of the AGM and OB dinners. We pass on our condolences to Gill, his wife.
We sadly announce the sudden passing of Pat Barron, one of our OBs from the 50s who attended Carlekemp as well as the Abbey. Pat was a regular attender of the AGM and OB dinners. We pass on our condolences to Gill, his wife.
The death is announced of one of our remaining monks, Father Benedict Seed OSB on Sunday 19 April in Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Fr Benedict had retired to St Joseph’s (Little Sisters of the Poor) in Robroyston, Glasgow and sadly succumbed to Covid-19. Father Benedict was an Old Boy who went into the monastery after school…
It is with regret that we inform OBs of the recent death of Alasdair Macdonald (Carlekemp and Fort Augustus 1954 – 66). Alasdair lived on Jersey and was a regular attendee at the Old Boys functions in Glasgow. He was the brother of Gay Guilianotti, Ralph’s wife. RIP Alasdair
It is with great regret that we report the death of Dave Gavine (“wee Dave”) on Thursday 2 January peacefully at home in Edinburgh at the age of 82. Dave was the geography teacher from 1970 to 1979. He was also a brilliant astronomer. After leaving Fort Augustus, he went on to achieve his PhD…
Our vice president Owen Halloran has recently had a life changing operation and had a leg amputated as a result of an illness. Ralph Guilianotti, our Chairman, reports that despite this traumatic experience, Owen remains cheerful. Our prayers go with him and his family. Further the above, Owen has recently contracted COVID-19 and we pray…
It is with regret that we inform OBs of the premature passing of Fr Aelred Grugan age 67. Fr Aelred was one of the last novices to enter the monastery and was ordained in 1981. He was a very popular monk who was involved in the school as Junior Housemaster and was the last headmaster of the school…
We are informed of the sad passing of Christopher Dunn, an OB who attended the school in the 1950s. Christopher’s funeral will take place at St Columbkille’s Catholic Church in Rutherglen on Thursday 21 June at 1pm. His body will be received into the church on Wednesday evening.
We have been informed of the very sad and very premature passing of one of our old boys – Andrew Basigara who passed away on 16 October 2016. We have only just been informed. Andrew was in his late fifties and died of bowel cancer. He occasionally attended the Old Boys reunions. Andrew was a fantastic…
The 2018 newsletter which includes the minutes from the 2017 AGM is available in the Newsletter section
The Old Boys Association have been informed of the recent passing of one of our headmasters, Fr Francis Davidson. Fr Francis died at Ampleforth Abbey very peacefully on Monday 9 April. His funeral arrangements are provided. Should any Old Boys wish to attend his funeral, they are kindly asked to contact the Abbot’s Office (jbr@ampleforth.org.uk) Funeral…
We have been informed of the sad passing of an Old Boy Jack Slorach on 13 December 2017. A short obituary was printed in The Herald.
Old Boys will remember the war memorial which was situated at the fork in the main school drive. It would have been passed by boys countless times possibly not realising its true significance (certainly for the younger OBs). At the OB AGM in 2010, it was agreed that the memorial should be cleaned and the letters re-carved. Fr Benedict Seed re-dedicated the War Memorial on 26 May, which had been newly-restored and re-located at its original position.
Ralph Guilianotti has put together some interesting dates that we thought you might like to see. We are hoping that this will bring up some interesting discussions in the Abbey Forum.
Wee Dave’ Gavine, a former Geography master at the school has had the honour of having an asteroid named after him. Discovered in January 1989, ‘7120 Davidgavine’ was named after our friend Dave by an astronomer R H McNaught.
Carlekemp was bought in 1945 by Fort Augustus Abbey School as a prep school. Prior to 1945, it had been a family home. The Benedictine Abbess of Holme Eden, formerly the Abbess of the Old Convent at Fort Augustus and the sister of Old Boy Lord Carmont, told her brother to ask St Benedict to find a buyer for Long Bellenden, a handsome property he owned in North Berwick in East Lothian.
Peter Barry, nephew of our OB, the late Peter Barry, has kindly scanned a 1934/35 Hockey season notebook belonging to his father Thomas (Tom) Barry with notes about each of eight matches against Gordonstoun, Camerons, HLI and various XIs (Mr Threlfall, Mr Cundell, Mr Greenhalgh). It makes fascinating reading of a schoolboy’s perspective over eighty years ago.
A notebook containing photos, fixture lists, many newspaper cuttings, a ticket for the Scotland v England rugby match in 1939 and many precious cuttings and notes was recently discovered. The content of the notebook has been scanned and the whole notebook can be found here.