Today our speaker is Vasily Ogievsky : An introduction Forthcoming Speakers and Events
Nov 22nd
Nov 29th
Dec 6th Dec 13th 2022 Jan 10th Jan 17th
Mar 25th-27th May
The Egyptian Ambassador.
Roger Owens: Land’s End to John O’Groats: A Charity Ride
Special General Meeting. Christmas lunch.
Allan Kilpatrick (former member): Mens Sheds Sean O’Doherty: Family Carers IRL.
President’s Night dinner, Dublin Castle.
Visit to RC Bonn.
Premio Leonardo da Vinci weekend, hosted by RC Copenhagen.
President Alexander was in the Chair during our last meeting on 8th November.
A minute’s silence was observed last Monday to mark the death of our longstanding member Brian
Taylor, who died on Monday 8th November 2021.
Visitors and Apologies
At our last meeting we had an attendance of 22 members.
Apologies were received from the following 17 members:
Sinem Balta; Caroline Barnardo; Barra Emmanuel; Derek Bell; PE David Booth; Derek Byrne; PP Mark Doyle; PP Brian George; PP Randal Gray; Dorothy Hannon; Dermot Knight; PP Paul Loughlin; Gerry McLarnon; Vasily Ogievsky; Cormac Trant; Patrick White; Willy Widmer.
Our visitors were Herbert Jess, Past President of Rotary Club of Bonn Seven Hills, accompanied by his wife Micheline, who is a member of Inner Wheel, and Carla Martin who is studying in Ireland and who presented a banner from the Rotary Club of Torrelavega - Cantabria and who was a guest of Pat Fannin with whom she is staying while she is studying.
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Rotary Rangers’ Schedule
Nov 16th Nov 23rd Nov 30th
Thought for the day
Prince Williams Seat, Glencree Valley UCD Perimeter Walk, Belfield. Deerpark, Powerscourt.
PP Bernadette invited Mary O'Rafferty to give the Thought for the Day who quoted from Ban Ki Moon
President’s Announcements
• President Alexander spoke about the visit of 16 of our friends from the Rotary Club Bonn Seven Hills over the weekend of 6th & 7th November last. Alexander invited Past President Bernadette Mulvey to give a report on the visit on behalf of the visit organizer PE David Booth, who was not able to attend due to work commitments. David wished to acknowledge all the help and cooperation he received from Club members which helped to make the event such a success.
The sixteen visitors were met by a welcome committee of PE David Booth, Roger Owens, Mary O’Rafferty and her husband Conal, and PP Bernadette Mulvey. The five cars ferried visitors and their luggage to the Trinity City Hotel. Lunch was organized in The Bank restaurant, where we were joined by a number of other Club members, to such an extent some ended up in the Trinity Bar. Four Rotarians, including our newest member Cormac Trant joined our visitors in the Guinness Storehouse where we enjoyed a tour and a pint of the Black Stuff.
VP Delma Sweeney and her husband Eamonn Allen guided thirteen Bonn visitors by Dart from Pearse Street to DunLaoghaire and Bernadette ferried three in her car. Thanks to PP Pamela O’Loughlin and PP Mark Doyle, dinner was organized in the National Yacht Club. A total of thirty six dined well. President Alexander and the Bonn President exchanged gifts and greetings. The evening ended with a sing song of Molly Malone and A Wild Rover, led by PP Bernadette and words supplied by Mary O’Rafferty. Thanks to PP Paul Martin, each visitor received a Guinness baseball hat and a Dublin Rotary Pin as a souvenir of their trip.
On Sunday morning, the group was joined at breakfast by President Alexander, IPP Alan Davidson and PP Eithne Fitzgerald. They were taken on a walking tour by PE David Booth and IPP Alan which included Trinity College, Merrion Sq and the Oscar Wilde statue, the Molly Malone statue – where there was another rendition of the song and Temple Bar offered the opportunity for another tasting of the black stuff. At 1 pm, 7 cars headed for Newgrange where they had an excellent guided tour for twenty three people. The sun shone and the country side looked its best. After some refreshments, the Bonn visitors were left at the airport in time for their 7.25 pm flight home.
• President Alexander reminded us that there will be a Special General Meeting on 6th December at which we will hold our election to vote on nominations for positions of Club Officers for the coming year.
Other Announcements
PP Tom O’Neill passed on an invitation from our sister club, the Inner Wheel, for a celebratory dinner on Sunday 21st November at one o’clock, in the National Yacht Club at €30 a head. Please ‘phone Tom at 0872438089 to book your place.
“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth. These are one and the
same fight”. He went on in the same speech to explain the need to “connect the dots”, and how
“solutions to one problem must be solutions for all”
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Your editors are happy to announce that Mary O’Rafferty has agreed to join the team of editors of The Dubliner. Mary assisted with the writing of this issue and will be reporting today’s meeting herself with the assistance of Delma Sweeney. You will see the result of Mary’s work on or before next Monday.
Roger Owens reminded us of the benefits to the club and to Rotary of becoming sustaining members. EYER – Every Rotarian Every Year. There are various ways in which you can contribute.
PP Paul Martin explained that Rotarian Santa will not be able to attend in person at the Children’s Hospital this year due to Covid restrictions. However gifts and donations will still be required and will be distributed by a ‘medical’ Santa to the children.
Likewise it will not be possible to meet with the ladies of the Rostrevor Centre, off Pearse St. before Christmas. However our club will still be supporting the Centre this Christmas as we have done in the past.
Last Week’s Speaker
Last week our speaker was Shabnam Vasisht - speaking on Digging up the Raj in Deansgrange Cemetery. Shabnam was introduced by her neighbour and our Past President Tom O’Neill.
Shabnam Vasisht is a visual artist and has written five books. Shabnam spoke to us last week about one of those books. It has the intriguing title “Digging up the Raj in Deansgrange cemetery”. The book was first published in 2020. Shabnam explained that she is a neighbour of our member Past President Tom O’Neill and therefore lives very close to the cemetery.
The superintendent of the cemetery, John McCann, sparked Shabnam’s interest in finding out more about the lives of some of those buried in the cemetery. Shabnam spoke to us about a number of those buried in Deansgrange cemetery. The first was Captain James Vaughan [1829-1873]. His elaborate tombstone was by EJ Physick of London and imported to Deansgrange. Vaughan joined the Royal Navy when he was not quite thirteen and died in 1873, a Captain. A relative of his wife wrote the ballad The Rose of Tralee.
Another resident of the cemetery is Lieutenant General George Wheeler [1829-1910] and Shabnam considers his the most important Raj grave in Deansgrange cemetery. Wheeler is one of the best known names in Indian mutiny history. George’s father Hugh had 8 children by Frances the wife of another officer before her husband was killed and Hugh married her and they had two more. Hugh and Frances and some of their family were killed following a siege in India in 1857. Their son George was married in Tipperary two months after his parents were killed. It is likely the news of his parents’ deaths had not reached George at the time of his wedding. One of his sisters, Ulrika, gained some notoriety as she has become known as the Princess Anastasia of India. In 1907 as an old lady and dying she advised a priest that she had been carried off by an Indian officer from the massacre of her parents and family in 1857 and had lived with him ever since.
A Scottish lady Sarah Watson married a fellow Scot, Thomas Gardiner in 1855 in Edinburgh. Thomas was a Presbyterian minister. They had to leave India, where he had been posted, due to his ill health. He died from scarlet fever in 1877 leaving Sarah with six surviving children. The eldest Francis came to Ireland also as a Presbyterian minister. He lived with his wife in a house in Killiney (Shabnam notes that the property was offered for sale in 2000 for €3.5m) and his mother Sarah came to stay with them and died at the age of 98 in 1929 and was buried in Deansgrange cemetery. Her son Francis followed her two months later and is buried with her in Deansgrange.
At the end of her talk, Shabnam advised that she hopes to produce a similar book on Glasnevin cemetery. Speak to Tom O’Neill if you wish to obtain a copy of the Deansgrange book.
Rotarian David Horkan gave the vote of thanks.
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