Mass for Deceased Past Pupils - Sunday, 3 December 2023 at 11.30AM

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, will celebrate a Mass on Sunday, 3 December 2023 at 11.30AM, commemorating St Andrew's Day. The Mass will also commemorate those pupils from CBS Westland Row who died during the past year. The PPU has a list of those who died including Noel Halloran, Eugene Strong, Stephen Kenny, Michael Doyle, Paul Kealy, Ian McGarry, Martin Conway, Denis McKennedy, Bryan O’Higgins, Gerry Hammond and Willie Meier. Inevitably, we will miss some people. So, perhaps you would be good enough to pass on to me the names of any past pupil you are aware of who died since early last December. Normally, the names of deceased past pupils are read out at the Mass, so we will be passing on the list to the Sacristan next week. We normally have good representation from the PPU at the Mass. You are more than welcome to attend.

John Cullen (Hon. Secretary) - Email: jjmcullen@gmail.com

Annual Dinner - Westbury Hotel - Date for Your Diary - 27th January, 2024

The Westland Row PPU Annual Dinner is scheduled to take place on the last Saturday in January at the Westbury Hotel, Balfe Street, Dublin 2 as has been the tradition for many years now. Dinner is tentatively scheduled for 7.30 pm. So please mark your diaries/calendars, 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm on 27/01/2024. As we must give the hotel expected numbers as soon as possible we would kindly request that you let the Honorary Secretary Mr. John Cullen know as soon as possible of your intention to attend. He can be contacted at - Email: jjmcullen@gmail.com or by Mobile Phone: 087 2312728. Ticket prices will be advised soon.

We look forward to welcoming very many past pupils to the Westbury on the evening of January 27th, 2024.

Call for Nominations: Row Person of the Year - 2024

The Westland Row PPU committee seeks nominations for Row Person of the Year - 2024 from the community of past pupils. The award will be made at the annual PPU dinner, tentatively scheduled for the annually recurring last Saturday in January (2024). Names along with some background information on nominees should be emailed to the Honorary Secretary, John Cullen at jjmcullen@gmail.com. Please do so by Friday, November 10th, 2023. The PPU committee wish to thank past pupils in advance for their nominations.

Bryan O'Higgins RIP

The death has occurred of long serving Westland Row CBS PPU committee member Bryan O’Higgins. Brian passed away on December 22, 2022 and was a retired Superintendent in an Garda Síochána. He had a long and distinguished career heading up the Fraud Squad and the Garda Press Office before taking up a posting as Head of UN Policing Operations in Kosovo. Brian was elected Row Person of the Year in 1997. Jim Conway has posted a News Blog piece on Bryan which you can view by clicking on 'Bryan O'Higgins RIP' below. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h'anam dílís.

  • Bryan O'Higgins RIP

    • Gerry Davey – ROW Person of the Year 2023

    The PPU is delighted to announce that Gerry Davey has been elected Row Person of the Year for 2023. Gerry is a member of the Class of 1962. He will be presented with the PV Doyle Trophy at the Annual Dinner which will be held, as usual, at the Westbury on January 28th, 2023. Please see Jim Conway's comprehensive piece on Gerry and his many achievements with both Clanna Gael and Dublin, available on the PPU News Blog. Click on the link 'Gerry Davey' below or cut and paste the following link into your internet browser to go directly to the story - https://westlandrowppu.blog/2022/12/15/gerry-davey-row-person-of-the-year-2023

  • Gerry Davey

    • Annual PPU Dinner - Westbury Hotel, Saturday, January 28th 2023

    Book now to catch up with old friends in the Westbury Hotel. We’re back to our traditional January date providing an opportunity to meet old friends, celebrate class group anniversaries and the Row Person of the Year 2023. We look forward to welcoming all past pupils of the school to this always enjoyable event. The cost is €70 per person and can be paid at the door by cash or cheque. Please go to the NewsBlog to keep up with updates in the interim.

    New President Dan Ferrari launches fundraising appeal

    The proportion of WR CBS students entering higher eduction has increased from 15% to 70% in recent years. The PPU provides one scholarship to the value of €2,000 each year. The annual income of €900 comes from subscriptions and the raffle which takes place in January each year. So the PPU is currently running at a loss. PPU expenses are close to zero as work on its behalf is completely voluntary and some of the recurring costs costs are personally sustained by committee members. As communicated in a recent email, the President would like to offer two bursaries per annum. To do so we would ask past pupils to pay the annual subscription – the suggested amount is €25.00 (of course you can pay more or less as circumstances dictate - all support for the school and its pupils is very much appreciated). One way to do this is by completing the bank mandate and sending it back to Dan Ferrari at his email address (dan.a.ferrari@hotmail.com). The bank mandate can be downloaded from Download Form (Word). You can download a video message from 2021 bursary winner Kacper Jaroszynski at Kacper's Message. It is a .mov file and the size is 30MB. Please see the News Blog for further details.

    Assistant Principal Eddie Kelly Retires

    Eddie Kelly retires at the end of the 2020/2021 school year after 41 years of service to the school. The PPU wishes Eddie all the very best for his upcoming retirement and expresses its sincere thanks to him for all of his many contributions to the School and support for the PPU over the decades. Please see the News Blog to view some touching tributes to Eddie.

    New PPU President Dan Ferrari

    Dan Ferrari was elected PPU President for a two year term at the AGM on May 27th, 2021. The best of luck to Dan, who has served as PPU Treasurer over the past few years, in his new role as the lead officer. Please see the News Blog for further details.

    End of Notifications