Dominican Sisters, staff, parents, parishioners, pupils and governors all congregated on the afternoon of Saturday 24th June 2017 to celebrate the fact that on this very date, the 24th June, one hundred years ago a Mass was held to mark the opening of St Mary’s Dominican Convent, Portstewart.

 

View the full report with photos click link.

Betty Deery.

Born 8/8/1928 Died 23/8/1993.

Betty was born in Strabane and educated in the local Convent of Mercy Primary School. She became a boarder in the Dominican Convent, Portstewart in 1943.
Betty’s Parents chose the Dominican for their only daughter after receiving excellent references from relatives who spent many years in Portstewart.
Listening to Betty reminiscing about her time as a Convent girl continued throughout her life.
Her younger brother Jim, now aged 85 years recalls her time in the Dominican
“Betty was a great community girl, everyone knew her. She always took the lead in organising games, school shows and social events. She made many lifelong friends there including Colette Curran, who was to be her bridesmaid. I remember her often mentioning Sr. Bede, who was a young nun at the time in charge of the Boarders and had a kindred spirit with Betty.
Both parents and myself religiously made a fortnightly visit to see Betty. The highlight was lunch in The Montague Hotel overlooking the Convent. For Betty to be able to enjoy a very tasty pudding, she had to endure the Main course! [Jim laughs].
Saying goodbye was always difficult for her Father, as Betty was an only daughter and they enjoyed a special bond. Her Dad wrote weekly letters to her without fail.”
Today Betty’s children enjoy reading through her beautifully hand written Domestic Science Exercise books from 1946 and use in particular her Christmas Pudding recipe down through the years. Unknown to us, she had a flair for painting as we later found one of her still-life watercolours, which is now framed and hangs proudly in her son’s home.
Down through the years, the Dominican Convent was referred to lovingly and with great happiness by Betty and especially her many Sunday afternoon strolls taken along The Nun’s Coastal Walk!

Attached are photos of Betty with her friends in school uniform at the convent and a wedding photo of her lifelong friend Colette Curran, her bridesmaid – a friendship made possible by attending Dominican College!
I have also attached her framed painting if interested for the Art Exhibition and a few pages from her hand written exercise book of 1946.

Last Thursday our U14 Gaelic team- replete with their new team strip- set off for the Brain Og McKeever Memorial blitz in Derry, a tournament the U-14 squad won last year. The boys had trained hard for the event and, taking a break from their summer exams, travelled to Derry confident of doing well.
The U14 squad consisted of a mixture of Year 10 and 9 pupils who play for a variety of local clubs
Jack Lucas
Jake Wallace (year 9)
Ryan Taggart
Fillip Rygielski
Jude Kerr
Logan Johnson
Ciaran McLaughlin
Kacper Sobera
Colm Darragh
Conor Carlisle
Lewis Hawthorne (year 9)
Luke Carter Woods
In the league section the Dominican squad, christening their new jerseys, celebrated three victories over St Joseph’s Derry, St Brigid’s Derry and Oakgrove to give them qualification to the final.
Mr Carey described the ensuing final against Oakgrove as “epic” with only a single, sensational point from Jack Lucas in the last kick of the game ensuring that both teams headed for the agony of extra time.
With only a minute remaining in a tense period of extra-time, Jake Wallace, fresh from his period away with the NI soccer team, galloped up field to strike the decisive point which tipped the final towards the superb Dominican squad.
With the advent of the final whistle mere seconds later the Dominican team celebrated with the traditional “pile on”.
Mr Carey offered this summary:
“Ryan Taggart was his formidable self in goals and the Dominican defence were excellent throughout the tournament with Filip, Jude and Logan continuously making life difficult for their opponents.
In the Dominican midfield, Ciaran McLaughlin was full of running and the forward line of Kacper, Colm, Luke and Conor all chipped in at decisive moments with vital scores.
All in all this was a superb performance from a very gifted young team who will go on to achieve future success. I was delighted to see the lads hard work come to fruition and I look forward to celebrating this success with the wider school on Sports Prize day later in the month.”
Well done boys from all here in DCP!

Hi there Dominican College, Portstewart and congratulations on your Centenary. My name is Dr Ima Jackson and I am currently employed in the School of Health and Life Sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University.

I thought I would pass on this little story. I imagine you will have been getting lots of different information this year.

My sister Michele Jackson and I were brought up in Strand Road, Portstewart and attended Dominican College from 1976 until 1982.

We have always been told the following family story concerning the beginnings of the college, although there is no evidence it is actually true. It was said that our great grandmother, Dr. Mildred Croskery, (our father’s mother’s mother) helped the Dominican nuns find O'Hara's Castle, and encouraged them to start a school there.

This woman (pictured below bottom right ) was a widow struggling to educate three teenage daughters. To make some extra money, circa 1915 or 1916 she travelled to Dublin from Belfast to act as an external examiner for pupils attending the Dominican College in Dublin. During this visit the nuns told her they were considering opening a second college in the north of Ireland. It happened that our great grandmother often stayed in Portstewart in a small house she rented behind the harbour end of the promenade. Seeing that O’Hara’s Castle was for sale she sent a picture postcard to the nuns in Dublin recommending it as a suitable venue. The rest is history…

The colour photograph is of Lillian Croskery, Isabel Cuthbertson Jackson, Sidney Croskery and their mother, Dr Mildred Croskery

The black and white photo is James Croskery (our father namesake, who died young), Mildred Croskery, Lillian and Sidney the younger child. James Croskery died before our Grandmother was born. This must have been about 1901.

Good luck in all the various centenary celebrations this year and please do contact me if you wish any further information.


Regards,
Ima.