On Thursday 14th January, Clongowes celebrated one of its most famous past pupils, Dr Aidan McCarthy (OC 1930), by screening the film of his remarkable life. The Clongowes website was lucky enough to have the services of one of its most famous past teachers, the redoubtable Mr Tony Pierce, a historian in his own right, who attended the showing and filed this report…
‘A Doctor’s Sword’, a feature length documentary, directed by Gary Lennon and produced by Bob Jackson was premiered in the Irish Film Institute in August 2015 before being released nationwide. It tells of Dr McCarthy’s wartime experiences and follows his daughter’s search to find the family of the Japanese officer, who gave her father the sword in the aftermath of the Japanese surrender.
The nationwide tour eventually found its way to Clongowes where the film was shown in the People’s Church, first for Higher Line and then for Third Line and Lower Line. In attendance were Dr McCarthy’s two daughters Niki and Adrienne, both of whom featured in the film itself. Also present were the rector, Fr Michael Sheil, Fr Barney McGuckian, Fr Dermot Murray, Mr Gerry Lynch (former teacher of English and French [1975-2000], who contributed an article on Dr McCarthy to The Clongownian 2014), Dr Harman Murtagh and former history teachers Mr Brendan Cullen and Mr Tony Pierce.
For more on this story and to get a taste of A Doctor’s Sword click here.
Mr Tony Pierce