Welcome to SHSS Alumnae Link!

This is where we connect with past pupils and find out what they’re up to now.

This week we linked with Kay Curtin who graduated in 1987.

Name and position:

Kay Curtin (née Bennis) currently working in admin at a medical facility.

Lives:

Ballineen, but originally from Co. Limerick.

Best memory of Sacred Heart:

I have lots of great memories of my time at Sacred Heart. I made lifelong friends, some of which I maintain to this day, but if I had to choose, being a boarder was the most memorable part of school.

Firstly, the reason I came to Sacred Heart as a boarder was that my parents knew a nun in the convent who suggested it might be a good idea if my sister & I came to school in Clonakilty. I arrived in September 1982, not knowing anybody at all. I wasn't the only girl in that situation and I soon made friends. Our first year dorms were one large room and our beds were divided by curtains similar to a hospital ward. We had our own locker, but I think the wardrobes were communal and there were two large sinks in the room. Showers/baths were on the corridor. A nun slept in the room next door to us and kept an eye on us during the night.

When we moved to second year, we had individual rooms within a large room which were divided by partition walls. We had our own wardrobe, sink and a sliding door. When we got to Leaving Cert, our rooms were totally our own, up at the top of the boarding school, with our own window & more importantly our own light!

There was no Transition Year in those days so I spent five years in total at Sacred Heart.

Our days followed a very similar pattern throughout the five years. The bell rang at 7am and up we got for mass at 7.30am every morning (except Saturday, and Sunday mass was a little later). Breakfast followed mass in the dining room commonly known as the Ref. Pupils were designated tables and you stayed there, right through the year.

After breakfast it was time for school, we had our dinner at lunchtime and our tea in the evening. We were free to do as we pleased once school finished ( within reason) until supervised study began at 5.30pm. Our study area was in what was the old school . Tea was at 7pm and then study again from 7.45pm to 9 pm. This was the same for all years except Leaving Certs who studied in their own rooms. We were allowed to watch the news in the later years. That was the only TV we saw during the week. Also if you were involved in sport, particularly volleyball which was very much part of school in the 80's, training would have been after school.

Regarding the Ref, there was a rota for clean up which meant you were on wash up / cleaning tables etc duty probably once a month or so. When I was there we went home roughly once every three weeks. However, that did change in later years to weekly boarding.

Our weekends were slightly more relaxed, we could wear our own clothes on Saturday, but not on Sunday. We were not allowed downtown at all, but when we got to 5th & 6th year that was slightly relaxed.

Saturdays were for cleaning our rooms, to study if we wanted , and we always watched a film on Saturday evening.

Sundays we had to wear our uniform, and we were often taken for a walk out towards Inchydoney or up to the hospital.

As a boarder you become very much part of the place and make lifelong friends. Also the nuns and other staff working in the convent were so much part of our lives. One of the nuns, who is now deceased, always impressed upon us that as boarders our parents were working hard to send us to school so it was up to us to behave and do our best. That worked most of the time.

That's not to say that we were angels! Like all teenagers, there was the odd breaking of rules, but nothing too serious!

What were your favourite classes:

My favourite classes were French, Biology & Geography. I wasn’t so keen on Irish & Maths.

Tell us about your career progression to date:

have always worked in jobs dealing with the public. I worked with Dublin Tourism for a few years, then moved to Fáilte Ireland in Cork. I then changed completely and worked as a dental nurse for many years. I now work in admin in a medical facility.

If you weren’t in the job you have, what would you be doing?

I have always loved France and the French language, so maybe teaching French or living in France. I worked as an au pair in Corsica one summer, that really gave me a love of France. My husband and I went on our honeymoon to France and toured around a lot of Normandy & Brittany.

Advice you would give your teenage self:
Don't worry about what you perceive that others may think of you.

Favourite quote or motto:

What's for you won't pass you.

What is your hidden talent?

I don't think I have any hidden talent, what you see is what you get. I like to think that I am a good dancer, but maybe that's for others to decide.

Huge thanks to Kay for taking the time to answer our questions!

See you soon for the next instalment of SHSS Alumnae Link!

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SHSS Alumnae Link - Kay Curtin