and it seems like only yesterday...I was lying on the couch, taking a much needed break, watching 'As the World Turns' (channel 2, NYC). Frank (6) was in Holy Family School and Danny (4), Timmy (3), Patty (17 mo) and Kevin (2 mo) were in bed for their daily afternoon nap. Suddenly, BULLETIN, came across the screen and Walter Cronkite announced that JFK had been shot in Dallas. The show then continued for awhile, when Cronkite came on the screen and announced that our beloved John Fitzgerald Kennedy was dead. I can't begin to tell you how empty my heart felt. I turned 21 the year Kennedy ran for president, at the time you had to be 21 to vote, and I voted for him in my first election. Both my mother and father in law, born in Ireland, became citizens and voted for him in their first election. Besides being a bright articulate president, he was the Irish American's symbol of finally overcoming the prejudice the Irish suffered in the USA, when they fled the Great Famine in Ireland, and as evidenced in signs like, "Irish Need Not Apply". It was the first time I saw so many people so sad and crying in public, whether in the grocery store or in church. Saturday and Monday, our church held special masses dedicated to JFK. There were so many attending each day that the overflowing crowd attended mass in the school auditorium. I remember the 24 hour television coverage, first time ever, with out advertisements. I remember John Jr. saluting. I remember Mrs. Kennedy walking behind the casket with the dark black veil. It was a long weekend. Forty years later, I still can't forget. My heart still aches. Any more memories? -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com Professional Genealogy Research All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton 2002

I was eighteen at the time and a novice in a religious order in Ireland. There were about forty of us in this old house in the middle of the country. We were of course not allowed radio, television or newspapers and we lived by a rule of silence. The "great silence" was very strict and operated from the time of compline (last prayers) to after breakfast the next morning. I was on the breakfast serving rota and went into the kitchen to collect the porridge. One of the cooks, Brother Yates, was at the large central stove and looked up as I came in. "They've shot Kennedy," he said in his broad Dublin accent. "He's dead." The big shock was that the brother broke the rule of silence and Kennedy's death took a while to sink in. Of course I couldn't tell anyone else as I went about the usual business of serving breakfast in silence and then eating my own with the rest of the breakfast serving group. Brother Yates was sitting at the same table but his eyes were now downcast and demure as the rules decreed. After making our beds the first task of the day was "voice projection", an exercise to help develop preaching skills. We would go in groups of three (always three, twosomes were severely discouraged) into the wood to the side of the house and declaim in loud voices. Here we were allowed to use selected poetry books for practise. In my book I found Walt Whitman's poem "Oh Captain, my Captain" about the death of Lincoln. I gave my colleagues a dramatic performance including the lines: But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. Of course they had no idea what was in my mind until later that day when the Novice Master finally told us the news. Then my colleagues realised I must have known beforehand. But even in our permitted chatting times it was not considered proper to ask about it. Kennedy's death and the death of Pope John XXIII were the only events from the outside world that penetrated into the novitiate over those two years and the funerals were the only times we were allowed to watch that wonder television. Richard Callanan, London, England. -----Original Message----- From: Pat Connors [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 22 November 2003 05:38 To: [email protected] Subject: [KILKENNY] 40 years later... and it seems like only yesterday...I was lying on the couch, taking a much needed break, watching 'As the World Turns' (channel 2, NYC). Frank (6) was in Holy Family School and Danny (4), Timmy (3), Patty (17 mo) and Kevin (2 mo) were in bed for their daily afternoon nap. Suddenly, BULLETIN, came across the screen and Walter Cronkite announced that JFK had been shot in Dallas. The show then continued for awhile, when Cronkite came on the screen and announced that our beloved John Fitzgerald Kennedy was dead. I can't begin to tell you how empty my heart felt. I turned 21 the year Kennedy ran for president, at the time you had to be 21 to vote, and I voted for him in my first election. Both my mother and father in law, born in Ireland, became citizens and voted for him in their first election. Besides being a bright articulate president, he was the Irish American's symbol of finally overcoming the prejudice the Irish suffered in the USA, when they fled the Great Famine in Ireland, and as evidenced in signs like, "Irish Need Not Apply". It was the first time I saw so many people so sad and crying in public, whether in the grocery store or in church. Saturday and Monday, our church held special masses dedicated to JFK. There were so many attending each day that the overflowing crowd attended mass in the school auditorium. I remember the 24 hour television coverage, first time ever, with out advertisements. I remember John Jr. saluting. I remember Mrs. Kennedy walking behind the casket with the dark black veil. It was a long weekend. Forty years later, I still can't forget. My heart still aches. Any more memories? -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com Professional Genealogy Research All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton 2002 ==== IRL-KILKENNY Mailing List ==== AUSTRALIA in your family tree???? Join the Australia-GenWeb mailing list and get history and genealogical information. http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/AUS/AUSTRALIA-GENWEB.html ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

Richard Did you eventually become a brother? Kaye www.bananatv.com/genealogy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Callanan"

No Kaye, I left after 20 months. I realised celibacy would be a problem for me! Richard -----Original Message----- From: kaye vernon [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 22 November 2003 23:14 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [KILKENNY] 40 years later... Richard Did you eventually become a brother? Kaye www.bananatv.com/genealogy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Callanan" ==== IRL-KILKENNY Mailing List ==== To unsub from list, to search archives of list, or to change your type of subscription: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/IRL/IRL-KILKENNY.html ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237