In Saturday’s DomPost supplement, actor and director Jim Moriarty, (centre) talked to Emma Jones, recalling his time, 50 years on, at St Patrick’s College Wellington.
“We were taught by the Marist brothers (sic) whose single purpose was to improve our wellbeing.
“I remember one priest spending an hour in the cricket nets with me each day working on my bowling. He’d put half a crown down on the perfect landing spot for the ball and if I hit it I could take it home; that was the level of their dedication.”
Mr Moriarty recalled he was one of only four “brown boys” in the school, but said he never felt outnumbered.
He said his time at college was in stark contrast to an earlier generation.
“When my mother went to school she had her mouth washed out with soap for speaking Te Reo”, he told Emma Jones.
“I was never abused, and never heard of any happening, so perhaps we were the lucky ones”.
Commenting further on the opportunities given to him at St Patrick’s College, Mr Moriarty recalled touring the country with the Māori theatre trust, performing with cool people like Inia Te Waita, Don Selwyn and George Henare.
“The school gave me permission to do that, pretty progressive eh?
Mr Moriarty recalled he used to clean the chapel vestibules, and taking an occasional swig of altar wine.
“It wasn’t tasty but it had the effect”, he said.
“I was a good kid a school though. I knew the effort mum and dad put into getting me to St Pats, so I opened my arms to it every day”.
With modest pride Jim Moriarty recalls in his later years he was a Transport Prefect at St Patrick’s College. “I made sure kids weren’t smoking on the trains and were standing up for adults”.
- Source: DomPost
- Image: The Patrician (magazine of St Patrick’s College Wellington).