Hi y’all

I am Gerald Murray.
Mirfield old boy 1967 – 1972.
Ordained 1983.
Africa from 1982 to 1989.
1989 left Verona Fathers and the Catholic Church.
1989 -2005 married in Italy. Divorced.
2005 – 2007 various odd jobs.
2007 Probation Officer.

In April or so I went to an old boys gathering in Glasgow. I was happy to
meet  a lot of middle aged and older men that I hadn’t seen in a number of
years.  I was less than happy not to meet a number of people who had not come.

I spoke to a number of people during and after this reunion (including Paul
Towey, conspiracy theorists stay calm).

I fully intend to attend other such reunions in concordance with my finances
an health ( I am a poor, fairly healthy Probation Officer).

In the wave of the reunion, however, I began to hear tales of self harmng,
depression, sexual abuse etc.  My memories of Mirfield had been, up to that
point, happy, a tough but overall great experience lived with a bunch of guys
that were worth knowing.

I received an email from Degs (cheers mate) who drew my attention to the
Mirfiels memories blog. I came, I read and I felt sick – sick not to have
noticed the suffering of some of my fellow seminarians.
I do not consider myself a  believer in any form of God, supernatural power or
presence, first mover etc. I follow, way back, in the trail of Hitchens and
Dawkens without their crusading hatred for religion.

As for my other co-seminarians, I beg you forgiveness for not having noticed
or having been aware of your suffering, my suffering was negligible.

I have great memories of Mifield on the whole. I have a recurring memory which
comes to me while I am painting (walls and ceilings). It is the memory of
simging in the choir at St Paulinus in Dewsbury just before Christmas. Why? Je
ne sais pas. I have other great memories of football (I played for Scotland,
just like BIlly Bremner), canoeing, Huddersfield market, Heckmondwick,
Hartshead and Robertstown. Parents days, holidays, getting woken up by music,
Mrs emories of whatsername’s purple hair. Walking in the bog near the wood.
Happy to go home to get back.

My life has changed since I found out how naive I had been. I have made
mistakes before and will do again. I would love to hear / share other
Mirfield.

AC Milan rules (season ticket holder from 1990 to 2002)

Gus Murray

It is fascinating  and moving to read Kevin’s latest update and how wonderfully well he puts into context the vulnerability of the young seminarians and their predators.I have reflected for a long time whether to contribute to the Blog.This is not because of any sense of disapproval,far from it. It was more about a sense of guilt due to the fact I was one of those young men who came out unscathed while some of my dearest friend were abused.The personal revelation of that abuse from one of my friends before a reunion has had a deep impact on me. That is why I consulted with him before I decided to relate my experiences of Mirfield . Mirfield gave me life long friendships, a development of good communication skills,a complete sense of independence.Those heartbreaking nights developed an incredible resilience and many experiences gave me tcup qualities ( to cope under pressure) probably due to Cerea standing behind me with a ruler to my head .I hope over a period of time to relate those wonderful experiences of the train trips from Glasgow, times at  the Lake District , Fountain and Boltons Abbey. Fireworks nights,Sunday football,fund raising choirs,sneaking to the ice rink , fights over the toaster,the famous cleaning rota,ghost hunting, dormitory strikes and bizarre punishments.I hope as I get going the rest will flow. What I really hope to do is to try and encapsulate the atmosphere created by all those incredible student who made up such a melting pot of adventure, fun and laughter .A number of those characters such as Tommy Flanagan and Paddy Burns have passed away while Dono is seriously ill Thankfully our re unions allowed me to catch up with these dear friends and share experiences. My support of those other friends who were abused is there without reservation and whatever we can do to help, we should. Till next time Frankie.

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