Wednesday 7 November 2018 Mr Oliver Loughran. Topic Empires and their Aftermath
CBS Old Boys [Back Row L – R.] Michael Cooney, Hugh Ward, Eamon Cunningham, Oliver Loughran [Front Row] Billy Campbell, Pat McCaul, Gerry McGonigle, Felim O’NeillVice-President Oliver apologised that the speaker was not able to attend and filled the breach with an impromptu talk which he called “Empires and their aftermath”. His interest had begun in Latin class in the Christian Brothers Grammar School where he had studied Caesar’s Gallic wars. Having described the peculiar system of rewards and retributions imposed by his old teacher, Oliver then treated members to a brief idiosyncratic account of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. He then touched upon other empires that had come and gone including those of the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons, the Normans and the British, concluding with the observation that today’s empires are those of Google and Facebook. His talk encouraged several members to speak of their own experience of being taught Latin in the CBS and the meeting ended with lively reminiscences of Junior and Senior Certificate.
