Joe Pepper and his wife Margaret recently moved from Dundrum to Drogheda. Joe originally comes from the Westland Row area and Margaret (nee Gaffney) comes from Whelan House from a well known Ringsend family. Joe and Margaret saved the memorial stone for deceased workers of the Irish Glass Bottle Company from demolition and it is now in the mortuary chapel in St Patrick’s Church, Ringsend.

While out shopping in Drogheda they came across an antique shop and much to their surprise they were looking at a picture frame and jumping out from the certificate within the frame the words St Patrick’s Ringsend.

This beautiful certificate was presented to Charles Dunne by Fr Joseph Grant Mooney PP on 11 February 1906 to enrol him in the Association in Honour of the Sacred Heart. It was such a coincidence with the Parish celebrating one hundred years in existence that Joe and Margaret decided to buy it.

Joe and Margaret would be interested to know how it arrived in Drogheda and to which family in Ringsend it is connected. They would be quite happy to pass it on to them or failing that if the Parish accept it they would be happy to donate it.

It is possible that there is a connection to Charles Dunne as a Charles Dunne is mentioned in a previous story I wrote for NewsFour in Christmas 2002 about Seamus Kavanagh, my master at Ringsend School and the Isles of the Sea Gaelic Football team during 1890 to 1903.

In the team of 1895 there is a Charles Dunne. During this period there was also a Tommy Dunne, a J. Dunne and a Dan Dunne. I mention all of these in the hope that someone might shed some light on the above Charles Dunne.