Glenstal to Bishop - draft letter

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2023-10-06/803 Your Grace Fr Harley has written me that to say that you given permission to Brian Callinan Of I5 Pembroke Road to study for a scholarship in Trinity College with a view to taking a degree there. Fr Harley added that it was your Grace's wish that the granting of this permission should be regarded as far as possible as confidential. I have discussed the matter with Fr Rector and, while we are both natually most anxious to fall in with your Grace's wishes we feel that there may be a certain difficulty in observing this confidence. We were both anxious that Callinan should go to the National University and had urged Mrs Callinan to send him there. Fr Rector's views on Trinity are well known to the parents and it would be difficult to avoid offering some explanation to other parents whom he has successfully urged to abandon their intention of sending their sons there. While accepting unhesitatingly your Grace's decision in this case we feel, that we would be placed in a false position if we were not at liberty to say that we are preparing Callinan for Trinity in accordance with your Grace's wishes. It may be that I am interpreting Fr Harley's warning too strictly but I thought it better to write directly to your Grace so that there would be no danger of misunderstanding. We shall not of course mention the matter unless we are asked about it but we would like to be free to explain to any parents who may raise the question the circumstances under which we are undertaking to prepare Callinan for the Trinity examination.