Went to 8 Mass in honour of the feast of St. Aloysius. I have determined to reform my prayers and duties in general, and to make St. Aloysius my patron. Will go to 8 Mass every morning of the hols. That will be about 60 Masses to the good. – Worked quite well at school. Saw the Irish papers, which are far easier than last year. They are mainly based on ‘Slíghe an Eolais’ [Paths of Knowledge], and as I am making a summary of the latter, and am studying it well, I could do nearly all the paper. We have no Irish now as Dickie is superintending at Skibbereen, but I am working myself at it. – I go at the garden every day for a few minutes after dinner – it is improving. Saw in the paper that the Persian government has entrusted excavations in Persia to a German archaeologist! Germans reach everywhere by reason of their extraordinary learning and scholastic achievements. One would imagine the Persians would have somebody capable of doing such a big work in their own country. Sent for message for Páp to Barracks. Col. Duffy, ((Aloys must mean Lieut. Arthur Duff (1899-1956), who was appointed conductor of the No. 2 Army Band in Cork. From him Aloys was to receive his first conducting lessons during rehearsals with the band from 1927 when Aloys was a music student at UCC. Duff conducted many concerts for the Cork Radio Station. He was recalled to Dublin in 1930, and as he did not get on well with the very Prussian Col. Brase, he soon resigned from the army. He began to write music for the theatre – for Yeats plays and ballet music for Ninette de Valois at the Abbey Theatre. In 1937 he joined Radio Éireann, becoming head of music in 1945. He often conducted the Symphony Orchestra and impressed Arnold Bax with his musicianship. )) conductor of No. 2 Army Band, looks a typical Englishman. He is a good man, and the band is getting on splendidly.
