Peeps At Princethorpe - Oonah Keogh
As many people will know, Peeps of Princethorpe was the name of the school magazine produced by St. Mary’s Priory pupils from 1902 until 1964. It was an annual publication giving a detailed account of the previous school year, with various contributors. These magazines are a wonderful primary source, abundant with information about school life from sports matches, trips and academic successes to updates on Old Princethorpians. They also give us a real insight into the feel of the school, the ethos, and the social and political situations that were occurring outside of the convent walls. In fact, it is easy to think the pupils were sheltered from the turmoil of outside events, but Peeps shows us they were well informed about world affairs and played an active role in major events.
The school magazines reveal a world of interesting stories but, most importantly, they show us the incredible people who once walked Princethorpe College’s corridors. Throughout Peeps, there are so many examples of girls who have gone on to make significant contributions in many ways and it is time to look at one of those in more detail. History has tended to forget pioneering women of the early 20th Century but through promoting the work of the archives, such stories can be kept alive, inspiring a new generation in the process. In their heyday, these women were grabbing the headlines, but the passing of time has diminished their achievements and memory. In our Development Donor event we celebrated three such women and in this edition of the Old Princethorpian newsletter we are sharing the story of one of them an Old St Mary's Priory girl, Oonah Keogh.
You can read about Oonah in more detail here.
