The Pioneers had a sobering effect that we need now more than ever

LAST week witnessed the death of Fr Daniel Dargan, the Jesuit who directed the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) from 1957-’77.

Some of his obituaries referred to what many consider his greatest claim to fame— overseeing the organisational triumph that resulted in a gathering of more than 100,000 people at Croke Park in 1959 for the association’s diamond jubilee.

It was the second such triumph — in 1949, 80,000 had crammed into Croke Park for the golden jubilee celebrations, at a time when Fr Dargan was the assistant director.