Iona College Old Boys Association

11/06/2026

05/06/2026

🎵 REMEMBERING THE FIRST COLLEGE CONCERT 🎶

With musicals and productions in full swing at Iona College, we remember the first College Concert in 1958. After the success of the first Passion Play a few months before, the event was performed with Archbishop Duhig in attendance. Visits by the Archbishop to the College were often met with great excitement over the years, for it meant some time out of school for the boys; or ice creams, that were kept in an insulated canvas bag in the back of His Grace’s black Humber Super Snipe.

The Concert was performed at Nazareth House, most likely to mark the Feast of St Columba, which included a pantomime Soot and Fairies, and a one-act play on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. The small choir of boys Father Shortall had assembled also sang Mass of Angels.

During the event, Archbishop Duhig presented to the college an image of Je Suis L’Immaculate Conception, depicting Mary appearing before St. Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes, France. On the back of the artwork was the inscription ‘Received from His Grace Archbishop Duhig at our first Iona College Concert 6th June 1958.’

The artwork was recently donated to Iona College by the family of Foundation Ionian Derek Phillips, and is now an invaluable part of the College Archives collection.

Since then, Iona has produced, performed and sang at countless concerts, masses and musicals, delivering memorable experiences year after year for so many involved, and each a significant time on the Ionian College calendar.

01/06/2026

Old Boys!

We still need more videos from former students who were involved in the music program during their time at Iona.

The Music Gala is tomorrow night, and we want as many messages of support and encouragement for our young musos as we can gather from Old Boys from years gone by.

It doesn’t have to be Spielberg, it doesn’t have to be long.

You can film in the car after you get home from work, or pick up the kids from school.

Film it on jog this arvo, or while at the gym. Or while you are on the couch feeling guilty about not doing a jog or gym.

Film it while cooking dinner.

We don’t mind, and your young fellow Ionians won’t, either.

The point is we need it TONIGHT!

Here is what we need:

A short 20-second video (filmed on your phone in landscape) introducing yourself and offering a message of encouragement to our young musicians.

These videos will be played on the big screens before the performance in our stadium.

Suggested format:
Hi, my name is [Name], I graduated in [Year].

I’m currently [study/work].

I was involved in the Iona music program, playing [instrument/ensemble].

My favourite memory (or what music gave me) was [answer].

I’d like to wish all the students the very best for tonight’s Gala.

Then post your message via the link below:
https://tinyurl.com/2rt3szzb

Your message doesn’t have to be perfect, just genuine.

If you’d like to contribute, we’d love to hear from you!
Kia kaha!


Iona Brisbane Music

28/05/2026

Iona College will line up again in the annual Confraternity Rugby League Carnival, being hosted this year by Marist College, Ashgrove starting 29 June.

Iona has drawn Rockhampton’s The Cathedral College, St Peter Claver College and Rockhampton Grammar School in Group D.

Iona started playing Confro in 1981 and 1982, had a smallish break of 34 years, then returned in 2016 – and we have been there ever since.

Our friends at Marist Ashgrove have invited all former Confro players to attend a reunion lunch at the Cyprian Pavilion on Finals Day for this year’s Carnival on Friday 3 July.

You can get your tickets and find more information at the link below:

https://events.humanitix.com/confraternity-carnival-finals-lunch/tickets

For the record, Iona’s Confro pioneers from 1981-1982 were:
1. Tony Daly (81, 82)
2. Shaun Duignan (81)
3. Dale Fern (81, 82)
4. Bob Forster (81, 82)
5. Pat Harding (81, 82)
6. Andrew Hethorn (81)
7. Les Hutton (81)
8. James Lawson (81, 82)
9. Gavin Leavy (81)
10. Peter Mitchell (81)
11. Kevin O’Rourke (81)
12. Neil O’Rourke (81, 82)
13. Gary Robbins (81)
14. Peter Sinclair (81, 82)
15. Wayne Sully (81)
16. Simon Wynd (81)
17. Paul Van Rooyen (81)
18. Mark Young (81)
19. David Christensen (82)
20. Jason Egan (82)
21. Paul Gooley (82)
22. Glen Harris (82)
23. Mark O’Reilly (82)
24. Eddie Pearson (82)
25. Pat Phillipi (82)
26. Brian Robbins (82)
27. Carl Settgast (82)
28. Andrew Tessman (82)
29. Greg Towerton (82)
30. Mark Uhlmann (82)
31. Mark Webb (82)
Confraternity Carnival

18/05/2026

Congratulations to Iona Old Boy from the Class of 2019 Max Plath, who has been selected to make his State of Origin debut for Queensland in next week’s series opener in Sydney.

We know that he will do the Maroon jersey proud, just as he did with the black-and-white.

Congratulations, Max! The Iona community is right behind you!