Arts & Culture

IT wasn’t just the celebration of the century but of two centuries, as the famous Pepper’s Pub marked years in Feakle over the weekend. “It really is a milestone and something that had to be celebrated, and we celebrated it really well,” Gary Pepper explained.For the weekend’s celebrations, Pepper’s did what it does best of all, by bringing some fantastic music to Feakle.The cold snap took hold but that didn’t stop the music and dancing from warming the hearts of those who joined Gary and all at Pepper’s over the weekend.“With the weather the way it was, we were a bit worried but people still came along and supported the whole thing. It was a great event, with plenty of music for all tastes and plenty of sets danced. I felt it was important to mark the 200 years. There aren’t too many businesses with 200 years of history behind them. I had planned on doing this earlier in the …

AFTER five years of singing together, the Really Truly Joyful Gospel Choir has produced their first CD with the assistance of Ennis Town Council.The CD was recorded by Matt Purcell at the gospel choir’s recent show, Gospel at the Movies and includes an uplifting and energetic collection of songs. The recording features Reverend Bazil Meade, Howard Francis and Leon Meade of the famous London Community Gospel, while the children’s section of the Ennis Gospel Choir, also sing Ain’t No Mountain High Enough on the CD.Fiona Walsh, director of the Really Truly Joyful Gospel Choir, explained the choir raises money for local charities throughout the year and the funds from the CD will enable them to continue to support charities, such as Share a Dream, the Clare Crusaders and a number of community projects.“We are really proud of our first CD and feel that it captures who we are. I love the live feel of the recordings,” Fiona commented.Choir member, Jane …

MEMBERS of the Funk Fusion Stage School will bring a well-produced tale to Glór this Saturday night, with their performance of Billy Elliot meets the Phantom of the Opera.Marcella O’Sullivan of Funk Fusion, who is directing the show, explained it is a story of a young boy who wants to be an individual and dance but his father thinks dancing is for girls.“When he talks to the teacher, she makes him see how many male famous artists there is in the world who were legends of music. He hides his dream from his father but as an individual follows his dream. “The Phantom of the Opera is an adult who is hidden from the world because he is different and his behaviour is seen as different. Yet as the story unfolds, his ability for enjoyment of music is no different to the young boy’s and he too has dreams,” she said.She added that the show will teach people about how …

THE annual evening of music in aid of Sr Ethel Normoyle’s fundraising for the South African township of Missionvale will be held this Saturday in Cois na hAbhna.For the past four years, Music for Missionvale has been raising money to support Sr Normoyle. A top-class line-up of musicians has signed up to perform at the concert this weekend.Traditional band Tradavarious have been added to the line-up, which also includes top Clare singer, Kate Purcell. The music extravaganza, headlined by the talented Begley family, will make the journey from West Kerry to support Sr Normoyle’s annual fundraiser. Brendan and Cormac Begley will get together with a host of musicians for the show.Proceeds from the event will go towards funding a shipment of folding beds and duvets for use in the shacks in the Missionvale Township.Located on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Missionvale is a township of an estimated 100,000 people. Like much of the African continent, “Missionvale has been …

YOU don’t hear of too many schools putting the rules and regulations to one side and declaring, “Anything goes”.While it’s not quite a revolution, it is very much a case of anything goes for 120 girls at Coláiste Muire, Ennis at the moment.  It is, of course, organised chaos as the girls, under the guidance of producer, Gerardine McGlynn and musical director, Michael Hennessy, are working flat out to bring the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes to the Ennis stage from December 1 to 4. This is the Coláiste’s 25th successive show after the revival of the school’s proud musical tradition in the mid 1980s. The annual musical costs €25,000 to produce but every effort is made to fundraise for the event so that all aspects of the production will complement the amazing performances of the young people.Rehearsals and preparation for Coláiste Muire’s 2010 musical are well advanced and audiences are sure to be wowed with the fabulous music and …

Clare County Library has scooped a major award for its outstanding work in the field of genealogy. The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO), at its recent annual general meeting, announced that the Clare library had won the 2010 Award for Excellence in Genealogy. This is the fourth year of the award and previous winners include the National Archives of Ireland and The Irish Times.The CIGO said the award was not only in recognition of the facilities provided in the Local Studies Centre at Ennis, which includes a magnificent collection of Clare newspapers and the recently acquired microfilmed parish registers, but particularly the online genealogy section of the library’s website. The website includes invaluable transcriptions of Tithe Applotment Books, gravestone inscriptions with photographs, school rolls, and indexes to newspaper extracts and so on. The value of these resources is further enhanced by the cross-linked townland and parish indexes and maps, which help researchers to identify Clare place names. CIGO found …

A GROUP of local musicians who have come together as The Speks are launching their first book of nursery rhymes, with an accompanying CD, in the Ennis Bookshop this Sunday afternoon.The Speks is a six-piece virtual traditional music band that hail from a mythical island just off the coast of Ireland called Glasses Island where everyone wears glasses.The idea, which resulted in the release of a CD of children’s nursery rhymes last year all played in a traditional Irish way with traditional music and, uniquely, sung by Irish men, with ‘real’ Irish accents, is the brainchild of flautist Paul Quinn. The CD has become very popular for toddlers and now The Speks have brought out an accompanying book, full of brightly illustrated fun pictures, to entertain any toddler.Paul and his wife lived in Australia for some time and found there was a lot more on the market in terms of CDs and books for young children.“I had read research by …

THE three-day Doonbeg One Act Drama festival concluded on Monday night in the community hall. Shannonside Drama Group won the confined section with Landscape, while Kildysart Players were second with A Cut in the Rates. Kilkee Amphitheatre Company were third in the same section with Watching the Magpies. Pauline Maloney (Shannonside) was selected as best director, while Edward Dillon (Shannonside) emerged as best actor for his portrayal as Duff in Landscape. The best actress award also went to Shannonside with Eilis Casey (Beth) selected.Meanwhile, the open section was won by Haulbowline with Positive Dead People, followed by Taney Drama Society with L’Amour, while Ennis Players were third with A New Woman. Best director went to Berna Gordon of Haulbowline, best actor to Mick Loughnane who played Claudius in Ruby of Elsinore and Joanne Geary won best actress as Milly in Positive Dead People.The adjudicator was Ailbhe Garvey Hughes, ADA.