The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Members of Clarecastle-Ballyea Youth Choir are gearing up for their appearance on national television this Sunday.
A four-minute promotional video of the young choir in action was filmed recently, ahead of a live mass that will be broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Radio at 11am.
The chief celebrant of this special mass at St Peter and Paul’s Church, Clarecastle will be Clarecastle-Ballyea parish priest, Fr Pat Malone.
Choir director Claire O’Dea told The Clare Champion the members are “unbelievably excited” and are looking forward to their performance on tv and radio with a great sense of anticipation.
“This is a great tribute for a choir, which is in its infancy after it was set up last September. We have 40 members, aged from 10 to 18, who have some connection with Clarecastle and Ballyea.
“All the choir members enjoy it tremendously and it is great for their own self-development. They are forging life-long friendships. You can play a sport for a period but you can be a member of a choir for life,” she said.
Last June, Fr Malone noticed there was great singing and instrumental talent in the parish and asked Ms O’Dea if she would set up a youth choir.
Launched last September, the choir practices once a week, primarily in Ballyea Church. Fr Finbarr Tracey of Kairos subsequently contacted Ms O’Dea, as he wanted to do a live programme before the staging of the internationally-renowned Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Ennis this month.
