Community endeavour award for church choir

AN unexpected opportunity resulted in Clare Champion Killaloe/Ballina notes correspondent Sadie Scanlan taking up the reins as organist for the Ballina Church Choir over 22 years ago.

Ms Scanlan had come home to Killaloe from Dublin on a mid-term break from her teaching job in 1988 when she went to choir practice with her sister, Patsy in Ballina Church.
While she was sitting in the church, former Ballina National School principal, Kevin Griffin stood up and asked her to take over as organist. It was the start of a labour of love for the community activist, who has remained in the post since then and became the choir director.
The contribution made by the choir over the decades was fittingly recognised recently when it became the fourth organisation to receive a community endeavour award supported by The Nenagh Guardian and the Lakeside Hotel.
The choir comprises 44 women and six men and provides singing every Sunday for 11.30am mass and on holy days to music from an organ, harp, violin and flute.
A sub-group from the choir made of people working in the home and some who are unemployed perform at funerals and at weddings where there is a connection with one of its members.
Over the years, the choir has performed in numerous fundraising concerts in the Lakeside Hotel for St Vincent de Paul, Concern and parish funds.
The group are getting ready for the production of their second CD, which will be recorded by Joe O’Dubhghaill of Ballyvalley Studios, Killaloe in September. It will contain a mix of modern and Irish traditional church music.
“Every effort will be made to keep costs to a minimum and it will be similar to the last effort produced in 2002, when funds left over from production costs were donated to the parish.
The choir participated in ecumenical choir singing from 1990 to 1995 with other choirs from Bridgetown, O’Briensbridge and Killaloe.
Ms Scanlan described the choir as a great community organisation. “We were delighted to get the award. All the members of the choir are exceptionally loyal and committed to providing church music and song and the award is an official recognition of their loyalty. It is like a big family and it is great to see parents and children from the one family involved. They are a fantastic bunch of people. Even though we are a little short of male members, we still perform mixed four-part songs involving soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
“Down through the years the choir has benefited from an influx of foreign nationals who joined for a short time while they were working in the locality. These include an Italian archaeologist who was working on the N7 Limerick to Nenagh motorway, as well as Belgian, Polish, Slovakian, American, English and Japanese people,” she said.