New season of events for Mitchelstown’s Arts Centre

A new season of events is about to start at Saint George’s Arts and Heritage Centre in Mitchelstown, in what promises to be the busiest year since the centre opened in April 2019.

The best of traditional music, Eurovision singer Red Hurley, Freddie White and the new generation Makem and Clancy will the among the artistes performing at the centre. Adding even greater variety to the schedule will be a tractor run on 14th May and a history conference in August.

To cap it all, the centre is about to invest €90,000 in a new heating system and has plans to invest another €30,000 in restoration work on the steeple. While these investments are grant aided, the centre has to raise €130,000 to repay loans that were required to match-fund substantial grants that have made it possible to invest over €700,000 on the building since 2019.

The first big event will be an evening of traditional music with the exceptionally talented Ceoltóirí Mhúscaraí directed by Martin Power, a native of Mitchelstown. In 2018, Martin was honoured with the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Ard-Ollamh Award for his contributions to the promotion and development of Irish music. The group was formed thirty years ago and its members include music teachers and students of exceptional talent.

The concert planned for Saint George’s on Thursday, 13th April will have an exceptional mix of really talented Irish musicians, all of whom are part of Ceoltóirí Mhúscaraí, based in Ballincollig where Martin has lived since 1972. Members of the group include the Uí Chathasaigh family Meadhbh, Cillian and their parents Diarmuid and Caroline. They are among the most accomplished musical ensembles in Ireland, who have both individually and collectively won numerous All-Ireland awards. Maedhbh, who is the youngest of the group, has won the Junior Fiddler of Dooney award, which is regarded by many as the most prestigious fiddle competition in Ireland.

Also performing with Ceoltóirí Mhúscaraí will be Joanne Quirke, a music teacher who is an accomplished musician in whistle and flute and in music arrangement. Also performing will be another music teacher, Brian Ó Broin, who Martin describes as ‘absolutely brilliant’ as an accompanist and composer and who is also a fine singer. With them will be Jerry Aherne, a banjo player who composes ballads in Irish and English. Like all the other members of the group, Jerry has also won several All-Ireland awards.

This is not the first time that this group performed in Saint George’s, having performed there in June 2019, just two months after the former church had been converted into an arts centre. Neither will it be the first time that Mitchelstown Comhaltas will be performing in the centre, having most recently performed in the hugely successful St Patrick’s Day Concert at the arts centre.

All profits from the concert will go to Saint George’s. Tickets are only €15 and can be ordered through Eventbrite or purchased at the door on the night (the show starts at 8pm). Tickets are also available from Reidy’s Vegetable Garden Shop, The Favourite and Roche’s Spar.

As for other upcoming events, a new local band, Shadows Calling’ will be performing for the first time in public at Saint George’s on 28th April. The Makem and Clancy concert will be on Wednesday, 17th May and on Friday, 26th May, another popular Mitchelstown band, Before the Ghosts, will also be performing there.

Perhaps the more unusual event in the near future will be the tractor run on 14th May. The route chosen will bring tractors and vintage cars from Mitchelstown to Ballyporeen, Skeheenarinky, Kilbehenny and back to Mitchelstown. It’s been a few years since Mitchelstown last had a tractor run, so it’s hoped that this event will generate a lot of local interest.

Also in May, Saint George’s will be celebrating the fourth anniversary of its first concert which will be held on Saturday, 20th May.

“We are delighted to welcome back the Lismore Choir, who performed for our first concert in May 2019,” said its chairman, Bill Power. “We’ve put a lot into the building over the past three years. It’s been transformed and will be transformed even more when out new heating system is installed over the summer.”

Bill said that when the centre opened, the goal was to make the centre accessible for all forms of activities and events. Covid did have an impact on the centre, as it did with other arts venues, but with that danger passed, Saint George’s plans to become an even more vibrant part of the community.

July and August will see the centre participate in Culture Night, as well as hold its second history conference, which will be held on 11th and 12th August. Both events were highly successful last year, and with other performers such as Red Hurley, Freddie White, some one man/woman shows planned and concerts already planned for Christmas, it looks like Saint George’s is going to have a lot of busy days and nights in the months ahead.