Military top brass: Meet the conductor of the army’s Southern Brigade band

At the age of 17, Brian Prendergast followed a long family tradition of finding a career in music through the army. He’s now the Cork-based conductor of one of the defence forces’ best bands, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

CAPTAIN Brian Prendergast always had a grá for playing music. When he cast around for a job as a musician in 1980, the Defence Forces School of Music was the obvious choice. He was following a well-worn path by family members. Three uncles, his father who spent 46 years in the army band, as well as Prendergast’s brother all carved careers from the same route.

Prendergast was 17 years old when he arrived in Dublin to train at the army’s School of Music in Rathmines. “The Defence Forces School of Music were taking what we’d call ‘boys’,” he says. “They were called ‘Boys Company’, aged from 14 upwards. We got guys who were playing in local bands. Fellas who joined up with me from Cork played in the Mayfield Band, for instance, or the Cork Butter Exchange Band or Barrack Street Band.