Killarney band marks 30 years of music

HAVING spent 30 years entertaining many thousands of visitors to Killarney as well as numerous official and cultural functions, the Gleneagle Concert Band will this weekend celebrate its three-decade milestone with an anniversary concert at St Mary’s Church of Ireland in the town centre.

“This concert brings together everything that is great about Killarney,” says band conductor Vincent Condon. “This anniversary concert represents a celebration of the amazing voluntary work, community service and musical excellence that exists here in Killarney.”

The concert will also showcase the band’s Music Education Youth Programme which has benefited young musicians throughout the county for the past 30 years.

The formation of the band in 1981 was the brainchild of local hotelier Maurice O’Donoghue, who recognised the need for a permanent town band for public occasions.

“The Gleneagle Hotel has always been associated with music and entertainment and this was my father’s way of doing something for music and for the town,” says Patrick O’Donoghue, current managing director of The Gleneagle Hotel.

Over the years, the band has received many donations from around the country, including Joe Dolan, who donated several instruments when it was established.

“Hundreds of people have passed through the band over the past thirty years and it will be fantastic to hear their stories and to meet with old members who played in the very first concert,” says band stalwart Ciaran Lynch.

Proceeds from Saturday’s concert will help fund the purchase of instruments for the band’s Music Education Youth Programme, based in St Oliver’s National School.

- Gleneagle Concert Band 30th Anniversary Showcase, St Mary’s Church of Ireland, tomorrow at 7:30pm.

Picture: Kenneth Treacy playing with the Gleneagle Concert Band at the Killarney Summerfest last summer.