Pipeband

History

The pipe band was founded in 1957. The men who were responsible for its foundation; were rev. Fr. Seamus Corkery who was curate in Castlelyons at that time, and the late Jackie Ronayne, along with the late Willie Ronayne, Mickey Green, Jack Murray, John Byrne, Peter Hurley also Frank Murray, Cyril Casolani, Pat Foley & Tom Manton.

Jack Murray was the first instructor having been approached by Peter Hurley; he was followed by Dave Walsh & Bobby Hull who came along to instruct the drummers. By February 1958 a lot of interested had grown in the parish and on Monday Feb. 24th a public meeting was called. Fr. Corkery presided over the meeting and the first committee was elected. These were chairman Fr. S. Corkery. V. Chairman Fr. Condon, hon. Sec. Paddy Foley, joint treasurer Michael Green & Cyril Casolani. Committee: Jackie Ronayne, William Crowley, Tom Hallihan, Jim Maloney,John Byrne, Dan Fleming, Kevin O’Connor, Charlie O’Connor, Willie Ronayne & Eddie Finn. The meeting took place in what became known as the bandroom for many years, the loft over Jackie Ronayne’s shed.

Classes were held on Mon. & Thurs. nights. The fee was 1 shilling per adult and 6d per child. A house-to-house collection was made around the parish and the sum of £165 was realised plus a loan of £100 from Bill Connell O’Leary’s cross. Material was purchased for uniforms and Bill Spillane (the tailor) made the tunics from guards coats and the spats. Eileen Murray, Kent Tce. made the kilts and shawls. A set of drums was purchased from a band in cork for £25 and two tenor drums were borrowed from Rathcormac. At this stage the pipe band were ready for their first outing, which was to Fermoy show. For this outing only four members were in full uniform. The first engagement in full uniform was at Conna festival.

The band made history in the early sixties when it made it onto a radio broadcast, and in its early years hosted a pipe band festival with bands from all over Munster participating. At this stage they began entering competitions and had Munster success in both Limerick & Tipperary under the instruction of Jack Murray. Soon the band was receiving engagements all over Munster. The annual outing was to Courtmacsharry to play for the arrival of the sarges sailing ship the Asgard, this was a great honour. In 1973 the band began annual outings to Dungarvan for St. Patrick’s day and in September to Tralee for the rose festival.

Recent News

The present committee of the band are:

Chairman and PRO: Ger Broderick

Sectretary: Maura O’Sullivan

Asst. Sec: James Broderick

Treasurer: Sonny O’Brien

Asst. Tres: Sean O’Sullivan

Achievements

Since then the band has come along way having had two sets of new uniforms, we are now a regular sight on television playing at senior GAA matches and our proudest moment was to march in the London St. Patrick’s day parade in 2002. We now have our sights set on Boston. As a monument to our success we have erected a state of the art band room in Bridesbridge. This is a testament to our commitment & love of music. It is a great credit for a parish as small as this to have a pipe band who have stood the test of time for over 50 years. New members are always welcome.

In 1997 we commenced training under the instruction of Barry Murphy from Carrigaline, with the intention of taking part in pipe band competitions. In 1998 we won the munster championship Grade 5 held in Blarney. Our drummers also took the price for best drum corps on the day. Three weeks after this in Gorey, Wexford we also won the South East championship Grade 5. In July of the same year we took part in the All-Ireland championships in Kilkenny but on this occasion finished outside of the top three. For the past three years we have taken top prize in the Dungarvan St. Patricks Day parade for the best musical entry.

At the moment we are in state of transition and we are not active on the competition scene. Unfortunately our numbers are in decline and we are actively seeking new members or return of past members. Band practice takes place in the band room every Thursday evening from 7.30pm to 10pm. Instruction and instruments in both piping and drumming are provided free of charge.

Our most recent outing was in Cork City on the 30th June for the Feile na Gael parade. Of eight bands participating we were the only pipe band invited.