Picture Special.......... P26

Ciara O’Shea and Aobha O’Gorman

Alison and Brian Dowling

Emma Kavanagh, Claire Phelan, Anna Farrell, Kelly Anne Doyle and Aoife Doyle

Denise Gaule, Michaela Kenneally and Catherine Foley

Ciara O’Shea, kieran Conway, Padraic Waldron, Aobha O’Gorman

Theresa Aylward, Pat Murphy, Fidelis and Andy Doherty

Jim Foley and Stephen Brennan enjoying the sing along at St Mary’s centre

Ed Lee and John Dowling at St Mary’s Centre

Cellist Jenny Dowdall, who entertained the room at St Mary’s Centre

Sylvia Roberts, who treated the audience to some spectacular music

Sweet music and song at Haughney’s Orchard as St. Mary’s welcome travelling roadshow

Birdie Hayes, a volunteer at St Mary’s with centre manager Reggie Gibson Kiltealy native Anthony Kearns, treated the St Mary’s group to some old time favourites

WORDS: PETER MARTIN PHOTOS BY JBS PHOTOS KILKENNY

ere is no doubting that Kilkenny and her streets are full of history.

Walkin Street falls into that category.

Ask any resident from the area and they will give a glowing report of growing up on that patch.

In his book on ‘St. Rioch’s’, former brewery employee Tom Reade speaks of days of handball, hurling and soccer in e Fair Green and ‘pitch and toss’ at e Closh.

Hurling, it is said, was played in e Fair Green from early morning until darkness fell. ere was also memories of the circus visiting the area as well as ‘Fair days’, where young boys had a chance of making a few pence looking after cattle and sheep.

One landmark which is remembered with fondness is Haughney’s orchard.

Mrs Ellen Haughney’s house and orchard was beside the Fair Green, where the cinema is now located.

Older residents remember the orchard as having beautiful red apples.

Following the death of Mrs Haughney in 1945, the premises was purchased by Kilkenny Corporation.

In 2005 St Mary’s parish built houses and apartments on the land and it now includes St Mary’s day care centre which provides a range of activities including meals, recreational activities and health promotion. e centre is just a hop, skip, and jump from e Kilkenny Observer o ce on Friary Street and so on ursday of last week we called to join in the entertainment which was supplied by ‘Mobile music machine’.

And what a fantastic afternoon it was.

Over twenty people gathered for an afternoon of music and song. e trio of musicians along with tenor Anthony Kearns entertained with work including opera, country and western, classical and Irish. e musicians included Paul O Hanlon, (violin) Sylvia Roberts (violin) and Jenny Dowdall (cello). eir repertoire included some fabulous songs from e White Horse Inn, e Arcadians, as well as great sing along numbers such as ‘Mamma Mia’ from Abba and ‘Phil the Fluther’s Ball’ from Percy French.

Mobile Music Machine was founded by cellist Gerald Peregrine and violinist Paul O’ Hanlon. e company is a classical music education company, who specialise in delivering high quality, string ensemble workshops around the country.

Speaking to e Kilkenny Observer, tenor Anthony Kearns explained that they also deliver classes to schools which has the nest classical musicians working in Ireland today, and are high energy, interactive and engaging, for children of all ages. Mr Kearns, from Kiltealy in Wexford, explained that the workshops are artfully curated and cover all areas of the music curriculum, and bring music to life for children and teachers alike.

Having spent over an hour at the centre, one thing was certain, and that is that good singers and music is alive and well . ose attending enjoyed themselves as was evident from the applause and the singing.

Before we left we spoke to Reggie Gibson, manager at the centre.

Mr Gibson said he was delighted with the afternoon and made the point that if you can create this kind of happiness with song music and laughter, it makes the world a better place.

“Having endured all the hardship over the past few years, it is lovely to be able to enjoy a beautiful afternoon such as this”, said Reggie.

We go along with that Reggie.

De nitely a feather in the cap for St Mary’s Day Care Centre.

Violinist Paul O’Hanlon, who performed at St Mary’s Day Care Centre.

Attending the music at St Mary’s : Eileen Butler, Breda Gri in, and Carmel Beer Ursula Timmons and Mary Maher enjoying the music and song at the St Mary’s Centre

Eileen Johnson, Ailish Dowling and Teresa McGuinness

Ancient Rome comes to Goresbridge!

After two years of working online, Barnstorm’s Kilkenny Youth eatre are back in person and delighted to bring their production of XIV (fourteen) to a live audience.

Originally devised by Sharon Cromwell and Droichead Youth eatre, ‘XIV’ is set in ancient Rome and takes place on the day of Liberius’ 14th birthday; the same day the Roman army arrive home from their victory in Britannia. However, the celebrations are short-lived as blood and secrets are spilled, erupting in a catastrophic climax for all involved.

XIV has a cast of 14 young people from Kilkenny City and County. e cast includes Matthew Hickey, Charlotte Lockwood Hutchinson, Liam O’Neill, Anna Eustace, Diarmuid Maher, Eoin Cleary, Medha Trehan, Maeve Coyle Twomey, Nell Snyder, Ruby Woods, Stephanie Dunne, Ella Gittens, Matthew Downey and Orla Doheny.

Matthew Downey (16) who plays the role of Vibius says “it’s a very enjoyable and interesting experience playing a character with so many traits and emotions on display, and I’d have to thank the wonderful team at Barnstorm for helping me to explore that”.

Matthew Hickey (16) describes his character Cinna as “a bit of a diva yet is also extremely goal orientated. As a narrator he wants to tell the story properly and he wants the audience, and himself, to enjoy the ride.”

“Ella Gittens (18) said “ is is my 3rd year with Kilkenny Youth eatre, and it’ll be my rst and last show with them because of covid. eatre really got turned upside down because of covid but we really made it work with what we had online.

For this year I get to play two characters so I’m making up for the lost time! I play Ivy, daughter to Julius Caesar, who is in a loveless marriage with her husband Vibius who treats her terribly as she can’t have children. Ivy is a sweet and delicate woman who just wants her husband’s love, you really hurt for her. I also play Callopia, a slave and mother to Flavia. She’s a very caring and a great mother even with the hardships she has faced and continues to.

I’m delighted that XIV the rst show I was meant to do before the pandemic will now be my last and it’s such a beautiful and thrilling show that I’m so excited for everyone to see.” is year’s production is directed by Rosey Hayes, who was a member of Kilkenny Youth eatre back in 2007. She trained as an actor and has appeared in many guises on stage and lm. “Rosey is a very talented artist, and we are delighted to have her working on several projects with Barnstorm,” says Artistic Director Philip Hardy. “She comes with much experience as an actor, a director, and a writer; and having popped into rehearsals I am excited to see the nal show”. Rosey summed up the experience of the past few months: “It has been a genuine pleasure working with such a talented ensemble to bring this story to life. ough Kilkenny Youth eatre embraced the challenges of the last two years and continued their work online, this year’s production is such a special event as some of our members are performing in front of a live audience for the rst time. eatre comes to life in the moment, so it cannot happen without an audience. Having come through KYT myself, I can honestly say it was the catalyst for pursuing an artistic career and the bene ts of taking part in a youth theatre production cannot be underestimated in terms of a young person’s social and personal development.”

Youth eatre back in 2007. She trained as an actor and has appeared in many guises on stage and lm. “Rosey is a very talented artist, and we are delighted to have her working on several projects with Barnstorm,” says Artistic Director Philip Hardy. “She comes with much experience as an actor, a director, and a writer; and having popped into rehearsals I am excited to see the nal show”. up the experi ence of the past few months: “It has been a genuine pleasure working with such a talented ensemble to bring this story to life. ough Kilkenny Youth eatre embraced the challenges of the last two years and continued their work online, this year’s production is such a special event as some of our members are performing in front of a live audience for the rst time. eatre comes to life in the moment, so it cannot hap pen without an audience. Having come through KYT myself, I can honestly say it was the catalyst for pursuing an artistic career and the bene ts of taking part in a youth theatre

XIV is running on Friday April 29th and Saturday April 30th at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday at 3pm, in Ionad Dara, Goresbridge, R95 D654. Tickets are € 12 /€10 (Under 18’s) and can be booked on 056 77 51266 or by emailing philip@barnstorm.ie