Supporting HUGG and SVP in Cavan

Thanks to the generosity of shoppers who heard us singing at the Christmas Market on December 13th, our buckets were filled with hundreds of euro. We were happy to donate the proceeds of Carol Singing to two local voluntary groups, handing over a cheque for 500 each to representatives of Hugg and St Vincent de Paul. Both groups support people in need, and we are grateful for their service to the community.

Photograph courtesy of Anglo Celt newspaper

left to right: Brian McKeever (Chair), Joseph McCabe and Patricia Smith (HUGG), Bríd Brady (Treasurer), Dermot McMonagle PRO.

A busy December end to 2025

We had three seasonal outings in Decmember with our Musical Director Eileen Tackney and Accompanist Sue Donohue.

Church of Ireland, Cavan Town, Sunday December 7th

We have sung at the Church of Ireland annual Christmas service every years since the late 80s. Although the Nativivity Play was sadly missed this year, we appreciated the recent and ongoing refurbishment of the building.

Cathedral of SS Patrick & Felim, Cavan Town, Wednesday December 10th

The annual carol servive in the Cathedral invites us to join with the Cathedral Choir and the choirs from the schools of the town - Breifne, Loreto, St. Patrick's Colleges and the Royal School - to sign together. For our offering at both occassions we sang the pieces we had been rehearsing since September:

And The Glory of the Lord, from Messiah (Handel), organist Louis McEntee

Noel, (Redman), soloist Maria Battigelli 

Carols at the Christmas Market, Saturday December 15th, 1pm-3pm

Every year we apply for permission from Cavan County Council and An Garda Síochana to sing and collect money from the public in aid of a local or national charity. This year we had the company of Santa Claus who had his naughty and nice book for the children of families who stopped to talk to him and get selfies. We also had our accompaist Sue hidden under an awning to protect her from the weather. Despite the awful weather, the public were very generous. 

Our nominated causes were

1.Society of St Vincent de Paul, Cavan and

2. HUGG Suicide Bereavement Support Group, Cavan

Official donation bucket labels

Santa & the Elves - Bríd, Tony, Trish, Mags, & Mary

We had our last rehearsal of 2025 on Tuesday December 16th in the Hotel Kilmore [working on some of the medleys for our 2016 repertoire] followed by a quiet end-of-year cuppa and chat. Wishing everyone a lovely break, and looking forward to resuming rehearsals together on Tuesday January 13th 2026.

Cavan Public Participation Network Winter Community Gathering in Ballyconnell

We were invited to sing at the Winter Community Gathering of the Cavan Public Participation Network on Friday November 7th. It was also the first event at the beautifully refurbished Market House in Ballyconnell town. As the venue was small, we were a reduced choir. The audience was very appreciative. Thank you to Daniel, Finian, and Aisling of PPN for organising the evebt and including us.

We sang

1 Cantar

2 Can't Help Falling in Love With You

3 My Wales Home (solo Brian McKeever)

4 Viva La Vida

Pictured below with our Musical Directors and Accompanist Sue Donohoe (l to r) are:

Alto

Pamela Young, Phyllis McMonagle, Ben Charles, Yvette von Cramon, Mary Haren

Bass

Jan van Haster, Dermot McMonagle, Brian McKeever 

Tenor

Mags Almond, Darragh Hourihan, Carmel Lewis

Soprano

Angela Cosgrove, Bríd Brady, Nora Kennedy, Lucilla O'Hanlon, Pauline Brady, Áine Duffy

City of Derry International Choral Festival

We had a terrific weekend at the City of Derry International Choral Festival.

Our official itinerary had us walking to our performances across the Peace Bridge several times. We sang at the train station as the train from Belfast pulled into the station behind us; we sang in the Freemasons Hall and listened to choirs from Wales and Sligo; and we sang in All Saints Church and listened to the local Doire Calgeach choir, finishing with a joint rendition of The Derry Air, Oh Danny Boy.

Our unofficial itinerary took us as a group to the Derry Girls mural for a family photo,  but from there who knows who went where? It's true that they say - what goes on tour stays on tour 😉.

As ever with our trips away, the in-between times were filled with conversation and song, a chance to catch up with each other.

Thank you, Derry

Our Programme for the City of Derry International Choral Festival 2025

The bus is booked, and we are packing our cases. As soon as we cast our votes in the Presidential Election on Friday we head north to be part of the City of Derry International Choral Festival. We are singing in two Community Concerts, and at one stage on the Choral Trail, with our Musical Director Eileen Tackney and Accompanist Sue Donohoe. 

Our repertoire is:

Joshua 

Nine Hundred Miles

Siuil a Ruin

Viva La Vida.

The Choral Trail schedule is here https://derrychoirfest.com/2025-festival/choral-trails/

The Community Concert schedule is here https://derrychoirfest.com/2025-festival/community-concerts/

Donation for medical aid to Palestine

As a non-profit community organisation, we always donate the post-expenses income from our performance to a charitable cause nominated by the choir members. This year we chose to support medical aid for victims of conflict in Palestine.

On Tuesday Sept 30th, our Committee Officers handed over a cheque with our post-proms donation to Gráinne Dunne, representative of Trócaire, who facilitated our donation.

We are grateful as ever to our choir members, our volunteer helpers, our donors, and our audience members for the generosity of their support.

Pictured below, left to right:

Fidelma Sheridan (Chair), Dermot McMonagle (PRO),  Gráinne Dunne (Trócaire), Bríd Brady (Treasurer), Paula O'Neill (Secretary).

Sing Ireland Community Highlight September 2025

 It was a good way to start the 2025-2026 year ... being featured as the September community highlight for the Sing Ireland monthly newsletter. This was a nice surprise for us to see.

[the link referred to in the newsletter page is to our Arts+Health Case Study, here]

Our Musical Director Eileen Tackney has been busy over the summer planning our programme of songs for the year, the committee have been busy arranging our calendar. We are well into rehearsals already, and our Annual General Meeting takes place after next week's rehearsal.