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THE PATRICIAN MUSICAL SOCIETY
by Tom Kenny
The first musical production by a Galway Musical Society in the 20th century was ‘The Messiah’ performed by the Galway Orchestral Society in 1902 and we know, they also performed in the Court Theatre in 1903. In 1907, the Technical Choral Society was formed under the baton of Clement Leaper, headmaster of the Technical School. In 1924, Miss Mai Fogarty produced ‘The Bohemian Girl’ and later ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ but after that there was no notable musical society until the 1950s.
In November 1951 a Patrician Brother, Cuthbert was asked to second a vote of thanks to Louis Evers who had just given a lecture on Verdi. In doing so he suggested a choral society should be formed in the city which would, in turn, foster all different types of musical activity. Local papers picked up on this and he was approached by the P.P.U. and asked to form a choir with boys from the Bish and the Mon to accompany various artistes in charity concerts. They were called the Patrician Brothers Boys Choir and they made a 78 record in the Astaire Ballroom (It would be great to hear this now). At the same time Charlie Donoghue, Sonny McLoughlin and Jimmy Walsh were, as Patrician Brothers Productions, putting on revues and pantomimes so Brother Cuthbert decided it was time for Galway to step into the musical world and as a result, the Patrician Choral Society was formed.
Most of the people who attended the first rehearsal, on March 5th, 1952, belonged to different church choirs. It was then proposed to form an orchestra to complement the vocalists and on April 9th, 1952, the first rehearsal of choir and orchestra took place. In the light of this new instrumental aspect, it was decided to change the name of the group to The Patrician Musical Society. Their first public performance was on May 14th of that year and featured a chorus of 60 and 12 musicians.
They then turned their attention to their first stage show, an opera … Maritana …which opened in the Town Hall seventy years ago this week, on March 23rd, 1953. The stage crew could make no preparations until the audience had left on the previous night. The cinema screen was rolled up; the sets & scenery, which had been constructed elsewhere, had to be brought in by P.J. Ruane; the tab rail was carried by the men’s chorus from the Taidhbhearc while some of the female chorus directed the traffic. There was no dress rehearsal.
The production was a huge success. The producer was Maureen Philbin from the North; the principals were Mary Angela Kyne, Patty Long, Sonny Molloy, Vincent Kyne, Gerry Glynn, Dolores Kelly, Tom Lynskey, Raphael Ward, Patrick Mahon, Jim Slattery and Jack Conneely. Dodo Courtney played piano and coached the principals; Brother Cuthbert conducted; Noreen Warner led the orchestra; stage management was by Brother Maurice and Seán Beatty; John Mulhern painted the sets; Dick Kilgarriff did the lights and Peg Grealish was the wardrobe mistress. The P.M.S. was up and running.
Their next production was ‘Il Trovatore’ in 1954 followed by ‘Bohemian Girl’, 1954; ‘La Traviata’, 1955; ‘Martha’, 1956’; ‘The Pirates of Penzance, 1957’; ‘Faust’, 1958; ‘Carmen’, 1959; ‘La Traviata, 1960; ‘Rigoletto’ 1961; Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, 1962; ‘Il Trovatore’, 1963. In 1964, they changed from opera to musical when they put on ‘The Lily of Killarney’ and almost all subsequent productions were musicals. They put on shows annually until the recession struck and this put them under financial pressure. They struggled for a few years but eventually ceased all productions several years ago.
Our first photograph is of a group who took part in the production of Maritana in 1953. They are, front row; Maura Lillis, Angela Lupton, Laura Browne, Kethleen Mannion. At the back are Mauara Maloney, Brother Cuthbert, Nancy McCormack, Noel Kennedy, Noreen Newell, Tess Emerson, Noreen Flaherty, Jack O’Doherty, Rose Bray, Teresa Rafferty & Danielle Curley.
Our main photograph shows the principals and those of the cast who appeared as various ladies, servants, maids, farmers and children in Martha which was performed in 1956. The principals are Marie Geraghty, Evelyn Margetts, Sonny Molloy, Gerry Glynn, Michael Healy and Michael ‘Bruiser’ Hennessy.
The Ladies Chorus included Misses T. Egan, M. Molloy, M. Glynn, M. Gill, R. White, E. Lillis, J. Long, F. O’Toole, Anne Leonard, M. Lillis, Tess Walsh, Anne Watson, T. Corless, P. Lillis, M. Ryan, U. O’Callaghan, P. McDonnell, K. O’Hehir, Mary Cunningham, N. O’Hehir, Mary Corbett, M. Moran, M. Doyle, P. Browne, Molly Browne and Máire Stafford.
In the men’s chorus were Messrs. F. Kelly, P. Scally, D. White, Frank Reidy, P. Wright, J. Conneely, John Reck, George Herterich, F. Kelly, N. Heaney, H. Folan, T. Hynes, Val Carty, T. Sexton, C. Kennedy, M. Francis, Donal Sexton, J. Cottingham and P. McDonagh. The children in the photograph are Eithne Mitchell, Vera Molloy, David O’Keeffe, Seán McDermott and Patrick Darcy.