As founding member of Duhallow Choral Society, Brigid Daly had one clear ambition. “The only vision I had was the choir would learn to sing the Hallelujah chorus and it would be open to everyone,” she says. “I didn’t want it to be snobby or exclusive.”

The group has met Brigid’s expectations and then some. During the group’s 20 years in existence, they’ve performed in front of Hillary Clinton, in the fields of Flanders and in St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

The small pocket of north Cork where the choral society is based may not be perceived as the most auspicious setting for a world-class choir, but these people can really sing.

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Irish Country Living had the pleasure of seeing them perform on a cold Tuesday night in Kanturk, during the group’s weekly practice session in Mercy Secondary School.

After a few minutes of setting up the room, and gossip with friends, the chatter stops and everyone settles down. Soon, the voices of the men and women are reverberating against the walls of the assembly hall, filling the corridors of the empty school with music.

During Lord of the Dance, it feels like the room is bouncing to the tune of the song. The men sing Scarlett Ribbons and we’re stunned. Twenty songs later and it feels like no time has passed.

“Are you exhausted yet?” asks Sharon Reidy, the choir’s conductor and chief taskmaster. After two hours, the answer is a resounding yes. Practice makes perfect, though, and Duhallow Choral isn’t your average rural choir group.

Beginnings

The choir officially started in March 1996, when Brigid Daly sought LEADER funding from IRD Duhallow to establish a choir. Joined by Geraldine Dennehy, Maire O’Keeffe and Caroline O’Sullivan, Brigid ran a call-out for members in local bulletins. A total of 40 people showed up on the first night of rehearsals.

“They were anyone and everyone, just normal people, who might like to sing,” says Brigid. “And that was it.”

The group sang locally and in Cork until Pat Cox, then president of the European Parliament, asked the choir to perform in Brussels and in the fields of Flanders. The trip sparked a new ambition: to perform in venues abroad.

After Belgium, the group was invited to New York by Chick Donohue, a former union head in New York with familial ties to Cork. They travelled there in 2002, and sang in Ground Zero, Grand Central Station and the state parliament in Albany. However, Brigid harboured an ambition to sing in the iconic St Patrick’s Cathedral, though Chick didn’t have a contact to get them in.

“I came up with a bright idea: 11890. So, I rang them up and eventually I got through to a guy called Stanley Cox. I asked if we could sing for them and he said, ‘You what?’ That’s not how it works.’

“I sent him a CD and our CV and met him in his office in Fifth Avenue, and he actually gave us multiple entries to the cathedral. When people ask us how we got into St Patrick’s Cathedral, I say 11890, directory enquiries,” says Brigid. “We took New York by storm.”

The choir also sang in front of Hillary Clinton during one of her visits to Ireland, also arranged by Chick.

“We’ve been told if Hillary gets into office that we can perform for her again, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” adds Brigid.

On top of that, the choir has also performed in Rome in front of the Pope – albeit indirectly.

“I wrote to the Pope’s secretary and asked if we could sing for him. They sent us back a letter saying that it wasn’t possible, but I said I’ll definitely defeat that one,” says Brigid. “When the Pope came out to do his blessing, I had the choir sing on the square. Now, I said, you’ve sang for the Pope – he just doesn’t know it!”

Family

Despite all the globetrotting – the choir is set to sing in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff next year – Brigid is keen to stress that the group’s strength lies in its local roots. They make sure to perform in Kanturk and local venues every Christmas, and will also be part of Cork’s 1916 celebrations next year.

“I suppose it’s what we should be trying to achieve in rural Ireland, especially with isolation,” she says. “Singing is a great outlet and we promote it for positive mental health and wellbeing. For people who don’t have social skills, they can be in the group and travel. The choir is inclusive and community led. It’s a social forum as much as a choir.

“A dairy farmer joined the group in September. He’s had a difficult year with bereavement and gets great comfort from the group. He’s not confident about singing, but he’s there with the lads and it’s two hours on a Tuesday that he didn’t have before.”

Listen to singing and interviews from Duhallow Choral Society in our podcast below:

The choir is almost like a family, says Brigid, with all decisions made by the group and not in secret by a committee.

“The people who started the choir are almost all there, while all the new people who have come on have enhanced it. Everybody is there for each other,” she says.

“You’re singing, you’re happy, you’re free. It’s a place to come and be happy for two hours. It’s also a means for people to do something they’ve never done before. I mean, in a normal state of affairs, would you be meeting Hillary Clinton? The ordinary people of Duhallow have had these opportunities through the choir.”

Meanwhile, the role of conductor Sharon Reidy, a South African who is living in Co Kerry, cannot be understated, as we saw during rehearsals.

“There would be 60 people in front of her and she knows when someone makes a mistake. She’s unreal and knows the minute something goes wrong or someone forgets their lines. She’s an extremely good conductor, and she has been well-complimented for what she does with us,” says Brigid.

Members also praise Brigid, described as the driving force of the Duhallow Choral Society.

“The strength of it is Brigid,” says founding member Geraldine Dennehy. “It wouldn’t be going without her. It just wouldn’t, and I’m not the only person who would say that. She goes above and beyond for the choir.”

However, Brigid says it’s all about the members – those who spend every Tuesday evening from September to May in the assembly hall of Mercy Secondary School.

“This choir is making extraordinary things happen to ordinary people, and letting them be part of a group with huge potential. It’s every individual member who makes it,” she says.

“If I see one person who is happier because of the choir, I think it’s worth it. It’s achieved its original goal.”

Email Brigid on allowfarm@hotmail.com or text 087 6157720 if you would like to join to choir. CL