Scoraiocht Lannleire gets a new Barn Road home

May 1989

A PREVIEW of the new Scoraiocht Lannleire Teach Nua in Dunleer took place this week but the official opening of the house is not expected to be held until later this month.

The purpose of the preview, said committee member John Flanagan, was to show the people who had contributed to the building of the house—a cultural centre for traditional music— and those who had worked on a voluntary basis what the results of their work has been.

Scoraiocht was established to help the promotion and restoration of the traditional arts in the Dunleer area and representatives from all areas of the community have been invited to attend the preview.

The house is costing Scoraiocht in the region of £60,000 to build, but according to Mr. Flanagan it has been money well spent.

“Now established 14 years, we needed somewhere permanent as a base,” he said. “Before this Scoraiocht were based in a thatched cottage on the main Dunleer/Dublin road, but the cottage was rented.”

It took three years to raise the finance for the 2,000 sq. ft. house on the main Clogherhead road, but the committee are not yet clear of debt.

“It did cost a lot of money,” he admitted, but it is in a good location in town and the committee are sure that it will prove to be a good invesment.

Although emigration has depleted the numbers of Scoraiocht’s musicians, it has not according to John reduced the support which the organisation receives. Scoraiocht, he says, still has a huge following around Dunleer and this stems as far as Drogheda and Dundalk.

The emigration problem is no greater than in other organisations around the country, he says. We are trying to train young musicians to a standard here, they can play with adults, when established musicians leave it causes difficulty here.

The teach has been designed as a multi-purpose building. During the summer rehearsal rooms will double up as small museums and libraries.