Evening of music and stories raises the roof
MUSICIANS, singers and performers from across the nation flocked to the Riverside Park Hotel to sing a song of support for the Bygone Days Storytelling House.
Stories were shared, rhymes were recited and jigs were danced from early until late at the one-off event which was organised as a fundraiser for the Oulart-based storytelling hub. Organised by the Bygone Days committee, the event managed to attract a huge audience, raising over €11,000 to go towards a new thatched roof. This total is over half of the €22,000 that the group hope to gather through fundraisers in the coming months.
‘ The audience came from near and far and the support was fantastic from everyone,’ said one of the Bygone Days committee members Eileen Dempsey. ‘We were so pleased with the night. It was a huge success.’
Built in the 1700s, Bygone Days has served as a storytelling house for the last 16 years. Each month since then, crowds of 50 to 60 people duck under the half door of the cottage and huddle into the lowlit room in the centre of the cottage to listen to tales and tunes. The festivities have long been presided over by local man John Dempsey - who serves as Fear an Tí - along with his wife Eileen. Though a leak in their roof and a lack of funds for repair threatened to bring an end to Bygone Days, this recent fundraiser and several more to come will hopefully secure the future of the storytelling house.
‘We need to raise more before we can go ahead with the thatching but we are happy with our first venture,’ said Eileen. ‘It did take effort but it was well worth it.’