Mitchelstown’s 47
The idea for Mitchelstown’s 47 Theatre Group was born in Mrs Keating’s boarding house at 47 Lower Cork Street. Afterwards, it became a betting office (now Suzsa). Mrs Keating (nee O’Loughlan) was the mother of Andrew, a sister of Sister Theresa of the local Presentation Convent and a sister also of Mrs Condon who lived nearby.
Harry Geraghty was transferred to Mitchelstown from Listowel, County Kerry, where he was employed by the Bank of Ireland. In Listowel, Harry was a member of the famous drama group that took John B. Keane’s play, Sive, to the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. This was unheard of for an amateur rural drama group.
Harry’s love of drama was inspiring and he soon had a number of very enthusiastic members from both inside number 47 and further afield. Among these were Jim Griffin, Michael McElroy, Jerry O’Mahony, Jack Aherne (a cousin of Mrs O’Donovan of Croughevoe), Jim Flynn, Bob Honohan, Liam Gallagher, John Mulvihill, Michael Parker, Nancy Walsh, Breda Hughes, Ellen O’Mahony, Margaret Walsh, Ann Purcell, Bedina Fitzgerald, Eileen Finnerty and Evelyn Forde.
The first production by the group was John B Keane’s ‘The Year of the Hiker’. Harry knew John B from his time in Listowel and was determined to put on a Keane play by the fledging ‘47 Theatre Group’. The following is an article from the Cork Examiner circa the spring of 1964:
‘New Dramatic Group Formed In Co. Cork’
‘A new dramatic group, the 47 Theatre Group, has been formed in Mitchelstown. The group have selected the latest play of the Kerry playwright, John B Keane, namely ‘The Year of the Hiker’ for their first venture.
Some of the group are well known figures in the theatre life of Mitchelstown. Among them are Mrs Nancy Walsh, who won the best actress award at the North Cork Drama Festival in 1958, Mr Jack Aherne, who has played in and produced plays in many parts of Ireland, and Mr Harry Geraghty who was associated with the Listowel Drama Group in their famous run of ‘Sive’. Completing the group are Miss Evelyn Forde, Miss Eileen Finnerty, Mr Jerry O’Mahony, Mr Bob Honohan, Mr John Mulvihill, Mrs Jerry O’Mahony, Messrs Jim Flynn and S. Foley.
Their first play, ‘The Year of the Hiker’, was staged before Mitchelstown audiences on March 22nd 1964 in the Central Cinema, also known as Delaney’s Hall with John