Rose’s trad night a huge success in Freemount
THE high esteem in which the memory of the late Rose McAuliffe and her family is held in Freemount village and beyond was amply demonstrated in the capacity attendance at Freemount Community Centre on last Saturday night for a traditional Irish music concert dedicated to her memory, and to raise funds for Marymount Hospice and the Mercy University Hospital in Cork.
The event was organised by Rose’s brother Adrian McAuliffe who assembled a group of friends and neighbours to assist him in organising the night which was headlined by the legendary traditional group De Danann and Eleanor Shanley and homegrown talent, the triple All-Ireland winning Shandrum Ceili Band led by their musical director, Alan Finn, and another All-Ireland winning traditional songstress Elle-Marie O’Dwyer completed the programme.
The artistes, who performed on stage against a backdrop of a giant rose, got a rousing reception from the capacity audience who are all steeped in traditional Irish music as Freemount is also the home of the annual Comhaltas seisiun series held for a month starting in mid-July of each year. It is also the home of branch of the Shandrum Ceili Band and Elle-Marie O’Dwyer, as was evidenced by the reception their appearance on stage received from the audience.
Adrian McAuliffe is himself and All-Ireland winning banjo player and was a member of the Allow Ceili Band that won the All-Ireland ceili band final some years ago. Commenting on the success of the event he said that: “Due to the untimely death of my sister Rose, to cancer on the 6th March last year, my family and I are indebted to the services offered by Marymount Hospice and for the dedication of the Cancer specialist team at the Mercy University Hospital, Cork.
“Like all families facing this devastating disease, without the compassion, care and expertise offered by both The Mercy and Marymount, I feel that the journey facing the patients and their families would be much more difficult and isolating.
“With this in mind, and my long association with traditional Irish music, I decided to honour Rose’s memory by holding this event tonight and to raise finance for Marymount and the Mercy University Hospital.
“We got a fantastic response from everybody we approached and I am indebted to all those who helped in any way to put the event together.
“This was a fitting tribute to Rose’s memory, as indeed it is to that of her late uncle, Joe McAuliffe (R.I.P.), who died unexpectedly a month later at his home in Ballyhea, Charleville, and who was an avid traditional music enthusiast,” said Adrian.
That the small village of Freemount had the capacity to hold an event of this magnitude is also a tribute to the local community whose magnificent facility, the Community Centre was built in 1975 by voluntary labour.
Present at the event were many of those who participated in the building of the hall, including P. J. O’Sullivan and his wife Betty, who was one of those visionaries involved all those years ago. He is still very much involved as a community activist and is the director of the annual Comhaltas Seisiun series every July and August in the village.