Musical royalty visits Charleville
TERRY Oldfield, a member of the music world’s top families, made a nostalgic trip to Charleville, the home town of his mother, Maureen Liston, last week.
Terry – who was accompanied by his wife, Soraya Saraswati, walked – in the footsteps of his mother and her siblings, and of his grandparents, Michael and Mary, on the streets of Charleville.
The couple, accompanied by Joe McGowan, visited the former Liston homestead at Harrison’s Place Charleville.
Facilitated by Kevin O’Shea, the duo played a concert at the Schoolyard Theatre, the town’s former National School, that was attended by Terry’s mother, Maureen, as a pupil in the ‘20s. This performance was sponsored by the Cork-based wedding and event planners, ‘ To Have and To Hold.’
Terry’ grandfather, Michael Liston, was a native of Ballingarry, County Limerick, and his grandmother, Mary, was from Bruree, just over the order from Charleville. The pair married and had 10 children.
Mary was number three in the family and was born at Schoolyard Lane Charleville.
Her father, who was described as a gamekeeper, in common with thousands of other young Irish men of his time enlisted in the British Army to fight in the First World War.
He survived the conflict but returned to his home severely damaged by the horror of what he had been through on the battle fields of Europe.
When the British Government built houses, each on an acre of land “fit for heroes to live in,” for the ex-service men on a site south-west of Charleville town, Michael and his family were allocated number 17, which was located at the top of the horseshoe-shaped estate, around a half a mile from the town centre. Maisie, as stated, went to school to the girl’s section of the National School situated at what is now the old Limerick Road. The building is a stone’s thrown away from where the town’s founder Roger Boyle built his palatial Charleville Manor House in 1661, when he founded the town and named it in honour of King Charles II of England.
Maisie emigrated to England to train as a nurse at Guildford in Surrey, and there she met and married medical doctor Raymond Oldfield. The couple had three children: two boys, Terry and Michael; and one girl, Sally. All three went on to become accomplished musicians. Mike Oldfield’s ‘ Tubular Bells’ is a musical classic known the world over.
Terry, who now lives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia, is a successful musician in his own right, as indeed is his sister Sally.
Terry took the opportunity to visit Charleville in his latest tour of Europe to look up his maternal family roots, and he and Soraya were welcomed by the present occupiers of 17 Harrison’s Place, Jerry and Bridie O’Brien and Joe O’Rourke, who opened up their home to the visitors.
Cllr Ian Doyle was also on hand to officially welcome the visitors to Charleville.
Their performance in the schoolyard exuded peace and tranquillity, which is sadly lacking in today’s world, along with exquisite and haunting music.
It was a pity that the dire warnings of Storm Lorenzo prevented many people from venturing out on the night. They missed a rare musical experience from two very talented people in Terry and Soraya, who honoured Charleville with their presence.