When we thought we could Tops! be
In the early part of the 1960s, the John Players-sponsored ‘Tops of the Town’ began to build around the country to eventually become one of the most important events on the Irish entertainment scene.
From small beginnings in Waterford, it soon saw groups in villages, towns and cities all over the country come together to stage their shows, each hoping to reach the national final which eventually, was broadcast on RTE television.
It soon became the charge of big companies, banks and corporations who invested large sums of money in the competition that the smaller community groups could not compete with. That said - in 1982, ‘Tops Of The Communities’ came to the fore in Cork, courtesy of Muintir na Tire (and possibly in other counties also). Lots of rural communities would run their own ‘Tops Of The Parish’ to eke out the hidden talent that lay undiscovered within, with some going on to greater things.
FINAL
Connolly Hall in Cork was the venue for the ‘Tops Of The Communities’ final in ’82 and the excitement that was building in Kilworth on the weeks leading up to it was intense, the competition coming from Gortroe and Inch - two communities in East Cork.
Close on 40 people were involved in our show and while this number was mainly made up of young people, some of the ‘elders’ such as John Lee, Dinny McCarthy, Pad Brien, Willie Walsh, Michael Gowen and Michael Lovett were drafted in. Others in the cast included Sinead Butler, Catriona Noonan, Majella O’Sullivan, Maura Abernethy, Eleanor O’Brien, Ella Lovett, Sheila Gowen, Deirdre Gowen, Elaine Gowen, Rita O’Brien, Eamonn Roche, Frank McGarry, Willie Murphy, Brendan Howard, Noel O’Brien, Thomas O’Brien, Robert Abernethy, Gobnait Kiely, Liam Howard, Sean Cotter, Gerard O’Sullivan, Aileen Lee, Anne Dunne, Catherine Moran and Martin Shanahan.
The show was produced by Liam Howard who was aided and abetted by Dave Cliffe as stage manager, Mossy Coughlan (musical arrangements), Gretta Gowen (make-up), Gerard O’Sullivan (set), Mick Twomey (lighting) and costumes were made, borrowed and stolen by the lady members.
A bus was organised to ferry the cast and crew to Connolly Hall and excitement (mingled with more than a small bit of trepidation) was high as we set off from Moorepark Gate on that Sunday evening. Connolly Hall was packed to the rafters as the three groups strutted their stuff in front of an adjudication panel comprising Mr David McInerney, Mr Dan Coughlan and Ms Eileen Nolan. (For the record, the event was sponsored by Joe Dowling of Moremiles Tyres Ltd).
We were first on stage and, having decided to open with a bang, had chosen ‘Flash Bang Wallop’ from the musical ‘Half A Sixpence’ as our opening number which went down a treat. While I can’t recall the full programme, I do know that we did a selection of Dublin songs - Willie Walsh starting us off with a solo number (Noel Purcell’s ‘Dublin Saunter’), followed with most of the company on stage for ‘Molly Malone’, ‘Biddy Mulligan’ and one or two other songs; there were some sketches and stories from Dinny McCarthy, Michael Gowen and Michael Lovett as well as ballads from Aileen Lee, Ella Lovett and Sheila Gowen (and possibly one or two others).
Gortroe, produced by Finbar Motherway, had been active in several ‘Tops’ events leading up to the final while Inch, winners of the Imokilly Region of ‘Tops’, were under the watchful and experienced eye of Mary Flavin. Inch had some serious talent in their line-up, such as Michael Riordan, Charlie Flavin, Anthony Flavin, Wm Kenny and Mary Flavin herself so, needless to say, Inch was very strong on comedy and in the end, proved to be Tops Of The Communities, Kilworth were a close second with Gortroe hot on our heels.
Our opening number got high praise from the judges who said that, for them, it was ‘the high point of the night’. In hindsight, we should have held our ‘Flash Bang Wallop’ to close the show with but that in itself, would not have beaten the super talent of the group from Inch.
Happy days indeed!