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Anyone with even the slightest doubt as to President Barack Hussein Obama’s Irishness, take a look at this short clip.
Last night, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted an incredible group of performers for a night of blues music as part of the PBS “In Performance at the White House” series.
After a little encouragement from the legendary B.B.King, the President, in true Irish fashion, took the mic from rock legend Mick Jagger, and sang a few lines of, “Sweet Home Chicago.”
Blues music has humble beginnings with roots in slavery and segregation, in a society that rarely treated black Americans with the dignity and respect that human beings deserve and expect.
So maybe on St Patrick’s day (Irish:Lá Fhéile Pádraig,) when he accepts the Irish Shamrock, he might give us a belt of “The 40 Shades Of Green,” and raise our spirits not just here back home in Tipperary, but for all Irish emigrants everywhere.
Mr President even the chorus would do:-
But most of all I miss a girl in Tipperary town
and most of all I miss her lips as soft as eiderdown
I long again to see and do the things we’ve done and seen
where the breeze is sweet as Shalimar and there’s Forty Shades of Green.
 Ben & Una pictured with local friends on a recent trip home. The Saturdays girl band member and Thurles native Una Healy cried tears of joy on stage last night , when her band-mate Rochelle Wisemanit, announced, not unexpectedly, that the gorgeous Una is to marry.
The fellow band member told a packed audience at London’s O2 arena, that Una had said ‘yes,’ to Northampton full-back, English rugby star and love of her life, Mr Ben Foden.
The 30-year-old beauty, who is currently expecting the couples first child, is due to give birth to a baby girl in March.
The girl band are currently on tour and will play in their “All Fired Up!” tour at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast tonight, followed by a gig in Dublin on Monday 19th next, when they will hit the O2 Arena.
The Thurles native stated “We’ll get married eventually but I want it to be special, not hurried.”
The flame haired beauty has been in the company of 26 year old Ben Foden, since 2008, after he persuaded his agent to approach her regarding a possible first date.
From Thurles, Co Tipperary go our congratulations and best wishes to Una and Ben, for their future happiness together.
Photo courtesy G.Willoughby.
It’s hard to describe the magic of candlelight, particularly in church at Christmas time, however we would like you to share with us and experience it for yourself.
To this end “Vocalize,” will perform their new original show “Christmas By Candlelight,” at St Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Thurles, on Saturday 17th December next. The performing group “Vocalize,” are no strangers to Thurles theatre lovers and consist of some of the towns most harmonious and talented voices.
“Vocalize,” Videographer and Sound Technician, Garry Butler has been to rehearsals and sends us just a small clip of what music lovers can expect on the night.
Do come listen to the golden voices of Katie & Claire Lawless, Maria Griffin, Stacey Taylor, Peter Donnelly and Damian Sweeney, together with David McElgunn, and others under the wonderful musical direction of Geraldine Delaney. All will be performing by candlelight and you’ll feel like you’ve just taken a step back in time, when you join them for this most enchanting and emotional of local event.
Expect Christmas songs with a difference and of a new world, songs like; ‘I Need A Silent Night,’ ‘Hope Is Born Again,’ ‘A baby changes everything,’ and my own favourite ‘Christmas is.’
Of course one of the earliest stagings of Christmas music by candlelight began in the 19th century, when Cornish Miners in Moonta, South Australia (As this sites Irish /Australian able ambassador Katie O’Connell Nott will attest. “Happy Christmas from all in Tipperary & Thurles to all of you Katie.”) would gather on Christmas Eve to sing carols lit with candles, stuck to the brims of their safety hats. Today the tradition has spread around the world and is happening here in Thurles this year for the first time in St. Mary’s Church.
Tickets for this event will cost you €10 and are available from Bookworm, in Liberty Square, Thurles, with total proceeds going to a most worthy cause, the Suir Haven, Thurles Cancer support centre.
So come along to St. Mary’s and for a while, enjoy an 18th-century style Christmas by candlelit, and why not take a look around the famine museum while you chat and enjoy a cup of tea after the show.
A word to the wise: Tickets are very limited so do book early, to ensure your space.
 Christmas Lights - Thurles Town Centre It’s Monday afternoon and God knows we need a bit of good news at the start of the working week, here in Thurles.
From a Christmas point of view, I am happy to relate that so far today the signs are looking good.
Joan Pollard Carew, spokesperson for “Thurles Traders Unite,” informs me that the high streets of Thurles will soon ring out to the sounds of seasonal Christmas music. This initative is due in no small way to the hard work and dedication of the members of ‘Thurles Traders Unite,’ a group of high street traders who formed their association, just a few short weeks ago. Shopkeepers have been more than generous in donating money to create a fund, thus in turn enabling this new task force to organise and provide this music and also to further promote high street shopping here in Thurles.
Thurles Town Council have generously given free parking in the towns car parks on the four Saturdays prior to Christmas. (Note: 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th of December only)
Most retail outlets on the Thurles high streets are also offering parking refunds to their customers. (Another innovative idea from “Thurles Traders Unite.”)
Thurles town centre, again this year, boasts some of the best displays of Christmas lighting, anywhere in Ireland. This fabulous display is paid for by all rate paying shops in the town centre. Thurles Town Council took over the management of this project a number of years ago and have been doing such a wonderful job (Thanks John Ryan and Staff) to ensure that our town, in the words of a well known song, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”
Everywhere in the county, because of the present economic situation, most consumers are spending less this year. However, from a consumers point of view, this is beneficial, with shops now on the high streets of Thurles, who incidentally, have a huge selection of retail goods on offer, offering super bargains on individual items. So do make an effort to drop into our town centre and have a good look around. By doing so you help to retain our traditional town centre, while at the same time maximising you own spending power.
On the employment front, some good news also. Noel Coonan TD informs me this morning, that the average waiting time for Garda Vetting procedure, has now fallen from twelve to five weeks waiting time. Justice Minister Alan Shatter has confirmed this reduction which was made possible by the appointment of 20 temporary staff to the Thurles Garda Vetting Unit.
People who were currently undergoing vetting were finding, up to now, this procedure to be a lengthy and delayed process for people who had applied for jobs and in some cases people had been unable to take up a working position, due to these long delays. In September of this year, Minister Shatter said in the Chamber of Leinster House, that he fully appreciated the importance of processing vetting applications within a reasonable time frame and he was determined to address this aspect of the process. The average processing time for applications has now been lessened to five weeks, which is a significant improvement on the average processing time of 12 weeks at the end of last year.
Garda Vetting is carried out by the Garda Central Vetting Unit which is based in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The Unit processes requests from organisations that have been registered with it, to vet prospective employees including people working with children or vulnerable people.
All in all, not a bad day, let see what tomorrow brings.
 Jonathan Gleeson as Bill Snibson & Michelle O'Connell as Sally Smith in the 2011 production of 'Me and My Girl.' staged by Thurles Musical Society Thurles Musical Society will launch it’s history book ‘Stage to Page – A History of Thurles Musical Society,‘ on Sunday October 30th in the Anner Hotel, as part of this great Societies 60th anniversary celebrations.
An open invitation is being extended to everyone to attend this Gala Event, which will feature entertainment from current Society members, to reflect the type of shows undertaken down through six decades, with plenty of chat, music, song and dance to follow later.
The book – a 330 page full colour publication – has been written and edited by the Society’s PRO, Noel Dundon and contains one thousand photos taken throughout the six decades of musical theatre in this the Cathedral Town.
This excellent publication charts the Society’s growth from its inception, through the formative years, to the modern day where an energetic, enthusiastic and musical loving company continue to carry the flame first lit by our late founding father, Rev Canon William Noonan.
The book delves into the reasons behind the establishment of the Society; those responsible for it’s formation; and all those who have continued to pursue musical theatre excellence, during the decades since.
There are sections on the impact of the Association of Irish Musical Society on TMS and vice versa. There are comprehensive pen pictures on all our Honorary Life members – living and dead, and there are also chapters on the people behind the major and most popular musicals, staged down through the decades.
Each show, undertaken by the Society, is detailed in this wonderful publication, with everyone who ever set foot on stage, helped out backstage, or worked in any way for the Society, included, in so far as is possible. The ‘Minute Books,’ have been trawled through; the newspaper archives raided; and many closets and attics in Thurles emptied in a bid to dig up photographs. The result is a resounding success with many photographs contained in the book, never seen before in any public forum.
The evening kicks off at 8:00pm with a cheese and wine reception to be followed by the Society’s chorus taking on a number of popular arias, book launch by the President of the Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) Mary Heaney, and great fun thereafter.
There is no entry fee for this Bank Holiday Sunday evening of rich entertainment and an open invitation is being extended to all to come along.
The book, which is truly value for money – the perfect coffee table or waiting room read – the perfect Christmas present for friends abroad, will be available in local shops and on the night, retailing at just €20 (Hardback) and €15 (Paperback).
Happy sixtieth birthday Thurles Musical Society and thank you for all those years of wonderful entertainment and music.
Photo courtesy of G.Willoughby.
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