Des O Dowd, a member of the Branch has asked me to inform you of a series of Talks and Walks for Tuesday and Thursday mornings during March. There a good response from the last Comhnasc but a few more people are needed to make it viable. I attach the course details for your attention.
Black Horse Pub
This will be a leisurely cycle along the Grand Canal from Inchicore to Adamstown, lasting approximately 2 hours. We meet at the Black Horse Pub in Inchicore at 11 a.m. The team leader for this cycle is Pat Fitzgerald. Like all of our outdoor activities, this event is weather dependent and you may take it for granted that it will go ahead unless the weather is so inclement as to preclude cycling!
On the Tuesday in January and the first miscellany of 2013, over 50 of our members gathered in the Teachers’ Club to listen to a most entertaining presentation by Michael Shanley. Mick regaled us with a wealth of information about Joyce, McCormack and how their lives intertwined and of their connection to the building that now houses the Club.
These two Irishmen bestride the world of the arts in the first half of the 20th century. Mick explained how music was a seminal influence on Joyce and how he made use of music in his writings.
There is another presentation in this topic and we are waiting, agog with excitement for part 2!
Just a brief note to alert you to this week’s activities.
Tibradden to Three Rock Walk, Wed 30th Jan
The harder walk this month will be on Wed next, Jan 30th and will be from Tibradden to Three Rock Mountain, returning by Fairy Castle. The full route takes over 4 hours but if the weather is inclement, we will shorten it. The car park at Tibradden is not open during the week so we will assemble at The Merry Ploughboy Pub in Edmondstown at 10.15 am and take as few cars as possible to Tibradden which is about a 5 minute drive from there. The pub is not open during the day.
Directions to the Merry Ploughboy :
Deirdre will be at usual place in Tymon Pk near Spawell at 10am if anyone needs a lift. Buses 54a or 150 from town.
The walk is not difficult but is definitely not flat. We climb UP to Tibradden and UP to Fairy Castle. Most of the walk is on the Dublin Mountain Way, so underfoot conditions are generally good .
Boots only – not suitable for trainers. Bring rain gear, warm clothes, drink and snack and walking poles if you have them. A newspaper or garden kneeler is useful for sitting on at lunchtime.
This walk will be led by Bríd Walsh. Contact no: 086-3743436
First Miscellany of 2013
James Joyce (Feb 2 1882- January 13th 1941) and John McCormack (June 14th 1884-September 16th 1945) were two iconic Irishmen, born within two years of one another and destined for fame in literature and music respectively. Strangely, their worlds intertwined and were linked to the building in which the Teachers Club is now situated. This talk will look at how they met and how the music of McCormack influenced the writings of Joyce.
The Palestrina choir, St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral Dublin, came into existence on January 1st 1903 with Vincent O’ Brien of 37, Parnell Square (now one of the buildings which houses the Teacher’s Club) as its first musical director. John McCormack, having finished his secondary schooling in Summerhill College Sligo, came from his home in Athlone to successfully audition for the choir. Vincent O’Brien became McCormack’s music teacher and prepared John for the Feis Ceoil of 1903. McCormack won the gold medal as a tenor. James Joyce, an accomplished singer himself, was in the audience. It’s not known if they met on that occasion but by the following year they had made each other’s acquaintance and McCormack’s success helped persuade Joyce to enter the Feis Ceoil of 1904.
Joyce took singing lessons from Vincent O’Brien in the spring of 1904 but he didn’t win gold in the Feis in May. McCormack and Joyce shared a concert platform on 27th August 1904 in the Antient Concert Rooms and both received complimentary reviews in the press. Thus began their relationship. At this talk you will hear some of the songs sung by McCormack and see how the same songs are woven into the works of Joyce. You will also hear how their lives, though very different, had quite a few similarities and how they maintained their relationship over time.
This talk will be presented by Mick and Eithne Shanley in the Teachers Club on Tues Jan 29th at 11.30. You are cordially invited to come along and to be entertained. We hope to see many of you there. There will be a hot meal served after the presentation.
The cycle run in the Phoenix Park scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled on health and safety grounds.
Dublin South RTA 