Dublin South RTA

Classically trained and residing in Ireland, Colm specialises in the fields of Ragtime, Stride Piano and Musicals. Since 1990, he has played a series of 20 Solo Concerts in the National Concert Hall Dublin.  He has played extensively on the Concert stage in Canada and the United States, where he recorded his CD “Scott Joplin, Gershwin, Fats Waller & All That”. His playing of Scott Joplin Ragtime, recorded in Dublin, has received a lot of airplay on Irish TV & Radio. He is the only Irishman to be invited to play at the prestigious Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia Missouri, where he has received 3 invitations in 90, 95 & 96. He was invited back again in June 2006.
In Ireland, he has played at many venues including regular appearances at the Cork and Derry Jazz Festivals. In 2002 he received an AIMS award as Best Musical Director for his show “Jesus Christ Superstar”. He has appeared twice on the Late Late Show with the late Professor Peter O’Brien and performed with Paddy Cole and Ronnie Drew in the National Concert Hall Dublin. His 2 Ragtime Compositions have been copyrighted & recorded in USA.
We were delighted to welcome Colm to perform at our April Miscellany in Club na Múinteoirí, Mountjoy Square.  This is the second time that Colm has presented at one of our miscellanies.  He was rapturously received by a packed house and he held us spellbound with his marvellous renditions of famous ragtime numbers and anecdotes.

Colm will appear in the NCH on Fri 27th May 2016  1-2pm
Colm “Stride” O’Brien (Piano)
Giants of Ragtime & Stride Piano
“Mr Gershwin meets Fats Waller & Scott Joplin”

Lovely walk in Glendalough yesterday with beautiful sunshine for the first half. Thank you Norah. The heron in Tymon Park was reluctant to let Tim and Norah’s car leave at 10.30 – he had become quite attached to it!

Here are pics of the group on the Miner’s Way and the Spink.

Here are some of our intrepid members on a cycle trip to Dalkey.  If you are a cyclist why don’t you join our cycling trips?  We have two trips per month and we’d love to have more members put on the gear and get with the programme!

Here we have a picture of our gallant group courtesy of Mick Griffin.

The illustration below, from the first chapter of The Pickwick Papers shows Mr Pickwick addressing the twelve other male members of the Pickwick Club.  Maleness in any of its variety of forms was a requirement to be a Pickwickian. When thirty year old Dickens first visited America in 1842 he was already a celebrity, although I believe  the term celebrity didn’t come into the English language until 1849.  He found himself on many occasions invited to dinners in his honour given by Dickensian  Societies. These were all male affairs. On occasions the ladies were allowed to listen to the goings on  in a curtained off area.  In 1867-68 Dickens revisited America. His good friends in London saw him off with a dinner in The London Freemasons’  Hall on 2^nd November 1867. This dinner was  attended by about four hundred and fifty men.  A hundred ladies were allowed to watch from the gallery.

Of course it must be said that women were very much to the fore in the Dublin Dickens Fellowship. This Fellowship lasted from 1907 to 1919 and the advent of ‘The Troubles’.

Our Miscellany in The Teachers’ Club on Tuesday 23^rd of February at 11:30am has a lot to say about women in the life, love-life and works of Charles. It’s a celebration of his birthday on 7^th of February with a little bit of the 14^th February in for good measure.

Dickens was thirty eight in 1850. He was at the top of his power as a novelist, lionised and loved.  The next twenty years, until his death in 1870, were quite dramatic and traumatic for Dickens in terms of his relationships with the women in his life- his wife, his first love, his ‘mistress’, his daughters, the second richest woman in England after Queen Victoria,  and even Queen Victoria herself.  We will also include a few of the lesser known female characters from his works as leavening and a few men for ballast. The talk will last about an hour and will be illustrated with paintings, photographs and other visuals from his works and the times. We hope to get a few laughs.

This one-woman-show is a comical yet poignant look at life, from childhood in the 1950’s, to the present day.  It draws very much on the influence of religion as taught by the nuns–preparing young Irish Catholic schoolgirls to imitate the virtues of the Virgin Mary.  They were to be meek, humble and pure.  How well did this help them cope with the huge social changes of the following decades?  Were the fanciful dreams of youth fulfilled?

This journey of self-discovery is interspersed with well-known hit songs from the various eras, sung by Catherine Gallagher.

The six Marys are fun-loving girlfriends, who grow into practical, everyday housewives.   The light-hearted atmosphere helps us concentrate on their journeys through the decades– delivering all kinds of sharp and comical observations.  Jean has plenty to say about the teenage pursuit of Mr Wonderful—followed by the reality of married life, teenage children and growing waistlines.

And, when our children grow up eventually and leave home, what lies ahead then—a big void or peace at last?

                                     Written and presented by Jean Farrell.

        Directed by Joe McCarrick

The Six Marys will be performed in Theatre@36, Teachers’ Club in Parnell Sq Dublin, on Fri 3rd and Sat 4th of Oct at 8 pm.  Booking at 087 3489609

“Really really funny—and SO true to life.”

“Haven’t laughed so much in years—LOVED it”

“I had forgotten all those things—WONDERFUL show.”

Jean Farrell  Athlone    087 2734503     jeanfarrell@live.ie

If you, like me, are a grandparent, often called on at a moment’s notice, or no notice at all, to look after one or more fractious grandchildren, in Dublin’s often inclement weather, then a new fun indoors play centre, opened recently in Dundrum Shopping Centre may be the answer to all your prayers!

While south Dublin has no shortage of parks and playgrounds, it is often the case that when it is your turn to babysit the “man above” seems to conspire against you and the heavens open destroying all your plans to get out of the house to give your grandchildren an opportunity to expend nervous energy in a safe environment.

Now, if for the sake of your sanity you need to get out of the house, you can head for the Dundrum Shopping Centre where Seamus Ó Loingsigh has opened the first Funky Monkeys’ Soft Play Cafe in the Republic of Ireland.

Funky Monkeys provides the ideal environment to allow children’s imaginations to run riot, to have wonderful adventures and to engage in active play.  At the same time you, the grandparent can relax, have a cup of coffee and a chat while keeping an eye on the young ones in case they become a bit over enthusiastic.

So I may see you in Dundrum sometime while we are on duty!

‘The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you’ so says Lily, the caretakers daughter in The Dead
In this performance we will take a look at ‘Irishness’ and the Irish male, as portrayed by Joyce.

A contrast may be made with the brave women in New York and Paris who helped publish Ulysses and supported Joyce.
The miscellany  will feature songs alluded to in Dubliners, Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake as well as ragtime and maybe jazz.
Michael and Eithne Shanley will star with Colm ‘Stride; O’ Brien on piano

This miscellany will take place on September 30th in Club na Múinteoirí beginning at 11.30 a.m.  The usual entry fee of €5 to include lunch will be levied. 

We were royally entertained on Tuesday 25th February when Martin Enright delivered a wonderful presentation about the Yeats’ countryside.  This presentation encompassed so much more than a mere sketch of the countryside around Sligo that inspired so much of the poetry of Yeats.

It was also a presentation that resonated with archaeological insights, and asides on the wonders of nature, the flora and fauna, the barnacle goose and so much more that our members were enthralled  for the duration of the lecture.  We need Martin back to impart more of his passion for his subject and perhaps also to tease us with his knowledge of music and some more poetry readings!