Granagh Honours Mary Liston.
GRANAGH UTD. F.C
3rd Sept Result: U14s won 4 - 2 away to GB Rovers. Scores:- G avin Cotter 1, Jack Fitzgibbon 2 and
TJ Tierney 1 . A great turn-around from being 2-0 down . Well done to team members and managers.
LADIES NIGHT:
Saturday 10th Sept - Inviting all Ladies to a 70s & 80s disco night in The Rock. If you still have clothes from that era you are free to dress and impress, if not, you wont be turned away. !
AGM TIME:
Granagh Development will be holding their AGM in October and we are asking people to think about joining the Committee. Like every group, we need new volunteers to replace members who wish to retire and to bring a fresh perspective to the organisation. For example, you may be interested in flowers, it would be great to have a few people to take on that as their project and keep the parish looking beautiful.
Everyone can do a little, to help out in a parish, there is always plenty of work to be done.
CHILDREN'S CHOIR:
Roisín Sexton is setting up a children's choir, welcoming both girls & boys from Juniors to 6th Class. We hope parents will encourage their children to attend the first get-together on Thursday 15th September at 7pm, in the Church. They will be singing at their first Mass on Saturday 17th Sept. Practice before Mass from 6.30pm. A great opportunity for all children to learn new songs, with an excellent organist and make the Mass really enjoyable.
FAMILY RESOURCE CENTRE:
Parent/Toddler Group is held in Ballingarry Family Resource Centre (beside the hall) every Monday from 9.30am. All are welcome to join in. Next date for Chiropody will be Thursday 6th October from 10am - 12pm. €10 per person over 60. For information please ring 069 - 69054.
A TASTE OF TRAD: Friday 16th September: 1.00pm. Free lunchtime performance presented by the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance, University Concert Hall.
Get Culture Night off to a great start with this lunchtime performance by students of the prestigious MA Irish Traditional Music Performance and Irish Traditional Dance Performance postgraduate courses. Liven up your lunchtime with this midday taste of Trad on campus!
CULTURE NIGHT:
Friday 16th September Events:
This year the University of Limerick’s prestigious performing arts organisations –
UCH
in conjunction with Olive Cowpar , the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance – come together to programme ,Opera, Trad, World Music and Classical delights in the beautiful Marquee at the Hunt Museum!
Timetable: - Opera Delights 6pm & 7pm. Classical Strings 8pm. Ireland & the World, Music and Song 9pm. Free events.
Friars Gate: - Chapter & Verse: A night of prose, poetry and music. Budding and established writers are invited to share their work which will be led by Sheila Quealey. Free Event.
MARY LISTON IS HONOURED:
The annual get-together for Granagh Players was held last Saturday night in the Community Centre. It is good to celebrate the success of the play and the tremendous work of the actors and producer. Also, it is a thank-you to the committee and volunteers for their contribution over the year.
In previous years we have used this opportunity to pay tribute to groups or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the parish of Granagh. We were delighted to get the chance to show our appreciation and thanks to the one and only Mary Liston, formerly of Granagh and now living in Banogue.
Mary was always a visionary and especially in relation to what she could do for her own parish. In 1972, she formed Granagh Macra Club, which became a social outlet for all the local young people. In 1973, she produced her first variety show - The Four Seasons - and the Club won the county final. In 1974 she came up with an idea which turned into the brilliant Talent Alive competition. It drew crowds to Granagh for a five year period and packed the hall each night. In 1976 she brought together a group of twenty five people from Granagh and Banogue and produced a show called ' Movin On ', which she entered into the Community Síamsa competition.
In 1978 she produced a show called ' Songs of the Sea' for the club and they won the county final again.
In 1980 she produced a show called 'Weather Frolics' which the club entered into the National Light Entertainment Competition and reached the All-Ireland Final. In 1981 she produced her next show called ' Stars & Stripes' which also reached the All Ireland. In early 1982 the Club entered The Féile Lúimní Síamsa Competition and won awards for the best overall Drama and ' The English Country Garden Scene'.
In the winter of '82, Mary produced her next show ' Mother Nature Discovers' which took the club to the Munster final. In 1983 Mary produced a show with the local ICA guild and they won out the county final. Later that year she decided to produce one more show with the club called ' Happiness Is ' with the biggest cast of all, thirty one members.
That this was after dedicating eleven years to the branch she had formed. A quote from the Limerick Leader of the time - " Mary Liston is a very accomplished producer, who has been unlucky, not to have her efforts crowned with a National Award ".
Not only did she produce variety shows but she also gave the club members the opportunity to participate in Drama competitions. In the 70s she had produced ' Riders to the Sea ' and ' The Knave of Diamonds '. In 1980 she produced ' The Hebrew Lesson', in 1981 - ' Boy Dudgeon ', in 1982 - ' The Bespoke Overcoat ' and in 1984 - ' Eris '.
At this point Mary had spent a total twelve years with Granagh and 7 children later, she thought it was time to retire from Macra competitions.
Mary's plan to retire in Banogue, didn't really work out as she got involved again in many parish activities - Cómhaltas, Scór, concerts and GAA. One of her major contributions was securing the grants for the building of the community centre, which is now an invaluable resource. In more recent years she has produced four more plays to help with funding towards a new Field and Dressing rooms for the GAA.
Mary continued her interest in Drama and Light Entertainment all the while, travelling around the country and overseas, to various festivals and shows. In conversation with her brother Tom, she mentioned that there was one play she would love to do and that was 'Sive'. Tom brought this idea to the Development Association, with the intention of reviving the drama tradition in the parish. It had been forty five years since the last 3 Act play - The Whip Hand - had been performed in Granagh.
In 2008, Mary found herself back where she had started all those years ago, with many of her ex-Macra members.
Her production of 'Sive' ran for a record 8 nights and delighted audiences far and wide. Mary had brought back the hunger and interest in live Drama, but the standard she had set was a notch above the rest.
Colette Kinsella, from RTE Radio One, came down to see the production and the resulting documentary was broadcast on ' The Curious Ear '. It is probably still on podcast.
Mary took a breather for a year, supposedly, but while she was free, she got together a Scór, adult ballad group in Banogue and they became Munster champions in 2009 - on the 40th anniversary of Scór. !
In 2010, she came back to Granagh, to produce her second favourite play - ' The Field '. At that time there was talk of the M20 cutting through some farms in the parish. It may have been that connection that brought us to the attention of ' Ear to the Ground ' - first time a film crew came to Granagh. The resulting documentary was shown on their last programme in December of that year.
The play was once again an outstanding success and thus ensured that Granagh Players became a household name.
We are extremely lucky that her protegés - Jimmy Sheehy and Jim Chawke - have continued the tradition, as producers for the last six years, with many more to come hopefully.
Looking back over these achievements she unselfishly devoted much of her free time to the people of Granagh, both young and older, while raising her seven children and helping out on the farm. She never asked for remuneration or recognition but we felt that it was time to formally thank her for her inspiring contribution to the lives of so many people. Presentations followed - Martin Carroll, first Chairman of the Club, presented a ' This is Your Life ' Book to Mary.
Patjo Boyce, first Treasurer of the Club, presented her with a Genesis Sculpture. Bríd O'Gorman, who shared the stage many a time with Mary, presented her with Jewellery.
The night was made extra special for Mary, in that all seven children were able to attend.
An apt quote from Abraham Lincoln, describes Mary Liston to the tee - " It's not the years in your life that are important, it's the Life in your Years " .
It is a joint community effort the run the Drama weekends as well as this night out and we must thank Sr. Margaret for a loan of her projector screen, the youth club for their projector and Susan Moran for a loan of her microphone, as ours just gave up beforehand. Many thanks to the committee for preparing and tidying up the Hall. Go mBeirimíd Beó ar an ám seo arís.
Photos will appear shortly on our web site - www.granagh.com
DIARY:
25th Sept: Cycle/Walk/Run in aid of St. Joseph's Foundation. For Info - 063-89252
