Nenagh church to host another special night

The ball is already rolling on next year's Ballycommon Sponsored Ride as Liam Lawton and a host of local guests join in another church concert in support of deserving causes.

Due to be held at the Church of St Mary of the Rosary in Nenagh on Friday July 27th, the concert follows on from last year's 'Evening with Eimear Quinn', a hugely enjoyable church concert in memory of Florrie Purcell and in aid of North Tipperary Hospice.

Building on that success, it has been decided that this summer concert should become an annual event in support of local organisations and charity groups. It also presents a great forum in which to celebrate and enjoy local talent along with an invited artist and guest.

Each year's beneficiaries will be those for whom the following year's Ballycommon Sponsored Ride will be held in aid of. BSR 2019 will be held across the villages of Ballycommon and Puckane on Sunday, March 17th, in support of both Living Links and One in Four.

Liam Lawton is the special guest at next week's concert. Having signed with EMI in 2006, the well-known priest has performed at such venues as the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Chicago’s Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Paul VI Auditorium at the Vatican. Although he has had three successful top 10 albums in Ireland, his life and his Ministry has never altered and few who didn’t know otherwise would never think this was a man who has graced some of the leading concert stages of the world.

Joining us for ‘An Evening with Liam Lawton’ are Cloughjordan folk band Weave. With Irish and American influences, Weave are a spell of harmonies, soul and sweet musical tones, bringing life to old favourites and original songs. They have played for President Michael D Higgins and at the Electric Picnic. Weave's members include Natasha Sinclair (writter and vocals), Wendy Bailey (bass), Donald Austin (lead guitar) and Ruan Casey (percussion).

Following her amazing performance at St Mary's last year and joining us once again for ‘An Evening with Liam Lawton’ is 16-year old Grace Shesgreen from Ballycommon. Grace has appeared in eight productions with Nenagh Choral Society, most noticeably in the role of narrator in the highly successful ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and Eponine in ‘Les Miserables’.

Grace is also a member of Musical Theatre Academy Nenagh. She is being trained in musical theatre and classical voice in association with the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Among numerous other standout performances, Grace was a soloist at the Episcopal Ordination of Fr Fintan Monahan as Bishop of Killaloe.

Also returning for this concert at St Mary's is the 'In Tune for Life Orchestra'. Established in 2013, this inspirational traditional music youth orchestra consists of over 70 musicians aged from 10 to 22 years.

They are led by their musical director, the renowned box player Ned Kelly. The orchestra is primarily Ballycommon-centred and north Tipperary-based, but has members from further afield also.

This is a very exciting opportunity for these Tipperary musicians and singers and it also shows that our traditional culture is thriving in Tipperary.

One in Four – so-called because research has shown that one in four people in Ireland will experience sexual violence – works towards a society where children are free from sexual harm. Their aim is to reduce the incidence of sexual abuse by intervening in key areas of the cycle of abuse. They do this through psychology, advocacy, and prevention services.

Living Links provides assertive outreach support to the suicide bereaved throughout Ireland. The first Living Links group was set up in Cloughjordan in May 2002, when a small group of local people got together in direct response to a suicide in the community.

Tickets for this unmissable concert cost €20 and are available from Eason and Slattery's, Nenagh, or by contacting 087-2430546. The concert will start at 8pm.