Banna Chluain Meala
Marching to our own rythmn
Travel
During our fifty years, the band has visited and performed at parades, in competition etc in most parts of Ireland, even
across the border on one occasion to perform in Coalisland,
County Tyrone where we were warmly received. Here at home, we were always available to perform at local functions and never missed a St. Patrick’s Day parade in spite of numerous requests to travel to other towns.
Probably, the most exciting events were the many trips abroad.
The excitement would commence with the announcement of the trip, followed by parents’ information meetings and then some fundraising events to help with the costs.
Former band members have great memories of the “craic” on the buses, on the sea crossings and then the warm welcome from the host families. There were several trips to Purmerend, Holland to take part in their International Band Festival which took place every four years. There is more about our special bond with the Netherlands in a later article.
You will see from our list of places visited that we visited the U.K. on many occasions. Our first trip in 1980 was to take part in the inaugural International Festival of Marching Bands at London’s Wembley Indoor Arena, which was very exciting. We were to return to this venue again in 1993 and 1994 to represent
Ireland at The British Youth Marching Bands Competition Finals. There was great excitement when we won our section in 1994. There was a further trip to London in 1998 when we took part in the St. Patrick’s Week parade at the invitation of the Friends of Tipperary Society. It was a great experience and thrill to march down Whitehall passing the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben,
Westminster Abbey and then to play at Mass in
Westminster Cathedral. We have fond memories
also of performing at the N.E.C. in Birmingham, at
Bedford and in Midsomer Norton, Somerset on
four separate occasions.
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A special thrill was to play down the parade route at Disneyland, Paris where we visited twice on our return trips from Holland. It was an experience to see “back-stage” at Disneyland and to see the workings of this fantastic organisation in terms of timing and professionalism etc. 2004 was an exciting year when we were invited to take part in a festival of bands in Cheb in the Czech Republic. To celebrate their countries entry into the E.U., the organisers invited one band from each E.U. member country to join their celebrations and we were honoured to represent Ireland there.
Our furthest destinations travelled were to Clonmel’s Twin Towns - Peoria, Illinois, U.S.A in 2009 and 2015 and to Costa Masnaga, Italy in 2013 and 2017. These were very special trips and are covered in a separate article.