Music Ministry
The Church of Our Lady of Consolation, Donnycarney has a rich tradition in church music, through which we celebrate all aspects of parish life. Indeed, to sing is to pray twice! Also, it is worth noting that many well-known musicians live locally and in surrounding areas.
Our Lady of Consolation Church Choir
The main Church Choir is a long established feature of the parish, and is currently under the directorship of David Forde. It is a mixed chamber choir, and sings at the 12 o’clock Sunday mass and on occasion throughout the church year. We sing a variety of church music in parts and in unison, from Plainchant to well-known hymns sung throughout the Irish church, to compositions by classical composers such as Schubert, Bach and Mendelssohn, to name but a few. Occasions such as Christmas afford the Choir and local singers the opportunity to do some solo work.
Throughout the year, the Organist/Choir Director adds to the singing of the Choir at weekly mass with organ Chorales mainly by J.S. Bach and Dietrich Buxtehude, as well as improvisations based on hymn tunes thereby enabling the congregation to hear organ as well as choral repertoire on a weekly basis. In addition, the choir has a small music library which includes some rare books.
Rehearsals and Membership
Rehearsals take place every Tuesday night in Le Chéile Community Centre, Donnycarney (beside the Church)at 7:00 p.m. New members are very welcome! Although it is an advantage to be able to read music, it is not necessary.
Contact Details
All queries regarding joining the choir can be addressed to David @ 086 160 6566.
Irish Language Choir / Cár Gaeilge Dhomhnach Cearna
The Irish Language Choir in Donnycarney is unique in that it is one of the few Irish Language Choirs in Ireland that specialize in Irish language church music from down through the centuries to the present day. The Choir has been a central feature of the life of the community in Donnycarney for over 20 years, and the members of the Choir, Violet Ui Dhulaing, Mary Egan, Margaret Daveron and Aine Finerty, come together several times a week to practice and rehearse Irish language music.
The Choir sings at the bilingual 9 o’clock mass every Sunday in Our Lady of Consolation Donnycarney under the directorship of David Forde. It was founded in the 1990s by the then Choir Director, Ken Tuohy, and had just a few members. When the Irish language Mass in the church became a bilingual mass, it was decided that the singing would remain in Irish, and this has been the case ever since. Sarah Brown (Sorcha de BrUn) was Organist and Choir Director from 2011 to 2015. She translated and arranged a number of masses for the Irish language choir, including Schubert’s Deutsche Masse, which the Irish choir performed live on Raidio na Gaeltachta.
The Irish choir also performed Caoineadhnad Tri Mhuire on Good Friday in Donnycarney in 2013, performed traditional Irish church mass as part of the Donnycarney Traditional Music Festival in 2012 and 2013, and were guest performers at the Casino in Marino in 2013. The Irish language choir sings a wide variety of music, and covers several categories of Irish language singing. It sings original compositions in Irish by composers such as Sean O Riada; plainchant in Irish; old Irish hymns, or amhrain bheannaithe (‘holy songs’) and old poems set to traditional airs; translations of English language hymns; and contemporary Irish language compositions. As with the main 12 o’clock choir, the Irish language choir welcomes the opportunity to perform new works by Irish composers. The Irish language choir have been broadcast live on RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta 7 times since 2011.
Cantor
The Catholic Church adopted the role of cantor, or chief singer, from Judaism in the early days of Christianity. In both faith traditions, the cantor leads the sung responses of the congregation, especially the psalms
Our cantor Olivia Dobbs leads and supported the congregation in song particularly at the Saturday Vigil Mass and at Christmas and Easter Liturgies with the Choir
In our Parish all of the sssemble is encouraged to participate.
Rehearsals and Membership
Rehearsals take place in Le Chéile Community Centre at 9 p.m. every Monday night. Everybody is welcome, and it is not necessary to be able to speak Irish.