Enniscorthy is a small town in the centre of the County of Wexford in Ireland. It is a quiet market town which has served the area for a thousand years. The population of about 7500 people live in a pretty little town beside the River Slaney where the old bridge is overlooked by a Norman castle. We are surrounded by rich agricultural land and are about 20 kms from the Sea. We live in an area known as the Sunny South East because of the unusually mild and sunny weather ( compared to the rest of the country).
Our Choir has some 40 members who all live in the immediate area. We are truly a community based Choir.
Founded 1993 by Liam and Sheelagh O 'Leary, we started meeting in the Church Institute with over 70 members. This is a testament to the effort the founders had put in to recruitment. Liam is still an active Member when he is in the country and not soaking up the sun in Spain.
We started from scratch, very few people had any experience of choral singing. Luckily, our first and only Music Director, Donagh Wylde was a superb and patient choir master. He has stayed with us thru thick and thin and the first few years were thin indeed. We had our first concert in St Mary's Church just 3 months after our foundation.
Afetr that we got serious and a cull took place which reduced our numbers down to 40 which we have stayed at ever since.
Over the next few years we slowly slowly learned our trade and improved, attending all the local competitions. As a community choir we also sang at concerts, charity fund raisers, religious ceremonies of all denominations, and at civic ceremonies in town.. We took part in the Commeration of the Rising of 1798 which was a big event in the history of Enniscorthy and we sang for the Special Olympics Team for Canada when they used Enniscorthy as their Base.
The next post will continue the saga of the Enniscorthy Choir.
