‘It's a brilliant thing’: Leitrim students raise thousands for Cancer charity with concert

At the beginning of March about 130 people packed into the small hall in the Mayflower for the annual Drumshanbo Music Course charity concert that raised over €2,000 for the Sligo Cancer Support Centre.

The concert, called ‘Blossom Beats,’ inspired by the well-known reel, ‘The Blackberry Blossom’, which was played on the night, was put on by 18 students, from the age of 20 to 70 raised €2,300 for charity with their concert on March 5th.

The March charity concert, along with a Christmas concert, was organised by the students as part of their course, giving them the chance to integrate skills from their different modules as well as their musical practice into organising the event.

The Drumshanbo Music course, which has been running since 1997, was born out of the success of the Joe Mooney Summer School.

It was started by Padraig McLoughlin with well-known musician and music teacher Mairead Whelan acting as its first tutor. After a few years it was taken over by Paddy Ryan, until he retired in 2006, that is when Mossie stepped in as tutor and began the concerts. 

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“They've become a bit of a traditional event,” said Martin, “It's usually the first Friday in March, and there's lots of local people and lots of local musicians and singers and dancers that are interested, that come to it every year.”

The course, which is part of the Leitrim College of Further Education, is made up of part-time and full-time students who began the course in September with varying levels of musical experience. 

“They get such a kick and such a confidence boost,” said Martin. “It's a brilliant thing for them just to stand up there in front of a hundred and whatever people and talking into a mic.”

“Just saying something simple like that can make a huge difference to a person and give them the possibility or the confidence to try it again.“

Known locally as ‘The Trad course’, the course was once focused on Irish Traditional music but has evolved over the years to explore different genres of music from rock and roll to Andean folk tunes and songs in Yiddish.

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“To see a person develop musically. You know, from September to March, and to be able to play a set of tunes. It might be slow. And you might miss a few notes and all the rest of it, but that's okay. They're getting so much enjoyment and satisfaction from it. So it's a wonderful thing.”

The Drumshanbo Music Course is a QQI level 5 held at the Enterprise Centre in Drumshanbo, and is part of the Leitrim College of Further Education, which offers a range of courses, and will be hosting an open day on the 15th of April at the courtyard retail units in Carrick-on-Shannon.