‘Yew Wood Venues’- Youghals Premier Venues – The Mall Arts Centre & St. Mary’s Collegiate Church

‘Yew Wood Venues’ – the new name behind Youghal’s Premier Venues – The Mall Arts & St. Mary’s Collegiate Church contributed in excess of €280,000 to the local economy of Youghal in two years according to surveys undertaken in accordance with Failte Ireland’s Festivals and Cultural Events Research Template.  The venues are run by The Youghal Socio-Economic Development Group who currently lease the buildings from Youghal Town Council.
In building upon the success of the venues to date, the two venues are to be re-branded and will now fall under the title of ‘Yew Wood Venues’.  Yew Wood – the english translation of Eochaill – encapulates both unique venues of Youghal.  A new base and booking office will operate from ‘The Coach House’ of ‘Enterprise Youghal’ in Emmet Place.

The expansion plan of ‘Yew Wood Venues’ focuses on Youghal’s commercial and contemporary arts potential. Joyce Hosford, Events Manager of Yew Wood Venues commented “We are encouraging local artists to exhibit their works in the Mall Arts Centre and we are focusing on attracting and developing local and emerging talent. We are seeking to utilise the Mall Arts Centre to its full potential as well as seeking to explore contemporary arts events. In order to do so, we envisage a ‘bottom up’ approach to our developmental plan – that is, there is a hugely strong community arts base in Youghal and we aim to support and nurture such talent.  The vision is to ensure Youghal is a recognised centre of Arts excellence, built upon the strengths of the community”.

To date, the venues have delivered a range of productions across the arts spectrum, from visual to music, dance to drama.  This has made huge impact on the local economy – events which have been running in the Yew Wood Venues have contributed €280,000 over 2 years to the local economy.

Reffering to the economic spin-off to the local community, Manager of The Youghal Socio-Economic Development Group, Aileen Murray said: “The future plans of Yew Wood Venues also focuses on developing the local economy and boosting local businesses through ‘spin off’ revenue generated from events taking place. These venues share a common goal with many businesses and organisations within the Youghal community – to help increase the number of people visiting and investing in Youghal.  Failte Ireland identified that the average visitor attending an event in Youghal will spend on average between €30 and €55”, said Aileen.

The continued development of attendances at the venues will be crucial to the venues ongoing success. In order to achieve this, there will be several initiatives undertaken through marketing, education and outreach functions. For example, the well supported Sacred Roots events, which took place in St Marys Collegiate Church will recommence shortly. These events helped to promote the arts to the youths of Youghal as well as generating much support and recognition from the community and a far. Other such developmental programmes will encourage local artists to take residence in the Mall Arts Centre and exhibit their art on a monthly basis. Yew Wood Venues will also continue to support St. Raphaels and their future projects.

In aiming to develop new captive audiences within the community, Yew Wood Venues will commence a monthly film club hugely significant considering Youghal’s strong history of interest in film. This will be a low cost means of art and cultural activity and a means for those who wish to develop their interest in cinematic art.

David McSavage, the comedian of the infamous RTE production ‘Savage Eye’, will take to the stage of the Mall Arts Centre on Saturday 25th February at 8pm. Tickets are now available. 2012 will also see hilarity from the legendary Brendan Grace, a Shakesperean play, a Moby Dick production, the family favourite Lambert Puppet Theatre and the welcomed return of the Chamber Philharmonia Cologne to name a few.  Plans are also underway to host a number of large-scale contemporary cultural and arts events which at time of press are still under negotiation.

“It is imperative in such a close community with numerous venues, we target to our specific audience and market the event accordingly” states Joyce Hosford. “We are hugely enthusiastic about the year ahead. It is great to have a permanent base, an office where people can come and meet me, discuss future plans, propose ideas, highlight queries or book tickets” she added.

In the current climate, it is imperative that local resources are utlised to their maximum potential. Yew Wood Venues is starting 2012 with much enthuasism and positivity for the year ahead. With this rebranding, also brings a very strong and forward thinking developmental plan for the Mall Arts Centre and St Marys Collegiate Church to accompany this new title.

Yew Wood Venues office is in the Coach House of the Entreprise Centre, Emmet Place – just next to St. Marys Collegiate Church. The office will be open 5 days a week and contact number is 083-3606507 or 024-81823. Official office hours will be added shortly to the website www.themallartscentre.com

THE YOUGHAL TAEKWON DO CLUB under the instruction of Michael Roche held a successful charity ‘Kickathon’ fundraiser on Wednesday (30th March 2011). This unusual event took place at the GAA centre. The aim was to support Youghal volunteers Bobby Lee and John Riordan on their mission to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake disaster. The volunteers will be travelling this Saturday 2nd April to work for one week with the charity Haven.

Mr. Roche said the club members both senior and junior were more than happy to help the volunteers for this great cause and wished them and his fellow volunteers a safe journey to Haiti. Bobby Lee who is a talented musician and charity fundraiser, thanked all those involved in the ‘Kickathon’ and was appreciative of the input from the members of the club towards the building of new homes for the people of Haiti. This is Bobby’s second trip to the diaster zone.
The Youghal Taekwon Do club meet Wednesday and Friday between 4 -6 pm at the GAA centre and may be contacted at this number: 085 7603687
INFO: IUTF
The Irish United Taekwon Do Federation is one of Ireland’s largest martial arts associations with clubs spread right across the country. In less than ten years the IUTF has grown from six to 42 clubs. This is due to strong leadership, hard work, and team effort.

Youghal Volunteers To Help Build Houses In Haiti

In light of the Haitian earthquake Youghal volunteers are jetting off to Haiti to build houses with Cork born charity Haven on April 2nd 2011.

Info on the charity Haven
Leslie & Carmel Buckley founded Haven in late 2008. Leslie is a successful businessman and co-founder of the Digicel mobile phone company. His business interests brought him to Haiti for the first time in 2004 and he was really horrified by the level of poverty on this island in the Caribbean. He decided to do something to help and set up Haven with an initial donation of one million euros to cover adminiteration costs.

Haven is building homes and communities in Haiti in two ways. Firstly, it is training, up-skilling and employing local Haitian people to build the homes all year round.
In this way, Haven is creating jobs in a country where unemployment stands at more than 50% and opportunities are few. Secondly, Haven is bringing large groups of volunteers to Haiti for an intensive Build it Week.

Haven’s first project is in Ouanaminthe (pron. wan-a-menth), in the northeast department of Haiti. It is a border town close to the Dominican Republic. There are approximately 50,000 people living in the town and another 50,000 on the outskirts. It is mainly rural and under-developed. The UN estimate that 94% of people are living below the official poverty line and unemployment is rife. Haven is building homes in the rural areas. We will build 200 new homes and upgrade 250 more in our first year of operations. Most of our beneficiaries live in makeshift mud huts, often with thatched roofs. They have no running water and most have no toilet facilities. The average income of our beneficiaries in Ouanaminthe is 523 gourdes – which is just over € 9. Those who are working are mainly involved in agriculture or informal trading.

In 2009, 260 volunteers from every county in Ireland took part in Haven’s first ever Build it Week. These pioneering volunteers built 41 houses, a new playground, an extra classroom for the local school and a basketball court. And all of this during the hottest week Haiti has seen for more than 37 years.

Conditions were tough – but that made it all the more rewarding for all of us involved. 41 Haitian families now have a proper roof over their heads for the first time because of all your hard work.

Each volunteer is required to raise a minimum of €4,000. Approximately €2,000 of this covers flights, accommodation, food and water for the duration of Build it Week. The remainder of the funds raised will go towards building materials for the houses that you will build during Build it Week.

Volunteers will live on site in basic accom- modation, and will take part in all activities that go into the running of the camp as well as the construction of the new homes: roofing, plumbing, painting, medical, catering, water distribution, etc. With your help, Haven will build 300 houses across Haiti this year.

Volunteers will live on site in basic accom- modation, and will take part in all activities that go into the running of the camp as well as the construction of the new homes: roofing, plumbing, painting, medical, catering, water distribution, etc. With your help, Haven will build 300 houses across Haiti this year.

In 2009, 260 volunteers from every county in Ireland took part in Haven’s first ever Build it Week. These pioneering volunteers built 41 houses, a new playground, an extra classroom for the local school and a basketball court. And all of this during the hottest week Haiti has seen for more than 37 years.

Conditions were tough – but that made it all the more rewarding for all of us involved. 41 Haitian families now have a proper roof over their heads for the first time because of all the hard work.

Youghal’s Michael Del Punta, aka “The Singing Waiter” new Cd called Christmas Collection is now available to buy. The seven-track predominates with- known classics masterfully rendered in typical jazz/swing style by the 20 year-old crooner. The CD, limited to 500 copies for the Christmas market, was recently launched at the Nook Bar, Youghal.

Michael Del Punta’s Christmas Collection coast €9.95 and is available in Youghal from Broderick’s, Touch of Class, Capri Bay, Cree’s Card Shop, the Cyber Room and of course from Santa Claus late on December 24th.

CRY Christmas Party at Youghal Rugby Club on Friday the 17th of December. 4 Bands, 2 DJ’s  1 Dance off…… 9pm till late.

The party features the cream of local Talent. Planet Claire, Bobby Lee and Friends The Birds and Singing sensation Michael Del Punta singing songs from his new album and more.
DJ Stan will MC on the night kicking things off at 9pm before the bands take the stage at 9.30 . Dancers from the Graham McDermott school of dance will host a dance off afterwards where there will be fantastic prizes on offer ,before DJ Brian Rellis hits the decks afterwards playing the very latest club classics and the best of the Noughties.

Christmas Parties have never been this good.

All proceeds to the CRY Relocation fund.

Samantha Forrest is the 2010 winner of The JaneHolly Talent show. The Talent show which took place over 3 weeks saw 8 contestants take part with four finalists chosen to go through to the live final by both public vote and judges deliberation.

The Judges consisting of musicians Bobby Lee and Carol Keniry, CRY presenters Bill Daly and Stanley Notte and CRY’s  Darragh Parker were astounded by the quality and raw talent that was on offer.
The Four finalists  Leah Aherne. Stephen Murphy, Padraig Walsh and Samantha all sang live on air on Tuesday the 9th of November and although an extremely difficult decision , it was the small girl with the big voice Samantha Forrest who walked away with a cheque for €100 courtesy of Crowley’s Mace and CRY.

THE NOOK BAR IN YOUGHAL joined forces with the ‘Trad for Trocaire’ campaign where musicians play tunes for charity. Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com Email: news@youghalonline.com

‘Trad for Trocaire’ kicked off at The Nook on Friday, September 24 and ran until Sunday 26th. It is a weekend celebration of traditional Irish music, run by Trocaire and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in association with musicians, venues and trad music fans. The Nook patrons and musicians ‘raised the roof’ by organising and supporting the local traditional music session.
As part of the initiative, THE NOOK BAR had an early ‘Trad for Trocaire’ session on Wednesday 23rd, which is a  regular and popular weekly trad session in the bar.

Mick Mangan & Rannach, Bobby Lee & Friends and The Butterfly Band were just some of the trad musicians who took part.

Money raised through the campaign will support the overseas aid organisation’s worldwide work to help poor and vulnerable communities overcome poverty.

Michael Treacy, proprietor of the popular Nook Bar on North Main St. said “The ‘Trad for Trocaire’ campaign was a great success  thanked everyone involved in supporting this worthy cause, especially all the musicians who played over the ‘Trad for Trocaire’ weekend.

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The Mary Coughlan Trio performed recently at the Youghal International Spanish College Chapel. Event organiser Bobby Lee from Sacred Roots Productions said he was delighted with the new venue which was another first in his promotion of music in the town. Previous Sacred Roots Productions events were held at St. Mary’s Collegiate Church and The Mall Arts Centre.
Photo: Michael Hussey www.youghalonline.com Email: news@youghalonline.com

Bobby lee is a well known  musician, recording artist,producer and facilitator with brother Fergal established sacred root records in 2005.
‘Sacred root is all about lives, in helping people realise theyre potential and dreams as human beings through the form of music’

Thank you for contributing toward the build bless you all we built  63 houses, a community center and a school t in a week by the grace of god.

Temperatures rose from 37 to 49 degrees celsius at one point hitting 56 in the kitchen melting we were with no casualties, Thank god

We are going again in October and are beginning to fund raise again so please continue to help if you can.

CONTACT BOBBY  @  sacredroot@gmail.com -  OR TEL 087 995 7102

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Luka Bloom received a warm welcome at the Mall Arts Centre, Youghal on Saturday, March 20th 2010, along with special guests Jack O’ Rourke and Niall McCarthy, as part of the Sacred Root music projects. Report:  Bobby Whyte | Photo: Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

Supporting him on the night were Jack O’Rourke, who performed his own compositions on piano with Jack Hussey and Niall O’Connor on guitars, as well as Niall McCarthy who delivered an inspiring acoustic set on guitar and bagpipes.

Currently finishing an 11-date Irish tour, Luka Bloom performed  songs taken off his latest album ‘Dreams in America’ as well as treating the audience to select songs from his vast repertoire.

Luka showcased his inimitable style of guitar playing with a blistering set of classics as well as new music which reflect his interest in World music. Having suffered from tendonitis, Luka adopted a heavy, fast strumming style which gave his music a rich texture about it.

The concerts, which had previously taken place at St. Mary’s Collegiate Church, have been temporarily re-located to the Mall Arts Centre, another local venue in the town. Previous Sacred Root concerts which took place in the church included Mick Flannery and Kate Walsh, Liam O Maoinlai, singer/songwriter Declan O’Rourke and Dublin-group Kíla. The unique concerts are acclaimed for their haunting atmosphere and unique ambience, accredited to the church’s 500 year old acoustic system.

For more information, visit Sacred Root (www.sacred-root.com) or contact Bobby Lee on 087 9957102.

Upcoming Sacred Root gigs include Freddie White on the 30th of April, with Dervish and Mary Coughlan scheduled for later dates.

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Davie Murphy from Youghal, with the help of his family, friends and supporters, held a very enjoyable Table Top Quiz at the Youghal Rugby Club recently. The quiz is part of ongoing fund-raising activities to help Davie’s mission to Haiti where he will help to build houses with Cork born charity Haven. Photo: Michael Hussey Youghalonline.com

Davie needs to raise €4,000 in fund-raising events and appreciates any help towards this worthy cause. Fellow Youghal natives, John O Riordan and Bobby Lee will also travel with Davie to help in the disaster zone where the terrible earthquake occurred on Tuesday 12th January 2010.

Each volunteer is required to raise a minimum of €4,000. Approximately €2,000 of this covers flights, accommodation, food and water for the duration of Build it Week. The remainder of the funds raised will go towards building materials for the houses that you will build during Build it Week.

Volunteers will live on site in basic accommodation, and will take part in all activities that go into the running of the camp as well as the construction of the new homes: roofing, plumbing, painting, medical, catering, water distribution, etc. With your help, Haven will build 300 houses across Haiti this year. Davie told Youghalonline.com that he would like to thank all the supporters, participants at the quiz, Youghal Rugby Club and especially the kind generosity of the sponsors in helping him to help Haiti. -Youghalonline.com
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Mick Flannery and Kate Walsh played to a capacity audience of music lovers last Thursay night ( Nov. 26th Nov. 2009) at St Mary’s Collegiate Church in Youghal. Sacred Root Productions promoted the event to raise funds for their excellent work with youth and community group.
Photo: Michael Hussey/Bromwen Howley www.youghalonline.com  Email: news@youghalonline.com

Local musicians Bobby Lee, Helen Murray and Steve Whelan played support and Bobby Whyte was MC. The concert is one of a series to be staged in the historic Church with Liam Ó Maonlaí (Hothouse flowers) to play next at the beginning of January 2010. Watch this space for more info.

Mick Flannery

It’s hard to reconcile the nondescript character from interviews, with the husky voice, rich with charisma and charm, that emits from the speakers. But Mick Flannery is a bit of a paradox. The shy Corkonian – stonemason by day, troubadour by night – caused quite a stir with his 2005 debut ‘Evening Train’, an album that drew more comparisons with a young Tom Waits than any other artist in recent memory, Irish or otherwise.

The most astounding thing about Flannery, though, was that an album dripping with maturity, poise and potential was crafted when the Blarney man was just 21 years old.

Now at the ripe old age of 25, Flannery’s first major label-debut is equally as stimulating. The Waits comparisons are still apparent, although on ‘White Lies’, there’s a sense that Flannery is very much determined to shun any resemblances, and find his own sound. Undoubtedly influenced by classic songwriters, his gorgeous, textured voice – which sounds it’s lived through several lifetimes – is less imitative of his heroes, but no less affecting or understated.

There’s no doubt, either, that Flannery’s talent as a songwriter is exciting: aching piano and guitar ballads sit comfortably astride sultry, theatrical bar-room fables that groove and quietly holler, while the subtleties of his key changes, the gorgeous female backing vocals on many songs, and his proficiency with lyrics (Near or Far is particularly stirring) don’t go unnoticed, either.

A singer-songwriter in the truest sense of the word – perhaps ‘storyteller’ would be more appropriate – ‘White Lies’ may not be a perfect album, but it’s certainly a promising step forward for a real talent. Watch this one grow. Review by Lauren Murphy

Kate Walsh

Kate Walsh is an English singer from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.

A graduate of the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, her first album was Clocktower Park (produced by Lee Russell), released in 2003 by Kitchenware Records. The album was named for a meeting place in her home town. In 2007, she released her second album, Tim’s House. It quickly became the No. 1 album on the UK iTunes Store. The album also features her most popular song, Your Song. Her big break came when she gained iTunes customers’ attention when her song Talk of the Town became the iTunes Free Single of the Week from the week beginning 20th March 2007.

Her third studio album, Light and Dark, was released in the UK on 31st August 2009. The lead single from the record, June Last Year, was released on 24th August. She is set to begin her UK tour at the end of September

Steve Whelan

Youghal singer/songwriter Steve Whelan has a very down to earth approach delivering his music with a spirit of honesty presence and grit. His smoky vocals married with his simple but poetic and addictive melodies produces a musical honesty and edge possessed by few writer composers. His influences range from Ben Harper, Cat Stevens, The Beatles to Gospel and Spiritual music.

Bobby Lee

Broadly deemed one of the finest guitarists of his generation, in 1996 Bobby was judged Fender’s “Irish guitarist of the future” by no less an intuitive opinion than that of Donal Gallagher, brother to the late Rory. (He received his award at Wembley Conference Centre, in the company of such as Hank Marvin of The Shadows and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac).Interveining years has seen Bobby collaborate and support international luminaries like David Gray-Mercury Rev-The Kinks – Ronan O Snodaigh – Dee Armstrong- Liam Ó Maonlaí as well as long time friends and Irish stars Kila.

Bobby’s highlight in 2007 was funkin it up on the chill stage at Ireland’s prestigious Electric Picnic Festival 2007 and he has just come off a National tour with Dublin based band Kila to promote his new album “The Future History”. Bobby is a soulful, sensitive performer and songwriter, his highly spirited Funky Folk and Soul sound takes his music far beyond the realms of singer songwriter. His songs carry messages laden with spiritual and social imperative and are delivered with supreme musical and vocal dexterity.

He cites Jesus Christ as influential in his life and work but asked as to his religious preference, he replies, “I am who I am. Its not the branch that matters, it’s the ground its planted in, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim. They’re all just labels. Its not important what I am, its important that I am.” Bobby was ably joined on stage by local singer Helen Murray who is a former winner of the Y Factor.
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