Sunday, May 30th 2010 at 8pm   Emmet Place,  Youghal, Co. Cork

Concerts at the beautiful 13th Century, St Mary’s Collegiate Church, Emmet Place, Youghal, have become very popular in the last few months with artists such as Mick Flannery, Kila and Declan O’Rourke to mention a few, performing there and these concerts have been greatly supported by the people of Youghal and the surrounding areas. Pic: Youghalonline.com

Slowly but surely we have been upgrading this beautiful ancient church with the addition of cushions in the pews, replacing old carpets and replacing the plastic partition in the chancel with a beautiful blue velvet curtain. The Church unfortunately doesn’t receive any funding whatsoever, therefore we rely totally on donations and income from the rental of the church.  Only recently grant aid has been approved for the acquisition of a mobile stage and the three extra doors in the building are currently being repaired and will be open in the next week or so making concerts safer in the event of a fire.

In an attempt to continually improve the comfort of concert goers, we plan to install a heating system as it can be extremely cold during the winter months.   A fundraising concert will be held on Sunday May 30th  in the Church to raise funds towards the installation of said system.

Participation from community groups and individuals at this event has been so great that there will be 17 acts performing on the night from children’s dance groups to church choirs, from theatre groups to Michael Jackson impersonators to individual solo singers.  Acts include Harmony, Youghal Choral Society, Chatterbox Dance Studio, Colin Lee, Terri McCarthy, The Blackwater Academy of Performing Arts and many many more great local singers and dancers.

It promises to be a great family evening out with a vast array of live performers in this beautiful setting.

Tickets on the door for only €10.

Parking available at the rear exit of the church on Raheen Road,  at Fairfield car-park (next to Berties Pub) or behind Super Valu.  No parking allowed in the grounds of the church.

Please come along and support our rich local heritage.

For further information call 083 360 6507.

Youghal town council has pulled the plug on concerts at St. Mary’s Collegiate Church due to ‘health & safety’ issues. Consequently Saturday’s (March 20th) Luka Bloom concert has been transferred to the council’s €750,000 headquarters at the Mall Arts Centre (Town hall), which also hosts concerts. Report: Christy Parker | Photo: Michael Hussey Youghalonline.com

Youghal Town Manager Patricia Power says consultants have expressed concerns that the doors at the 800 year-old church, which the council owns, “do not open quickly enough” to ensure a safe exit in the case of emergency.

“We recognise the value of the church as a venue but we have to consider people’s safety first,” she said.

Ms Power says the estimated cost of rectifying the exits is €5,000. “The council be seeking funding and we hope to complete the process within a few months,”  she says. The venue will remain open for Church of Ireland services.

The news is a blow to voluntary concert organisers Sacred Roots, who channelled concert profits into a Foroige-supported youth centre and café. “The young people also benefited from helping to prepare the venue for gigs,” says local musician, youth worker and Sacred Roots co-founder Bobby Lee. Mr. Lee says the group had been operating with insurance cover since concerts began last October.

Since last October the 300-capacity church has also provided a mini-boom to the local economy with stars such as John Spillane, Liam O’Maonlai and Declan O’Rourke gracing a venue more synonymous with Oliver Cromwell, Walter Raleigh and the Boyle family. It has been acclaimed for its unique ambience and an amazing 500 year-old acoustics system provided by round earthenware jars placed high in the chancel