Spirits were high as the Timahoe Male Choir (and their eclectic mix of groupies) departed on Friday morning.
Though some booked separately and travelled via London, the majority of the touring group of 45 flew out of Shannon Airport.
Some drove down but there was still a sizeable group on the bus that left Timahoe village after a hearty breakfast provided by local publican Jim Ramsbottom, who is part of the choir and was one of the originals that sang in their firs performance in the local church back at Christmas 2023.
Little did they think at that stage that less than 18 months later they’d be heading to New York for St Patrick’s Day.
Shannon is a remarkably easy, small and comfortable place to fly out of and after dropping our bags (a group check in had been facilitated by Willie Lalor), one of the first people we met was Paul ‘Walla’ Brown, offering sweets to all and sundry.
Paul is a Portlaoise man but along with his cousins Barry and Damien Kavanagh (who are now long-time members of the Timahoe community) he has been in the choir since the early days. He’s also in two choirs in Portlaoise and gets piano and tin whistle lessons on a weekly basis.
Also one of the first we encounter is former Laois county councillor James Daly. James was a Fine Gael councillor from 1991 to 2014 and this will be his fourth time to march in the New York St Patrick’s Day parade.
On two of the previous occasions – 2008 and 2010 – he did so as Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council.
One of the group got into a slight bit of trouble getting through immigration, but thankfully emerged a short while later in plenty of time to take his place on the flight.
Needless to say there was a huge cheer when he rejoined the group though there are suggestions that he’ll be known as the ‘Timahoe One’ from here on in.
Before boarding, the group pose for the obligatory photo and burst into a chorus of ‘Lovely Laois’. They make it short and sweet though and get the photo taken as quickly as they can so they don’t block the whole place up.
Upon finding their seats, Walla is delighted to be in the back row as he “never heard of a plane reversing into a mountain”.
And while the on flight entertainment system has a selection of films, box sets and podcasts, the reading material of choice tells a story in itself.
Walla has two copies of Ireland’s Own while James Fitzpatrick has the latest edition of the Farmers Journal.
You can take the men out of Laois alright, but you can’t take Laois out of the men.
Upon landing in JFK Airport in New York there was a special announcement wishing the ‘Timoleen’ choir the very best of luck over the weekend.
Though the seating arrangement was somewhat random with the group scattered all across the plane, there was an impromptu sing-song spearheaded by James Fitzpatrick and Roghan Headen of ‘This is my Homeland’.
Many of the other passengers were suitably impressed with the cameras whipped out to record it – and there was a warm round of applause after it reached its crescendo.
Memories of Comhaltas trip
LaoisToday photographer Paul Dargan is no stranger to the Irish-American scene having been an Irish dancer with professional groups that toured all over the States over the years.
His first US experience was way back in 1993 when, as a 13-year-old, he was part of a group organised by the legendary Comhaltas man Stephen Conroy from Camross.
Singers, dancers and musicians, mostly from Laois and neighbouring counties, were among the very talented group that departed from the Montague Hotel for an incredible trip.
They performed at concerts to a US audience right across the east coast of the USA over a couple of weeks, a memorable experience for those who travelled.
Stephen died way before his time in 2005 but left a massive legacy and gave so many young people a big start in the music and entertainment space.
The Crettyard connection
There are choir members from all across Laois – Portlaoise, Spink, Ballyroan, Rathdowney, Stradbally and Ballinakill as well as two proud Crettyard men, Paul Delaney and Pa O’Reilly.
After reaching their hotel, the Gallivant, just off Times Square, most of the main group made it across to the Beer Authority for food and drink.
That’s where their main gig is on Saturday night at 8pm and the busy establishment had promos for it on their big screens. Many of the other TV screens were showing March Madness college basketball and wrestling.
The Crettyard duo had one of their own to welcome them to the Big Apple – Shane Buggy, who has been living here since 2008, and works in the renowned McSorleys Old Ale House, the oldest Irish bar in New York.
He also owns a couple of other bars, including The Copper Still.
1981 and a three-week Laois football tour
While mentioning previous Laois groups that travelled to America for tours, it’s hard not to escape how big a deal it must have been for a group of Laois footballers to travel over in 1981.
They went for an incredible three weeks in November-December, staying in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and even made a trip to Washington and the White House.
The Laois footballers had been in the 1981 Leinster final (the county’s first in 13 years) and on the morning of the game, while having breakfast in the Green Isle Hotel, some of the players were approached by Mike Cowley, who had played with Laois in the 1940s.
He had emigrated to Detroit where he owned a bar and was home for that Leinster final. He told the Laois lads that if they won he’d bring them out to America on a celebratory tour.
Laois lost to a real up-and-coming Offaly side that day but the seed was sown for a tour and Bobby Miller, then one of Laois’s most experienced players, led a group that went about organising it.
Each club raised funds to send their players and Joe Moore in the PMPA donated £10,000, a massive sum of money at the time.
In all a travelling party of almost 80 people made the trip and the Laois team played matches (including one against Monaghan who were also touring at the time) in all three cities.
One of the games was played under lights on an astro-turf pitch which would have been a completely new experience for the Laois lads in the early 1980s.
“We thought we were Real Madrid,” quipped one of the players when we were chatting to them recently.
It’s a topic we’ll try to return to at some point in the future. There’s definitely a feature, or a podcast, to be mined from the memories of that one.
SEE ALSO – New York Diary: Choir, council reps and LaoisToday all set for Big Apple trip
