Red Hurley to perform in Clonmel to raise funds for local church

One of Ireland’s most renowned singers, Red Hurley, will perform a concert in St Mary’s Church in Irishtown in Clonmel on December 4 to raise funds for  the church’s refurbishment fund. 

The veteran entertainer, affectionately known as The Voice, will perform with the Eugene McCarthy Band at the church concert that kicks off at 8pm. 

Mr Hurley said his show will have a Christmas feel to it with the beautiful O Holy Night among the carols he plans to sing on the night. 

The singer, who represented Ireland in the 1976 Eurovision, will also perform a mix of musical theatre favourites from such shows as Les Miserables and a selection of his own  hit songs such as Sometimes and Love Is All  from the height of his fame in the 1970s. 

Part of the proceeds from the concert will go to the St Mary’s Church refurbishment fund while the remainder will pay for the costs of staging the concert. 

Red Hurley said he was delighted to be back doing what he loves most  after the Covid-19 pandemic and is very busy touring and performing around the country. 

“I thought I would go mad if I didn’t go out and start singing again. Thankfully we are over the worst of the Covid pandemic. It was tough, just terrible” he said.

 Busy schedule

The Dubliner, now aged in his 70s, has just finished a round of gigs at hospitals and nursing homes in counties like Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow.

He also has a busy commercial schedule of concerts before and after Christmas including sell out shows at The Draíocht and Pavillion theatres in Dublin, which are part of his 50 Years On the Road Tour.  

After the St Mary’s Church concert, he will be back in Clonmel again on December 15 performing with a host of country music stars like Louise Morrissey and Dominic Kirwan in the Christmas Country Concert Tour concert at Hotel Minella. 

And after Christmas, the former showband lead singer will be performing with the Ronan Collins Reeling In The Showband Years tour at 30 venues around the country. 

St Mary’s Parish secretary and sacristan Maria Cooke said it was brilliant to get a singer of Red Hurley’s calibre to perform a concert in aid of  St Mary’s Church’s refurbishment project. 

She appealed to the people of the parish and town  to support the show on Sunday, December 4.

“Tickets for the concert cost €20 and are available at St Mary’s Pastoral Centre, which is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 1.30pm. They are also on sale in Carri’s Gift Shop on O’Connell Street Clonmel,” she told The Nationalist.

The refurbishment and repair of St Mary’s Church, which dates from the 1850s, has been ongoing for the past few years. Ms Cooke reported that the renovations to the exterior of the church are nearly completed and the scaffolding is due to be removed from the church in the next few weeks. 

The cross and dome on top of the church’s belfry were struck by lightning and dislodged during Storm Ophelia in October 2017.  Before the pandemic, the cost of the repairs plus refurbishment of the church's interior, which hasn’t been painted for about 25 years, was estimated to cost approximately €200,000. 

Ms Cooke said the dome has been replaced and the cross repaired. The final stage of the exterior work refurbishment of  the clock  is nearly complete  The project will then move to the interior redecorating works.

Anyone wishing  to purchase tickets should call into or  telephone St Mary’s Pastoral Centre on the grounds of St Mary’s Primary School at (052) 6122773 or call into Carri’s Gift Shop at 51 O’Connell Street, Clonmel.