Living link to CCÉ origins honoured at 75-year party

When the Westmeath committee planned a trad weekend to mark 75 years of Comhaltas, they decided to honour a living link to the first fleadh.

That link is Hubie Magee of Mullingar Town Band, who won the flageolet All-Ireland in 1951. Now 88 years of age, Hubie was among those recognised as part of an event on the Market Square on Saturday to unveil a plaque that marks Mullingar as the place where Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was founded all those years ago.

That part of a busy weekend had begun when Mullingar Town Band marched Comhaltas dignitaries from Áras an Mhuilinn and the arts centre up Mount Street to the square. Kim Magee, Hubie’s daughter and current band director, led the band and directed the music.

Once everyone was seated, beneath the protection of umbrellas, the formal proceedings began under the guidance of Brendan Doyle, chairperson of the Westmeath Comhaltas committee.

The speakers were Cllr Bill Collentine, cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Joe Connaire, Comhaltas county committee, and chair of the Fleadh Executive Committee (FEC) when the town hosted Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2022 and 2022, Labhrás Ó Murchú, ardstiúrthóir, CCÉ, and Attracta Ní Bhrádaigh, Uachtarán, CCÉ.

There were two formal parts to the event, the raising of a Comhaltas flag by Willie Penrose, member of the county committee and the FEC, accompanied by piper Eamonn Walsh playing A Nation Once Again, and the unveiling of the plaque by Joe Connaire.

Addressing the gathering, Labhrás Ó Murchú began with a reference to the Fleadhanna in Mullingar in 2022 and 2023 and said they provided memories that will last long into the future: “People are saying why not bring it back to Mullingar again – that too is for the future, but coming together to celebrate 75 years is for today.”

He complimented all involved in the play, ‘Where it all Began’, which tells the story of the origins Comhaltas, and which was performed at Áras an Mhuilinn on Saturday.

“It was absolutely superior in every way, and it gave me a sense of those people, and there’s a message in this – one person can change society if they’re focused and dedicated and sincere, and that group here 75 years ago, were focused and dedicated and sincere, and look what they achieved.

“And if you really want to get a sense of that, you have to look at the Fleadh Cheoil in Belfast in recent weeks.

“I don’t mean anything of a wrong nature to politicians, but the message that’s gone out is that Comhaltas and the Fleadh succeeded in doing what everybody else failed to do – they brought everyone together, all politics, all persuasions, no persuasion, every person you can think of, and here is the outcome, here is the statistic – 1.6 million people came to Belfast to say we all occupy this planet together, we all respect each other, we like diversity of culture and we’re going to show the world, and how did they show the world, to 2.1 billion people, the statistics are overawing, but at the end of the day, what is it about, it is about human beings, it is about having a message for the next generation.

“Well done to those people who, 75 years ago, against all the odds, lit a spark, sowed the seed, so that we would have a bountiful harvest.

“We’ve had it here, we’ve had it in Belfast, and from now on, this island has been changed, so each of you, each musician, each dancer, each singer, each supporter, each and every one of you, can take a mighty bow, because it was by working as a team that we succeeded in doing that.

“To Mullingar, I say happy birthday, 75 years, we couldn’t fit all the candles on a cake. It has been an emotional, an emotional couple of days here. Thank you to everybody who made it possible, and who knows, we might be back here again in 75 years’ time. Go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.”

Among those honoured at the event, as well as Hubie Magee, were Mary Gaughran, daughter of Ma Mullally, who, Brendan Doyle said, “was instrumental in developing and building Comhaltas here in Westmeath”; and Colette Glynn, Joe Connaire and Willie Penrose, who were instrumental in the success of the Fleadhanna in 2022 and 2023.

In her address, Attracta Ní Bhrádaigh, Uachtarán, CCÉ, said Westmeath has something in common with Mayo, in that it was also 75 years from when they won the senior football all-Ireland to this year, and she thanked Eamonn Walsh, who had his pipes clad in the red and green of his native county, for the event on Saturday.

She asked the crowd to give him a cheer, and reiterated the comments by Labhrás on the Comhaltas origins play.

“I thought to myself, and you’ll all understand this, we all said that Comhaltas grew from something small in Mullingar, and I’ve changed my mind on that today, because I looked at those people down there (on stage at Áras an Mhuilinn) – they had big vision, and they put that into place.

“Yes, they had to start small, but if you want to do something, you keep it, you control it, and you grow it where you can. And that’s exactly what they did.

“I looked over here a few minutes ago, at Noel Battle and at all the people here in the front, and I thought to myself, that is what Comhaltas is all about. It is, and I know Noel won’t mind me saying this, the more senior people playing the same tunes as the young people.

“It’s that continuity of our culture that those visionaries had planned for in 1951. If we use that history, and their vision as a conduit for what we have now, we can look forward 75 years, to when all those young people here are like Hubie over there, experienced, and still loving their music and loving their life… so let’s take the history, let’s be the conduit, and let’s bring it forward into the future. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.”

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