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Marquee Memories (Read 22437 times)
06/07/04 at 03:38:59

Admin   Offline
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The history of Irish music
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Sligo, Ireland

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At one time, marquees dotted the countryside in Ireland from Spring to Fall. Usually well attended, but woefully lacking in amenities, these makeshift canvas ballrooms were a mainstay of the dance circuit. Unfortunately most are long gone and forgotten, except by locals. Tell us your stories, send us your photos and we promise to post them!
 
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Reply #1 - 04/09/06 at 05:39:49

angelvoice   Offline
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Hi, I have a weird but happy memory from some Marquee in County Cork somewhere. I was Carrie with Shaun O'Dowd & Ding-a-Ling, I had a temperature of 104* F with Bronchitis. We went across the road to a pub, a very crowded pub, in a very crowded little village, in the height of their summer festivities and as we walked through the door we heard a local band on stage singing 'You Are No Angel' Shauns new single- in which I have a solo, just as we walked in the girl started singing my bit...my God...I thought I had arrived...lol
Hey Ho, still a great memory for me.
 
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Reply #2 - 06/11/06 at 19:52:25

Trish   Offline
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Make Love not War!
Northamptonshire, England

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I have very fond memories of when the 'Carnival' used to come to Kinnegad back in the late '60's - '70's. As a young teenager, they would have dances for us young 'uns in the afternoons at the weekends so as we wouldn't try to sneak in through a gap in the marquee when the big bands were playing at night  Grin. As I got older...the highlight of the summer was when we would see the marquee being set up, then waiting to see if our fave bands would be playing. You could guarantee that it would rain at some stage of the festivities and didn't you just know it when visiting the toilets...I think the worst was trying to avoid slipping over on the makeshift flooring from the tent to the toilets, that is if you were lucky to have that put down on the sodden grass. I always wondered though, why the women's were further away than the men's ... Angry
 

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them!
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Reply #3 - 06/12/06 at 17:21:22

liamo   Offline
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arklow. ireland

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I remember playing in a big marquee in Moynalty Co. Meath in the very early 60s. Massive crowd and you could hardly breathe.
Later in the late 70s I remember the Indians playing in a marquee at Inch Gorey Co. Wexford. Thiis was an annual event run by promoter Danny Doyle.
 
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Reply #4 - 09/24/06 at 02:18:52

breezy_willow   Offline
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Surrey, England

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Hi
I was Jenny in "Jenny & The Mighty Avons" 1981'ish and we were based in Portumna, Co Galway. As most bands, we had to do a fair amount of travelling up and down and up and down the country (we were so proud when we had ex aircraft seats fitted in the van!!!!).
We did many Marquee's over the years and I remember on more than one occasion having to be carried from the van to the marquee because of the mud!! No I wasnt going to ruin my best shoes!!!!!!! The lack of facilities was a huge problem. I was lucky a few times when I was taken pity on and a local person offered me the opportunity to "change" in their house! Having said that, the atmosphere created in the marquee's was unbeatable. It was worth the long drive, getting lost, big arguments, arriving with not long to get set up, putting up with the inclement weather and being very hungry!!! YES it really was! Those were the days eh?
D
 

Enjoy life...it only happens once!
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Reply #5 - 12/28/06 at 17:19:59
luap   Ex Member

 
The best marquee memory has to be Declan Nerney's marvellous song, "The Marquee At Drumlish".  Love him or hate him, Declan really captures the spirit of the whole showband era with that song - and that's something coming from me, as I never once saw the inside of a marquee!  (City boy, you know...)
 
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Reply #6 - 01/04/07 at 17:54:16

whistle   Offline
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Kerry

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It's quite a good song alright, really covers the era well with the unique sounds of the different bands he played in. BUT  - I can't find Declan Nerney anywhere on this website, is he listed anywhere? There's a lot of pages and lists, maybe I'm going  blind in my old age....
 
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Reply #7 - 01/04/07 at 19:31:25

Trish   Offline
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Make Love not War!
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Hiya Whistle.... I think the reason why you won't find Declan Nerney on this web-site is because, although he started off with the Gene Stuart Band & Brian Coll & the Buckaroos, he didn't 'arrive' (in his own right) on the Irish music scene until the '80's. There is a section on this web-site for 'New Irish Music' so maybe someone would like to start adding some of the more 'recent' additions to the Irish music scene. I think we've all been so wrapped up on the past, that we've fogotten about the present. Wink
 

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them!
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Reply #8 - 01/04/07 at 20:07:25

whistle   Offline
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Kerry

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Thanks, Trisha, isn't it interesting that a band which is probably closest to the original showband model isn't featured on this website!
Good point about being wrapped up in the past, but shure, isn't that what nostalgia is all about!

happy new year to ye,

Whistle
 
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Reply #9 - 09/20/07 at 18:12:35

Boyne_Rover   Offline
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I was at Declan at the Recent Marquee in Drumlish and could not believe the huge crowd that turned up , mind you it was a huge improvement on the marquees of years ago with a bar , emergency doors and lighting and an army of stewards . Declan puts on some show and without doubt is the closest of todays bands to the showbands . His Hooley in the Sun each year is great craic .
Looking forward to his visit to Drogheda on Oct 9th
 
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Reply #10 - 10/15/07 at 22:17:19

Rusty   Offline
Showband
KEEP HER LIT !!
Sligo Ireland

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Declan is definitely a one off!!
He has a few pretenders to the throne chasing him around the country.
One in particular is from County Sligo and must have grown up listening to nothing else but Declan Nerney.

But there will be only one original!!

 

Keepin it live!! --Nearly!!
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Reply #11 - 10/17/07 at 09:47:56

Derek   Offline
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dnbentertainmen t sole
management for Dickie
Ray
Benidorm

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Having just started playing in 1974 I missed most of the marquee scene.  My only memory of playing once in a Marquee was that the facitities where so bad the band had to stop playing every few songs so that the tea ladies could boil up the kettles again.  There wasn't enough power to do both
 
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Reply #12 - 11/09/07 at 21:58:56

whistle   Offline
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while you work
Kerry

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Many of the marquee gigs were run  by the local Parish Commit-TEEE so the Reverend Father was the guy the band dealt with for the few bob.  I'm sure I've told the story before but it's worth a return:
very few punters turned up for one particular gig. At the end of the night, the priest, holding a wad of old pound notes in his hand, told the manager that his band hadn't attracted as big a crowd as promised, and that it was a very disappointing night. The manager whipped the wad of notes from the priest's grip and said, "well, Father, no point in two of us being disappointed then", and disappeared with the band into the night in their old Ford Transit!

Whistle
 
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