Spink Comhaltas

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Charity Concert in memory of Cathal Clooney raises €18,500 for Charity

• spink-cce-admin1 • Awards, Community

Spink Comhaltas organised a concert in memory of a dear friend, Cathal Clooney, earlier this year.  Cathal was a talented musician and great friend who died in April 2021, aged 15.

The ‘Concert for Cathal’ was held on 2 March in the Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix.  Featuring contributions from across the community, the music was provided by Spink Comhaltas, other Laois Comhaltas musicians, as well as performers from other parts of the community.  Fund-raising was supported very generously by a huge range across the community – there were too many contributors to mention, but one group who helped to raise €1,500 of the total were Cathal’s former school friends in Heywood Community School.

Three charities were the recipients of the fund-raising.  Jack & Jill Foundation received €8,500 which will allow respite care to be provided to families across Laois and Offaly.  Make a Wish Foundation and Debra Ireland received €5,000 each.  All of the charities were chosen by the Clooney family.  Representatives of each of the charities were present, and all of them spoke about the valuable services they provided, the importance of voluntary fund raising for their organisations, and how much they appreciated the donations raised.  The presentations were made on 7th September.

Speaking on behalf of the committee and members of Spink Comhaltas, Úna Aylward described how much Cathal was missed, and thanked the Clooney family for the privilege to raise money in memory of Cathal.

Cathal’s father, Willie, spoke on behalf of his family.  Thanking all present, he said that over and above the money raised by the event, they appreciated the support of their local community over the last 3 years since they lost Cathal.  He thanked the musicians and members of Spink Comhaltas for their support and shared some stories of Cathal’s love of music.

To honour Cathal’s memory, the Clooney family have generously donated a perpetual memorial plate, which will be awarded to a junior member of Spink Comhaltas each year.  The first recipient of the ‘Cathal Clooney Award’ will be made on 20th September in Aylward’s Rural Museum, where Spink Comhaltas will be hosting Culture Night.  The event is free to the public and starts at 8pm.

Make A Wish represented by Annabel Laffan are presented with a cheque for €5,000 by Willie, Anne Marie and Liam Clooney along with Spink CCE members Genevieve Bennett, Maeve Hartford, Una Aylward, Marianne Tierney and Lawrence Vesey from funds raised with the Concert for Cathal hosted by Spink Comhaltas and Friends on the 2nd March in The Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
The Jack & Jill Foundation represented by Mary Joe Guilfoyle are presented with a cheque for €8,500 by Willie, Anne Marie and Liam Clooney along with Spink CCE members Genevieve Bennett, Maeve Hartford, Una Aylward, Marianne Tierney, Lawrence Vesey, Finuala Weston and Mairead Gleeson from funds raised with the Concert for Cathal hosted by Spink Comhaltas and Friends on the 2nd March in The Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
Debra Ireland represented by Malachy and Patricia Fogarty are presented with a cheque for €5,000 by Willie, Anne Marie and Liam Clooney along with Spink CCE members Genevieve Bennett, Maeve Hartford, Una Aylward, Marianne Tierney, Lawrence Vesey, Finuala Weston and Mairead Gleeson from funds raised with the Concert for Cathal hosted by Spink Comhaltas and Friends on the 2nd March in The Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
The Jack & Jill Foundation were presented with a cheque for €8,500 by Willie, Anne Marie and Liam Clooney pictured with Heywood teachers Mary Kehoe, Liz Kinahan and Miriam Dalton and student friends of Cathal, Vincent Kehoe and James O’Mahony from funds raised with the Concert for Cathal hosted by Spink Comhaltas and Friends on the 2nd March in The Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
Willie, Anne Marie and Liam Clooney with Cathal’s grandparents Joe and Lil Clooney when they and Spink Comhaltas members presented cheques to Jack and Jill Foundation, Debra Ireland and Make A Wish from funds raised with the Concert for Cathal hosted by Spink Comhaltas and Friends on the 2nd March in The Manor Hotel, Abbeyleix.
Picture: Alf Harvey.