The Carndonagh Brass Band had the honour of playing for President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina at Áras an Uachtaráin on 30th June.
This was the third time the Band has played for the President.
In 2016 the band played for President Higgins in Letterkenny at the official award ceremony for Letterkenny’s winning the overall Tidiest Town in Ireland, in the Tidy Towns competition.
Subsequently in 2019 the band was invited to Aras an Uachtaran to play on the lawns at the ‘Bloomsday’ celebrations, representing a highlight in the band’s history.
On 30th June this year, the Band were delighted to be asked once again to perform at a garden party in the Aras.
After meeting the President and Mrs Higgins on the steps of the Arás, the band’s programme ranged from lively jazz numbers like “The Bare Necessities” to President Higgins’ favourite, “Galway Bay,” creating a welcoming atmosphere for arriving guests. In his speech, the President himself expressed his gratitude for the band’s contribution to the event.
Carndonagh Brass Band at Áras an Uachtaráin on 30th June performing for Michael D Higgins
One of Donegal’s longest-established organisations, the Carndonagh Brass Band was initially formed in 1885 as the St Macartans Brass Band, and since then, has had a number of iterations, with the current Band having been reformed in 2015.
The current band has members travelling from Letterkenny, Buncrana and Derry to practice on a weekly basis.
Despite the pandemic, the Band has gone from strength to strength, with 25 members turning out for the Presidential performance.
History records that during the War of Independence, when Eamon De Valera and Sean McEntee arrived in Carndonagh on Sunday 10th February 1918 by train, “the Carndonagh brass and reed band were also there to meet the two men” (The Donegal Awakening: Donegal and the War of Independence)
