Showbands relived for Heritage Week

THE heady days of the showband era are set to be relived as part of an action-packed Heritage Week in Carlow.

PRO of Carlow Historical & Archaeological Society (CHAS) Paul Curran will hold a presentation on the showband era in Co Carlow in the Seven Oaks Hotel on Wednesday 21 August at 8pm, recounting the bands, their stories and the fun times had by so many. “Through contact with local barber Mick O’Toole, band leader Tommy Alcock, Mick Horahan, Paddy Delaney, Betty Murphy and John Payne, to name but a few, I have gathered up stories and a collection of images that feature many of the local showbands who entertained us in the various venues around the county,” explained Paul. “From the early formative years in the late '40s right on up to the late '70s, local orchestras, then later, showbands such as the PJ Tierney Orchestra, the Carlovians, Mick Foley’s Showband, Mick Hennessy and the Creole Swing Band, The Blue Diamond, The Vikings, The Presidents and many more performed to huge crowds back then in the Ritz, the Crofton and all over the county, when many relationships formed. It would be great to have people come along on the night.”