The Mullingar Town Band celebrates one hundred years.
Celebrating its centenary this year, the Mullingar Confraternity Band was founded by a local Catholic priest and originally drew members from soldiers based in the town's military barracks from the 1840s onwards.
In the 1940s it became known as the Mullingar Brass and Reed Band, but membership went into decline. In 1957 the band's clarinet player Hubert Magee was appointed director.
An accomplished musician, Magee had also studied band mastership and conducting, and set about reviving the band. He recruited new members, including girls, and in the 1960s it became the Mullingar Town Band.
By the mid-1970s members numbered close almost one hundred and in addition to performing at local sporting and cultural events, the band competed regularly at international marching band contests.
Practice takes place in a Mullingar car park during the summer months in preparation for the International Youth Band Festival at Pumerand in the Netherlands.
Permitted by Aer Lingus to perform on board their flight to the Netherlands their version of 'Up, Up And Away' is described by Leo Day as
A height of musical achievement.
This episode of ‘Country Brass’ was broadcast on 16 January 1979. The narrator is Leo Day.
‘Country Brass’ was a series of six film documentaries portraying the people and places associated with some of the brass and silver bands throughout the country. First transmitted on 2 January 1979, it was produced by Peter McEvoy.
