Peace Park, Ireland National Museum of Country Life, Westport Concert

The County Mayo memorial at Peace Park

Outside Church of the Holy Trinity.
When you see a picture of yourself, of course, you take a picture of yourself beside it!

Today was filled with a variety of performances and experiences...

First we walked to the Peace Park and Garden of Remembrance just down the road from our inn. It is a memorial to those from County Mayo who lost their lives in war, beginning with World War I. It is an impressive and touching monument. The main feature is a large wall etched with the names of people who were killed in war, but on either side of the walkway to the large wall, there are smaller ones which contain the names of men from County Mayo who fought under the flags of other nations. We were asked to attend, alongside the choir from Canada, because many immigrants would wind up in the United States and Canada. Each choir sang their national anthem, a few selections on the topic of peace and remembrance, and had the honor of raising our respective country's flag and lay wreaths at the monuments of our country. They asked for two for each task, so having three seniors, it only seemed fitting to have them take part. So Shea Davis and Kristin Foster raised the American flag, while Michael and Sara Langenberger placed the wreaths at the memorials.

The USA Memorial at Peace Park

Then we were off to Turlough Village to visit a high tower, have lunch, and tour and perform at the Ireland National Museum of Country Life. The museum is very nice and very informative. The building itself is very neat, having won various architectural awards.You can find out more about it here. We sang 8 selections for a nice-sized crowd who gathered to hear us. These more informal concerts have started to become some of our favorites. Folks immediately come up to speak with you, find out about you, and almost always we learn that we have something in common. One gentleman that heard us at Peace Park actually made the drive to hear us again, and gave us a book he recently wrote as a gift.

Afterwards, we went back to the inn and relaxed for almost an hour and a half, and picked up dresses for the concert tonight in Westport. First though, we stopped and had dinner at a restaurant on the coast called 'The Helm.' Being so close to Clew Bay, most of us had seafood. It was all very good!

Church of the Holy Trinity - Westport.
Down the road from where we stayed
last year when we learned about this festival!

This concert was amazing. All the choirs were very good, and we found the two all-girl high school choirs to be exceptionally fine. We also sang really well - the stronger bond we have forged on this journey is evident on our music-making. We were surprised when we received a standing ovation after our third piece! Including another one at the end, we had two!

It feels that the local audiences really like us, and I think it's because we remind them of themselves. I think that like Ireland, and especially the western part of the country, we are small but can do great things. All the choirs here are bigger than us, often substantially. But when they see this small group rise and sing with skill and full-throated passion, they appreciate it. Their responses have been nothing but filled with love, respect, and appreciation.

Post-concert at Turlough.

Tomorrow is the competition day. This will be a new thing for us and we can't fully know what to expect. As previously mentioned, we are substantially the smallest ensemble competing in our two categories. And many of our competitors have won other competitions before. So we don't really have an idea of how things will go when the judges cast their votes. But we do know this; we have already won the hearts of many local Irish and many touring Americans. And we will win more tomorrow regardless of the results. #SmallChoirBigHearts

Inside the Church of the Holy Trinity

Ireland National Museum of Country Life.
Very Interesting!

Blog Post Author: Michael Boswell, Director of SMWC Madrigals

Blog Editor: Sharon R. Boyle, Associate Professor of Undergraduate Music Therapy

For more information about the SMWC music and theatre programs, please visit our website!