“Sure you’ll jot down your memories of St. Brigids in the 80’s”, said Ambrose. “I’ll do my best”, said I, thinking “I can’t remember a thing about St. Brigids in the 80’s!” However, not long afterwards, having spent a wet Sunday afternoon thumbing through the pages of The St. Brigids Drama Group Archive, the memories came flooding back.

The 80’s was the era of Pub Drama for St. Brigids. By the end of the 70’s and in the early years of the 80’s audience numbers were dwindling for St. Brigids productions at the Parochial Centre, Peter St. (now The Laurence Centre). Fine productions like “God’s Gentry” by Donagh McDonagh produced by Des McGinty in 1980 and Michael Judge’s “Saturday Night Women” produced in 1981 by Pauline O’Toole struggled to fill the theatre (except, that is, for the matinee performances of “God’s Gentry” put on for the town’s school children – but that’s another story!). With morale and the group’s finances taking a battering something had to be done.

The solution was Pub Theatre. The idea was simple. Stage good theatre in more convivial surroundings and the punters will come. So, in 1982 Des McGinty’s production of “The Hostage” by Brendan Behan was staged in The Rosnaree Hotel. A resounding success!

An excellent production, well attended – a win win result. This was followed in 1983 by another acclaimed production, this time by Brian Colreavy, of Hugh Leonard’s play “Da”. However, as successful a venue as it had been for St. Brigids, The Rosnaree Hotel was a wee bit out of town. So, the next refinement was to transfer operations to an in-town location. Thus began a long association between St. Brigids and The Swan Inn, Georges St. (now Fusion). From 1983 to 1989. St Brigids produced a string of hits at The Swan Inn beginning with J.B Keane’s “Many Young Men of Twenty” produced in December 1983 by Des McGinty up to and including Mary Pentony’s December 1989 production of “Busybody” by Jack Popplewell.

However, neither of these locations was actually equipped for the staging of plays. Neither had a stage nor a suitable lighting system. Hence, the 80’s also became the era of “The Fit Ups” for St. Brigids. Great ingenuity and not a little hard labour were brought to bear to turn these venues into theatres. So, stages were built on arrays of beer barrels, innovative techniques were devised to keep scenery upright and temporary lighting rigs were cobbled together from whatever was available. These feats were achieved by the Set Construction Crew – a loose alliance of individuals who “appeared” at the appropriate time and got the job done. Their names are recorded in the programmes of the era, many recurring again and again. I’ll not make the mistake of trying to name them all here.

However, one name does stand out – the late Jim McCole. Always cheerful, no problem was too great, no challenge too daunting for Jim.

Finally, what I remember most about St. Brigids in the 80’s is the fun. The camaraderie at rehearsals, the craic during set construction, the first night nerves and the final night parties!

Oisin O’Maolain