In 2013 St Mary’s High School Band from Phoenix Arizona visited Ennis at the invitation of the Ennis Phoenix Twinning Board to participate in the St Patrick’s Day Parade.
Before returning to the United States the band visited a number of local schools but something special happened in Scoil Chríost Rí. For well over an hour the students from Arizona and the students from Ennis entertained each other with music and dancing.
That day their music teacher Karen Vaughan told Cllr Mary Howard that they had many talented young people in the school – at that time 18 had music tuition scholarships but they were not in a position to purchase instruments, that day the Musical Instrument Appeal seed had been sown.
In the seven years since it was set up we have donated over 100 instruments to local schools, guitars to the youth service, a piano to a local nursing home along with guitars and keyboards to our Ukrainian visitors.
It was with great joy that we got to present almost 40 instruments at Scoil Chriost Ri and also announce a new partnership with Ennis Community College & Gaelcholaiste an Chláir. This is our first time working with a secondary school.
We all look forward to hearing music raising the rafters in their fantastic new school.