Saul singers hit the right note for All-Ireland win

Saul singers hit the right note for All-Ireland win

6 April 2016

SAUL ballad group hit a perfect pitch at the weekend to be named All-Ireland Scor champions.

The local singers, attached to Saul Gaelic Club, were named overall winners after beating off talented competition at the Scór final in Killarney at the weekend.

The win, which was announced before an audience that included over 100 Saul supporters, was celebrated at the local clubhouse on Sunday evening after the group was greeted by a convoy of beeping supporters in Castlewellan en route home.

Gareth McGreevy, who has been singing with the group for 15 years, said they were all carried by the enthusiasm of the audience and their supporters on the night and on their return home.

He said this support helped them put their nerves to the side and enjoy their performance at the final, which they felt was their best ever.

“The atmosphere was electric on the night and we were buoyed by the cheers from our own supporters,” he said.

“I don’t think any of us heard the result being read out because the audience went crazy.

“We enjoyed the celebrations afterwards and had a party into the wee hours in the hotel foyer where a seisún was in full swing.”

In the foyer, Gareth said the group, which includes his sister Angela, Katelyn Denvir, Catherine McGrath and Grainne Laverty, was tempted into one last rendition of their winning songs The Song of Donegal and Walking on Waves.

The following day he said their return to the clubhouse was bitter-sweet as they were met by many longterm supporters, including their first tutor Noreen Napier, but also missed the presence of two people who were instrumental in reviving the club’s scór culture.

He said the group was acutely aware of the absence of Peter Craig and Phil Stratton who had fostered in them a love for ballad singing and the scór culture before they both passed away in recent years.

“It was a great welcome home but it was bitter-sweet and a few tears were shed,” he said.

“But we are delighted to have won the All Ireland title for the first time since we formed 15 years ago. It took a lot of hard work and practice but it paid off.”