Peace Choir to hold free concert in Kilkenny this weekend

The Island of Ireland Peace Choir is set to visit Co Kilkenny, this weekend, to lead a Taizé Vigil for Peace.

The free concert will take place at the Edmund Rice Centre, Westcourt, Callan, on Saturday evening.

Founded in the wake of the Omagh bombing, by a link between musicians in Waterford and Omagh, the Ireland Peace Choir marks its 25th anniversary this year. To celebrate this, the choir is holding a series of vigils and concerts all around the island.

The first time the founding members of the choir sang together was at a special ceremony, in Waterford, to present the St Angela's Peace and Justice Award to Omagh teenager Claire Gallagher. It was just seven months after the devastating explosion which had caused Claire to lose her sight. 

That night, in Waterford, not only did Claire play piano alongside Phil Coulter, but in a surprise for her the local folk group linked up with Claire's classmates in Loreto Omagh for a rendition of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water.' "Two choirs, miles apart, rose in unison on one giant screen to signal a new dawn."

 The special atmosphere of that evening has evolved into a 35-person choir with members from Waterford, Omagh, Gorey, Ramsgrange, Dublin and Tullow, as well as five new members from the Ukrainian community. 

Saturday evening's concert is free to attend but contributions to the Peace Choir will be gratefully accepted.

Meanwhile, Claire is married with three children. By her early 30s she had opened her own music academy in Omagh. In February 2024 she graduated from the University of Sheffield with a Master of Arts in Music Psychology for Education, Performance and Wellbeing.