Saluting Elmarie Mawe - a life dedicated to Cork arts

FEW Cork people can have been shocked when Elmarie Mawe was honoured at the Lord Mayor’s Civic Awards last month for her immense contribution to the arts. Well, apart from Elmarie herself, that is.

She was similarly gobsmacked when The Arts House, the show she has fronted for more than 23 years on Cork’s 96FM, was nominated for an IMRO award last year.

But, for all those who rise every Sunday to tune in from 8-10am to hear her mellifluous, sunny voice celebrate the wealth of creative talent in our fair city, nobody would deny that she deserves all these accolades, and more.

A passionate advocate for the arts in Cork, she is generous-hearted, loving and loyal, and a friend to all she encounters.

Alongside her husband of 21 years, Conor Tallon (himself a hugely talented actor and in-demand voice-over artist), they devote a large amount of every day of their week to the preparation for the weekend show.

Together, Conor and Elmarie are a tour-de-force. The quintessential yin and yang. When it comes to The Arts House, they share the workload.

“We try to plan the programme in advance and sift through the myriad of messages on WhatsApp, Twitter, texts, emails and DMs on social media,” said Elmarie.

It is impossible to cover everything on Sunday. There literally isn’t an afternoon or evening where there isn’t something on, like a gallery opening, a concert, a book launch or a play.

The volume of work now is a far cry from the pared-back simplicity of her first show on April 9, 2000.

“I was so nervous. I had no laptop so I hand-wrote every single word I was going to say - including my own name,” she says with a laugh.

Her brief was to primarily play classical music and follow up on local bits of news from Cork. She was given complete creative freedom from the get-go.

“To a large degree, that is still the brief, although the show has changed,” said Elmarie.

When she interviewed Gay Byrne some years ago, he gave her a piece of essential advice, a technique he was still using on The Late Late Show at that time.

“He advised me to write down the name of every guest I was speaking with. He said that in live broadcasting, there are so many uncontrollable elements that anything can happen, so it is essential to be able to at least remember the name of your guest!”

Like the TV legend himself, Elmarie is the ultimate interviewer, polished, prepared, and in control.

While I always like to let interviews take an organic flow, I do a lot of advance prep work before I speak with any guest.

She learned the hard way. Her first pre-recorded interview was with the then Minister for Arts and Culture, Síle de Valera.

“When it was done, I thanked her, hung up, then had the sudden cold realisation that I had forgotten to save it,” recalled Elmarie.

“In a blind panic, I called her office to explain, but the minister was already en route to her next engagement.”

In fairness, de Valera called back and agreed to re-do the interview from the car. But it was a heart-stopping moment and a rookie mistake that would never be repeated.

Much has changed since then. Elmarie says the pivotal turning point was in 2005.

“The landscape has changed dramatically since Cork was granted the Capital of Culture back in 2005. Since then, the breadth of arts programming has increased enormously, with an explosion of artistic output from literary and music festivals, composers, operas, concerts, plays to art galleries, stage schools, orchestras, choirs, drama groups, and college courses. 

If I had my way, there would be an arts round-up after every news bulletin. There really is enough going on in the arts in Cork for a daily show and I consider it a huge responsibility and privilege to be celebrating that.

“The general media and the listeners have played an integral part in the success of the arts too and it is soul-fulfilling and positively life-affirming to be a part of that.”

Elmarie has given a voice to so many, amateur and professional, and was a beacon of light and hope for the arts in Cork during lockdown.

“The artistic landscape has finally recovered after the devastation of Covid,” she said, “but lockdown highlighted just how important the arts were to people, and livestreams touched people in unexpected ways.

“When we returned to live shows, there was such a release of emotion. Whether I was standing on the stage as MC, or sitting in the audience, the vibrations in the room, the energy of people connecting, sharing, was palpable. The small things became the big things.”

Elmarie’s early years was spent immersed in music and drama, first in St Vincent’s school, and subsequently in Cork School of Music. She developed an appetite for the stage after her first, lauded public performance in the City Hall.

The setting was the Cor Fheile. She was just five years old.

“Mrs Eileen McMahon was our teacher and I still remember that performance, even though I was so young. Imagine the cuteness of a whole bunch of senior infants, dressed in gingham romper-suits, singing Shirley Temple’s iconic On The Good Ship Lollipop.”

There was no turning back after that!

St Vincent’s was the creative melting pot for many of her artistic pursuits, performing with Sr Benedicta, who was the driving force for singing all over the county, and drama with Judy Eades.

Judy was a fantastic drama teacher who had such empathy and the most beautiful way of speaking and presenting things on stage.

When Judy took up a post in the School of Music, Elmarie followed suit.

“My mother brought us all in there. Between my two brothers, my sister and I, we studied flute, piano, violin, cello, clarinet, and viola. We also did a whole lot of drama on stage.

“I remember my violin lesson was sandwiched between Seamus Conroy and Catherine Leonard. Sitting outside listening to these two prodigies, I had weekly crises of confidence.”

Elmarie’s violin teacher, Una Kindlon, “was an incredible musician herself who brought the best out in people. It was a phenomenal time to be in the School of Music. It definitely shaped me.”

The next generation of her family are also learning music.

For a large part of her young life, Elmarie admits, the arts “literally was my life. I did all the grades in piano, violin, musicianship, drama, and spent very happy years in the Cork Youth Orchestra.”

She also somehow found the time to immerse herself both at a local and regional level in Macra na Feirme, and in productions with the Cork Shakespearian Company, Regina Crowley’s adult drama group in the School of Music, and plays in the Everyman, Cork Arts Theatre, Granary and Triskel.

In fact, it was in the bar after a production of The Stepping Stone at the Everyman (starring Conor Dwane, Michael Murphy, Dick Healy and Elmarie) in 1997 that she was introduced to Conor Tallon for the first time.

“I, literally, spotted him across a crowded room, and we have been practically inseparable since,” she recalls.

Later, while a student in Mary Immaculate College, Elmarie spent two years teaching violin for the School of Music in Limerick.

Subsequently, when on a career break from teaching, she taught speech and drama in the Cork School of Music.

It is not surprising that she gravitated towards primary school teaching after she finished her leaving certificate, aged just 16.

Teaching is stamped on her DNA.

“My mum, granny, aunts, and uncles are all teachers. On both sides of the family.”

“While the arts are a massive part of my life, from Monday to Friday my identity is Mrs Tallon, Vice Principal of Gurrane’s National School. Not Elmarie Mawe, arts correspondent.

I am happy to throw myself into it and I get such satisfaction and joy at seeing the children progress.

It was one of the things Elmarie missed most when she was first diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in October, 2018. She has had two recurrences since.

“It came as a real surprise to me. I thought I had put on weight and was rolling my eyes, thinking ‘Here goes, another diet’. When the surgeon told me, he said he couldn’t cure it but he could manage it.

“I immediately came out of school, came off air, and went through the treatment protocol. But I missed the kids in school, missed being in touch, my social life. I was extremely conscious of minding myself.

“I did the same thing on the first recurrence. I came off air, and took leave from school to go through radiotherapy.

“The last chemo was tough. A long slog. But, thanks to lockdown, Conor and I had got so used to preparing and editing the show from home, that I decided to try to keep the show running to give me something to focus on.

“It is such joyful, happy work, full of incredible people, and I had such lovely things to occupy my head.

“Chemo impacted on my concentration. I found it hard to get lost in books, but it was so much easier to get lost in producing, interviewing, and editing.”

Even in the weeks when I felt really bad, I could stay in my PJs, do an interview on WhatsApp, then crawl back into bed.

“Conor made it all possible. He did all of the heavy lifting.”

Conor, her rock and her salve. And her best friend.

The pair were jointly named Cork Persons of the Month in 2020 for their contribution to the arts.

Elmarie is a reluctant interviewee. Humble and gracious, she says it feels “strange to be talking about myself, like I’m boasting. That’s an Irish thing, I guess. Not wanting to appear ‘septic’.”

She is busy preparing to go back to school in September, job-sharing, is back presenting concerts, and is enjoying the challenge of The Arts House and will continue to devote herself to it.

The arts community, her listeners, friends and family have kept her going.

Like she has us.

How grateful are we to Elmarie Mawe.