Song in praise of Cork's Mahon suburb performed at City Hall

A group of students and older residents, who co-created a song about Mahon, were invited to perform the piece at a special event in Cork City Hall last week.

The Mahon Song, which sings the praises of the local area and pays tribute to home-grown heroes such as soccer legends Caoimhín Kelleher and Alan Browne, highlights the positive impact that inter-generational collaboration can have on a local community.

The project was created by students from Nagle Community College, Holy Cross-National School, and Gaelscoil Mhachan, alongside members of the Mahon Community Development Programme (CDP) Singing for Wellbeing group, and was borne out of a meeting held by the Mahon Learning Neighbourhood.

Cork City Council used RAPID funding to support the project as part of its ongoing commitment to community education, and it was originally debuted as part of the Mahon Learning Neighbourhood event in April.

After attending the event and hearing the song, the Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Fergal Dennehy invited the group to perform it again in Council Chambers last week.

Mr Dennehy said he is “delighted to support the Mahon Song and the positive example of co-operation, talent, and support this project represents of the Mahon community”.

“The song reflects a keen sense of community pride,” said Mr Dennehy.

“It also shows that the voices of the next generation are talented, loud and proud, and I am delighted to give them a stage in City Hall to showcase their talent.”

The main body of the song is a rap, performed mostly by the participating students, but also features a soft intro and end from 90-year-old local, Michael Walsh. The creation of the music and lyrics for the piece was assisted by local music tutor, Rory McGovern. Locals Tom Lynch, Ann Boyd, and Chris Fahy also individually contributed to the rap section of the song.

Mr Lynch, who is a member of the Mahon CDP Singing for Wellbeing Group, said the piece is “definitely a song worthy of the airwaves”.

“I am hugely proud of Mahon. I have had a good life there with great neighbours and I am proud to hear all of the positive associations of Mahon compiled in a high quality recording which will last the test of time.”

Viv Saad, project co-ordinator of Mahon CDP, said as a group, they were “trying to be as representative and inclusive of all age groups and corners of Mahon”.

“It is extremely satisfying watching the project unfold from hundreds of random words being pulled together in a lyrical song and hearing it for the first time musically, and seeing it performed live was emotional and thrilling,” said Ms Saad.