Omagh band plays one last tune for much loved member

JOE O’Donnell, formerly of 11 Centenary Park, Omagh, was laid to rest recently in Drumragh Cemetery.

Mr O’Donnell was born in 1928 and from the age of 15 joined St Eugene’s Brass and Reed Band. During his lifelong commitment to the band, the late Mr O’Donnell served as a band member, band tutor, committee member, chairman, and lifelong President – a position he was honoured with in 1995.

Up until his retirement from playing, his heart and soul were part of the band to which he remained faithful to the very end.

On the morning of his funeral, his old band played him into the Sacred Heart Church for his Requiem Mass and played him out again. Band members joined the family at Drumragh Cemetery, where they formed a guard of honour and played traditional hymns at the graveside.

The O’Donnell family thanked the band for the manner in which they supported them throughout the day and gave their father a warm send-off.

Current band member Tony McGartland, who has been researching the history of the band for almost two years, has interviewed over 15 surviving members of the original line-up.

One of these was Mr O’Donnell.

Joe, in recalling his early days, said, “I was living in Gortmore Drive as a boy and heard about the band from friends at school. I wasn’t at all musical but I liked the sound of the band. My father was musical – he played the melodion and flute – and he encouraged me to join.

“I started working as a baker in 1942, six days a week, and the following year I joined along with Tony Mathers and Patsy McCormack when I was 15-years-old. We were taught by the conductor Martin Meyler. There was about six of us that joined that same day.

“I started out on tenor horn and moved to the sousaphone, E-flat horn and finally the tuba. It was a heavy instrument, especially if you were on a two-mile march. We practiced twice a week in St Patrick’s Hall and once on Sunday. We paid sixpence a week for our membership.

“When St Patrick’s Hall was demolished, we moved to the old Labour Hall. I remember on my first outing with the band, we were marching along High Street and I could see my mother and father standing outside Swan & Mitchell’s shoe shop – they were so proud of me.

“They were great times. I remember playing at the first INF All-Ireland Convention after the Second World War in Enniskillen, and as far south as Athlone and Drogheda. The parades were big, maybe nine or ten bands followed by marching band members. They attracted big crowds onto the street.

“We used to play outside the chapel on Christmas morning in the snow and rain.

“Bundoran was always my favourite place to play. We started at the west end and paraded all the way to the other end and back. There were thousands lining the street watching you.

“Féis Sunday and the carnival was always a great memory – marching out along the Mountjoy Road to the park.

“There was nothing else to do back then so you were drawn to the band. Many of my friends died since I joined in 1943, but I have great memories. It’s a marvellous thing when you learn to play. “I had to give it up – I was getting too old for it.”

Mr O’Donnell always offered great encouragement to younger band members who were willing to learn, with all of the distractions of social media and online interaction, St Eugene’s Brass and Reed Band can offer a musical journey to suit all ages.

At his Requiem Mass, Father Eugene Hasson paid tribute to Mr O’Donnell as ‘a man who embraced each season of life with dedication and gentleness’.

Fr Hasson said that he began his education at Culmore Primary School – now the band’s base – and that his passion for music became a defining feature of his life.

“Joe’s deepest devotion was to his family,” he added, recalling Mr O’Donnell’s marriage to Dympna Loughran on her 23rd birthday and their home, which was ‘filled with music, laughter, hard work, and prayer’.

Mr O’Donnell’s career as a baker was another source of pride. While he supplied large businesses as far away as London, he was best known locally for his wedding cakes and Christmas mince pies, lovingly made for his bandmates and family.

Concluding, Fr Hasson remembered Mr O’Donnell as ‘a quiet man, deeply rooted in his relationship with God’, and said that faith was the backbone of his life.