St Catherine's, keeping culture centre stage in Kinsale

Irish Examiner

25-06-2025

She's Alice de la Cour: The woman who came to Kinsale for two weeks and stayed forever.
'I never left,' she laughs. 'Instead, I hit the ground running.' She did indeed and the town of Kinsale is all the better for it. A natural altruist, she has a knack — although she'd never admit it — of using her track record of prowess, vision and dedication, to network within the community to continuously make Kinsale an even better place than it is.
Alice de la Cour at St Catherine's Cultural Centre, Kinsale, Co Cork.
Right now, in her capacity as director of operations at the popular and serenely beauteous St Catherine's Cultural Centre, she's working hard with her fellow board members and the owners to search for talent to perform.
Some of those who have performed at St Catherine's and who may very well be back again, include Loah, whose soulful Afro-folk sound filled the air when she played here last June. Also Iarla Ó Lionáird, who played with Cormac McCarthy and Matthew Berrill. And Altan who played an incredible gig here in December.
'The performers love this space,' says Alice, before listing some of recent gigs and events of recent months: 'The Vanbrugh string quintet played here in April. A few weeks ago Don Stiffe, Trevor Sexton and Ger O'Donnell, played here for Trad Fest. Then we had Connemara baritone, Rory Musgrave, perform here for our Taste of Wexford Opera. That was an extremely successful night, one that we will be bringing back again to Catherine's.
'In recent weeks we had Reggie, on his Oh Lads Irish tour,' she continues. 'We also had the Rob Strong Band. Reggie is here again for November. Also confirmed are the South Wales Male Choir (Côr Meibion De Cymru) of which King Charles is the royal patron. They are coming to sing here in August and we are very excited about that.'
Locals and visitors are loving it. Kinsale Arts weekend (July 10-13), promises to transform the town into a stage, with spaces from cafes to streets and churches becoming venues. Naturally, St Catherine's will be hosting events over that big weekend: On Saturday, July 12, the crowd will surely delight in hearing Gemma Hayes perform some of the music from her Blind Faith album, on a night that's predicted to be a festival favourite.
Irene and Linda Buckley, who on Sunday, July 13, will present their spectacular live score alongside a screening of the film Nosferatu in St Catherine's Cultural Centre, Kinsale.
Sunday, July 13, will see Old Head composers Irene and Linda Buckley present their spectacular live score alongside a screening of the film Nosferatu. This promises to be a great evening, with Rhoda Dullea on pipe organ, Karen Dervan on viola and Maria O'Connor on cello. And in October, Briana Corrigan, former member of The Beautiful South, will play.
'It's very enjoyable meeting all of the artists who come through these doors,' says Alice. 'They're absolutely fabulous people. They're lovely to deal with: interesting and great fun. They love it here, not least because the acoustics here at St Catherine's are seriously good.' With Alice at the helm, it seems there's no limit to the possibilities for this special space.
'We recently opened a cinema here at St Catherine's,' says Alice. 'We invested in a large screen and now we host movie nights here on the first Wednesday of every month. This is going really well. And now we're also becoming a popular venue for hosting civil ceremonies.'
I wonder if she feels the presence of the past at St Catherine's, given that before it was deconsecrated, it was a Church of Ireland church, dating back to the 1700s.
'When you walk through the doors, there is a huge feeling of peace and of being in a beautiful space with incredible potential,' she replies.
One of the stained glass windows at St Catherine's Cultural Centre, Kinsale, Co Cork. Picture Dan Linehan
'Because we are surrounded by a lovely old cemetery, overlooking the bay, we are very respectful to the families of those who are buried there and indeed to all of our neighbours. They have always been very good and kind to us, and we always take them into consideration when we're bringing bands and other musicians into St Catherine's.'