Celine's memory celebrated in Naas
The late Celine Garvey
“SHE didn’t like funerals and all that sombre stuff, she wanted to go with a bang – so that’s what we did,” said Rob Garvey, brother of the late Celine, whose first anniversary was celebrated with such gusto in her beloved Moat Theatre in Naas recently.
The evening kicked off with a launch by the Moat Writers’ Club – guess who founded that! – who launched a book of poetry in Celine’s memory.
However, the night was but a pup, when the organisational skills of Garvey eile kicked in immediately after the book launch – of which even he was a contributor!
“The writers had been talking about doing something before Christmas, and I asked if we could piggy-back on this and to let me know when you settled on a date. I had a record store (The Record Rack) that had to close recently because the owner’s are selling the building so I had the time to organise this.
"After the book of poems was launched, we had an exhibition of Celine’s art during which the Young Talent Showcase – which Celine heavily promoted – showed us their stuff. After them was Pete Kavanagh and his wife Pam, and they opened up the event after the exhibition. The majority of the songs they played were by Celine’s, she wrote loads of them.
"John Ford ‘The Pianoman’ was on the next stage. Have you seen the Jools Holland Show? You know, different, quick stages? That’s what we had – four stages, for continuous tribute. Then, Celine’s Zumba Club did a demonstration and got everyone up jumping, I did a 15-minute DJ set to keep them all boppin’, before the Muddy River Band played a selection of their Bob Dylan and Tom Petty covers.
"The night finished with Karaoke in front of pictures of Celine projected onto the rear of the stage, with the last one being her favourite being by Madness. There were friends that came from Austria and Switzerland and all over Ireland. It was all about having a party for her, which is what she wanted."
