From following in the footsteps of the Fallen at the Somme, to marching the streets of County Armagh and beyond, a long since lost flute band has returned to the scene stirred by the ambitions and passion of youth.
Moyrourkan True Blues Flute Band was formed 50 years ago this year.
But within a short space of time, it ceased to be.
Chancing upon an old newspaper clipping last year, however, proved its existence and sparked a desire to get it back on the road.
Band Master Jack McClure and Deputy Band Master Ben Wilson have been the driving force, having considered the ‘would we, could we, should be’ of the possibilities for a Moyrourkan resurrection.
“The old newspaper, from 1976, was from when the band was originally formed,” Jack told Armagh I, ahead of a special dedication parade and service planned for later this month..
“We knew nothing of the band. I think it only lasted from about 1976 until 1982. So we said that next year will be the 50th anniversary, why don’t we try and restart it?
“We held our first meeting really in August just to see if there was enough interest and there was a great wee crowd came down to the hall. It just really went from there and we had a first band practice in October.
“Fast forward to now and we have 33 members and not one of them is over the age of 20! So it’s very much a youth-based band, which is great to see.”
Lord Mayor Stephen Moutray hosts a Reception for Moyrourkan True Blues Flute Band at the Palace in Armagh. Band members are Lewis Wilson, and Lucas and Alex Brown. Picture: LiamMcArdle.com
Jack himself is only 17, as is Ben, and they were just 16 years of age when the idea was hatched.
“We were talking about it and then last summer, we went away to Belgium, on a trip to the Somme, with a lot of our mates and we got talking to other boys from around County Armagh,” he explained.
“A lot of them ended up coming back and joining the band because we’d built that friendship with them when we were away.”
Organised by the Junior Grand Orange Lodge, that trip to the Somme – where boys of Jack and Ben’s tender age had fought and died back in 1916 – swelled the interest and numbers significantly.
And so began the logistics – and the fundraising – to turn it into a reality.
The Clare-cented band meet at Moyroukan Orange Hall in Tandragee and are affiliated to Moyrourkan True Blues LOL 305, who donated the bass drum.
The boys bought the uniforms – fittingly blue blazers emblazoned with their own band badge – from Blackskull Orange and Blue Flute Band in Dromore.
And they did so using proceeds from a number of special nights, which were well supported by the local community.
“We held a 50th Anniversary reformation concert in January this year and we had Edgarstown Accordion Band, William Sterritt Memorial Flute Band, Poyntzpass Silver Band, Markethill Pipe Band and Cormeen Rising Sons of William Flute Band, who donated flutes to us back in October and got us off her feet,” explained Jack.
“That was held in Tandragee and that raised us enough money to go out and purchase our side drums off Brookeborough Flute Band down in Fermanagh.
“We also had our first tractor run in April. We didn’t know how it was going to go because on the night it was lashing. We were worried, as we didn’t know how many tractors we were going to get, but we had 31 tractors and we were blown away with the support, especially on a night like that, so that was another boost for the band.”
Moyrourkan True Blues on parade.
With the marching season now well underway – and the Twelfth in Newtownhamilton and Sham Fight in Scarva still to come – Moyrourkan True Blues are well and truly back on the road…
“Our first outing was in Armagh on St Patrick’s night for Cormeen Rising Sons of William’s annual parade,” said Jack. “We’ve done seven or eight parades now. We’re just trying to get out and about and get practising.
“We are for Newtown too. We’re taking the Junior Lodge 144. Our lodge that we would be affiliated with, they have Clontibret Pipe Band and I think this is to be their last year with them.
“Our junior lodge, thankfully, has good numbers in it so they’ve enough to take a band of their own.
“We’re still looking for a Black preceptory to take in Scarva but, all being well, we’ll be in Scarva. We just hope to continue at the rate we’re going, at local parades, Portadown, Banbridge, Killylea etc.”
All eyes now are firmly fixed on a 50th Anniversary reformation event planned for Clare on Sunday, May 24, taking the form of a band dedication parade and service.
Jack added. “The band will be assembling at Moyrourkan Orange Hall at 2pm for a full band photograph, before the parade leaves at 2.30pm, proceeding to Clare Presbyterian Church for a service at 3pm.
“Rev Philip McClelland is taking the service and the Rev David McLaughlin, the minister of Carryduff Free Presbyterian, is also taking part. We got quite friendly with him on the Somme trip, because he’s a Junior Grand Chaplain, so we asked him to do it and he was more than happy to. He’s dedicating the band and the uniform.
“It’s open to everybody and all the Orange brethren are invited to follow behind us when the parade leaves the Orange Hall. There’s also refreshments back in the hall following the service and that’s open to everybody.
Before there can be a reformation there had to have been a formation… a newspaper clipping from 1976 gave notice of a new band, albeit relatively short-lived.
“This will mark the band’s first outing in our new uniform and forms part of our 50th Anniversary reformation, making it a significant occasion for our members and the local community.”
The young band members of Moyrourkan are proud to be stepping out again in style after all these years.
And, geographically, County Armagh is well represented among their number.
The band has been brought back to fill a need in the area and to ensure that the future of the tradition is kept alive, entrusted to eager and enthusiastic young hands going forward.
“We’ve great friends in Mavemacullen Accordion Band. They’re just down the road from us,” explained Jack.
“There was Cargans, in Tandragee. They’ve started up and they’re doing well, but there was that wee void between Markethill and Tandragee, just in the countryside. Flute band wise, there wasn’t very much.
“There’s definitely a lot of interest, especially the young lads around my age that wanted something like that and maybe weren’t willing to go to Markethill. There’s members from Hamiltonsbawn, Clare, Tandragee, there’s even some from Markethill, Portadown, Craigavon and the outskirts of Richhill as well.
“There hasn’t been a flute band in the Clare area in a few decades now. We were probably the last flute band when we folded about 1982. Everyone’s been very, very supportive from the start.
“We’ve even had members reaching out saying they were in the band when it was originally started and it was great to see us up and going again.”
