In 1974 during the Easter holidays of my final year at boarding school a vocational workshop was organised for boys thinking of becoming a priest.
Anyone that way inclined had to stay over for the weekend while all the other boys went home on holidays. As someone attracted to the idea of becoming a priest, I put my name forward. There were no great surprises as to the boys who opted to stay over apart from one, Gerry from Donegal, he was a major shock. Gerry was more into sex and rock and roll than Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
On the Friday evening, it emerged that his calling was coming from a different source. Horslips were playing in Monaghan that Saturday night and there was no way he could get to see them from Donegal.
The vocations workshop was his means of getting to the dance. That evening Gerry convinced us that security would be light as we were there in a voluntary capacity and he persuaded us all to go with him to the concert.
Gerry had carried out a recce and discovered that there was a window in our dormitory which led to a fire escape so after night prayers we all slipped out quietly and headed to the Hillgrove Hotel. Fifty years later the energy of that night is still fresh in my mind as we danced to the Celtic sounds of ‘Dearg Doom’, ‘King of the Fairies’ and ‘Trouble with a capital T’.
I recall the wooden floor rising and falling as it reacted to the explosion of hormones that were being released. It was wild, it was loud and it was wonderful.
When the dance was over we made our way back to the monastic silence of the boarding school and went to bed, with the music of Horslips ringing in our ears.
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