Our Lady’s Choral Society seeking new members 

Our Lady’s Choral Society (OLCS) is seeking new members in all voices to join them.  

Auditions will take place in September and the main thing somebody needs to have is the ability to sing, hold a note.   

“If somebody knows what voice they are, fine but that is not essential, the Musical Director will “establish” vocal range and determine whether a person is a Bass, Soprano, Tenor or Alto,” Rory Hinchy, OLCS PRO tells Northside People.  

“We rehearse on Tuesday evenings circa 7.30 to 9.30/45 pm. 

“At present we are rehearsing in the Parish Centre of Whitehall Parish, The Thatch Road.  

“The music we sing is within the Classical Baroque style.   

“We do not generally sing gospel music or other “light” or pop music.   

“The exception is the material for the Christmas Concert we perform for the Members of the RDS.  

“Thus interested persons should contact the Honorary Secretary Tom Gaynor ([email protected]) for more information and to arrange an audition.”  

 A short history of OLCS  

The choir was formally convened in 1946 as Our Lady’s Choral Society, with Archbishop John Charles McQuaid serving as President, Father Andrew Griffith as Director and Dr. Vincent O’Brien as Chorus Master, a position he held until his death two years later. Almost immediately OLCS assumed its position as Dublin’s premier choir.

Vincent O’Brien’s son Oliver went on to become Musical Director in the 1960’s.

When Oliver O’Brien retired in 1979, after 34 years of service with the OLCS, Proinnsías Ó Duinn was named the new Music Director of OLCS.  

Thus a new version of Our Lady’s Choral Society appeared in the early 1980s.

The number of singers had been reduced from over 300 to 120.

Under the musical direction of Ó Duinn, this leaner choir was able to focus on major oratorios as never before.  

In September 1981, as part of the celebrations that marked the opening of the new National Concert Hall in Dublin, OLCS performed Beethoven’s Choral Symphony, accompanied by the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra.  

Our Lady’s Choral Society perform Handel’s Messiah in Fishamble Street at the annual event held to mark the anniversary of its first performance

The choir marked the 250th Anniversary of the first performance of Messiah with the first of its “Messiah in the Street” performances in Fishamble Street in April 1992.

In May the same year, Trinity College Dublin celebrated its 400th anniversary.

OLCS was one of the choirs that made up the 1000 singers who performed Mahler’s gigantic Symphony No. 8 at the Point Theatre.  

In celebration of its 50th Anniversary in January 1995, OLCS embarked on what is surely one of the most ambitious challenges ever undertaken by an amateur choir in Ireland: it performed the two oratorios of Elgar, The Apostles and The Kingdom on consecutive evenings, as the composer had intended.  

In February 2009, Our Lady’s Choral Society had the distinction of being the first choir to perform Handel’s Messiah in the Vatican.

The choir was invited to perform the oratorio in the Paul VI Audience Hall for Pope Benedict XVI and an audience of 6,000 on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Vatican City State.  

The choir members were among a number of choral groups that participate as part of the choral ensemble in Croke Park for the closing evening of the World Meeting of Families in August 2018.   

Today, Our Lady’s Choral Society holds a unique place in the diverse, cosmopolitan city that Dublin has become.

Under the guardianship of the Archdiocese, OLCS welcomes members from all religions and all walks of life.

And for many people living in Dublin, the Christmas season simply does not begin until they’ve heard at least one performance of Handel’s Messiah by Our Lady’s Choral Society.

The Christmas performance of Handel’s Messiah did not happen in 2020, but OLCS were back for two nights (rather than the three nights in December 2019) with a restriction limited subset of Members in 2021 and with the Irish Chamber Orchestra rather that the RTE Concert Orchestra.

There were two performances also in December 2022 and 2023.