Tipperary man has played a huge role in the transformative power of music

If anyone knows the transformative power of music, not just on one young life but on the life of a town, it’s Danny Carroll.
As I take my seat at a rehearsal of the Clonmel Concert Band, about 40 musicians are tuning their instruments. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed, some chatter, pages shuffle and turn, and, out front, the man I have come to meet.
Silently observing, arms folded, eyes moving around the room and occasionally down to the sheet music. That has to be Danny, I decide.

Ten minutes pass in this way until eventually, very slowly, without a word he raises one hand, index finger extended.
The room becomes silent, the musicians are ready, focused, expectant. The slightest thrust of the hand and bang! Music bursts forth filling the entire hall instantly. It is powerful, loud and all consuming.

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I cannot write or think. Danny is animated now, conducting, swaying, guiding, analysing every note.
I’m a bit overwhelmed. The intensity of it is very affecting, the wonderful unanimity. Just in time the piece ends and I can take a breath. I look up for Danny’s reaction, but for him this is just a routine rehearsal, preparation for events to come.

When we finally meet, he makes me welcome, and I begin to see how he has managed to unite so many people for so long. He is soft-spoken but there is a great clarity to his voice. Add to this plenty of charisma and just the right amount of roguishness, and you have a man who people just want to listen to.
Over a very interesting conversation, we cover a wide range of subjects but of course, it always comes back to the music.

Danny and music have been together for a long time. He was born in 1940 in Carrick-on-Suir when war in Europe was making the town's fragile economy even more depressed.
"Everything seemed to be scarce,” he says, “but thankfully music was not. There was a terrible lack of confidence in people, an attitude of not being good enough to do or try anything out of the ordinary.”

From the earliest age he has rejected that notion and promoted an aim high attitude, which has served him well, and which hasn’t changed.

The Carrolls lived on the border of Tipperary and Waterford in Carrickbeg and were a family of barbers and musicians. At about eight years old he joined other family members in the Carrick-on-Suir Brass Band. “It was a fine place to start,” he says.
He learned the importance of practice, and fully applying yourself to whatever you do. It was also where he learned his other language, “the one that works all over the world”- musical notation.

After school he naturally followed the family barbering profession, working with his father and going on to serve his apprenticeship. He enjoyed that, but by the time he had finished he was ready for adventure.

LONDON
He found plenty of it in travels around the country, and even toured with Duffy’s Circus for a season, playing in their orchestra. Then it was off to London where his eyes were opened to a much wider world. There was music there too, and he played wherever he could. Ladies hairdressing was added to his skills and though life was good, he began to consider moving home.
Never afraid of change and ambitious for a new venture, it was Clonmel which beckoned. In 1961, Danny made the big move and became a Clonmel man:

“It didn’t seem big at the time, but it’s amazing how small decisions can go on to change your life,” he said.
Danny took the pioneering step of opening a ladies hairdressing salon in Clonmel.
“That was unusual at the time for sure,” he says, but the business thrived and soon had a large and loyal following of customers.

He remembers great times, “playing in the pits” and conducting shows and musicals in Clonmel and much farther afield. He conducted dozens of musicals at the much-loved White Memorial Theatre.
Strangely there was such a deficit of musicians in Clonmel, that most musicians were sourced from the surrounding towns. This lack of a musical culture would continue to niggle at him over the next few years.

Business entailed visiting the bank on occasion, where he was sometimes served by a lady called Anne Hayden. These first meetings progressed into a relationship and the two were married in 1967.
They would go on to have five children, and a very happy life together. Their taste in music often differed widely, but she was always supportive of his passion.

With no band in Clonmel for kids to learn music, Danny and some colleagues began to research the possibility of starting a brass band. There was lots of support for it and the idea gradually became a reality.

BANNA CHLUAIN MEALA
In 1971, Banna Chluain Meala was born. They hoped to offer the magic of music to children and perhaps foster a culture of musicianship in Clonmel. They aimed high, setting out with the high standards which are still at the core of everything they do.

Over 50 years later, “every uniform, instrument and performance merits their full attention. Everything matters,” he says.
If there was any scrap of “we’re not good enough” left in Danny, it was exorcised by a trip to Manchester in 1981. Attending a world convention of bands marked another life-changing moment.

Band members, band directors, band enthusiasts, highly inspirational people, often quite different to them, and yet very much like them with the same problems, doubts, and issues and the same instruments. “If they could do it, so could we,” he says.
The convention was held every two years across the world and became a place of pilgrimage for Danny. He always returned fortified with confidence and ideas.

Banna Chluain Meala's abilities and reputation continued to grow, and with greater experience, events and organising became ever more streamlined and professional. There now exists a highly competent and dedicated group of volunteers who can justifiably be called experts.

Over the 53 years, hundreds of kids have been trained to read and play music to a high standard. For many it has led to musical careers, and it is very pleasing to Danny that Clonmel is now full of musical talent of all ages.
The band had several homes over its lifetime, but the need for a purpose-built facility was clear to Danny.

“I was coming out of the swimming pool one day and noticed there was a fine piece of ground in the opposite corner of the square with nothing in it,” he says.

He realised immediately it would be perfect for the hall.
Enquiries were encouraging and they decided to throw themselves into getting the site. There was nothing easy about it, but with a lot of effort they secured the site, planning, and funding to embark on their dream build. It was ambitious, but they knew exactly what they needed. After fundraising, taking on a mortgage, and a lot of hard work, the hall opened in 1989.
What a facility it is - comfortable, spacious, a temple - and a home. Danny guides me through the many band photos adorning the walls, from events all over the world.

Hundreds of smiling faces of young band members remind me that playing great music is also great fun. “Photos from Italy… here's California… that’s one from Germany,” he says.
Anyone would be proud to lead these playing, marching, smiling ambassadors of their country.

CONCERT BAND
Back in 2011 Danny had another idea. Encountering former band members around Clonmel every day, he deemed their unharnessed talent far too valuable to waste:

“A senior band which could utilise that talent would surely make sense.”
The 40th anniversary of Banna Chluain Meala was imminent so the idea was floated in town. The result was the Clonmel Concert Band thriving to this day and running in parallel to the junior band.
It’s time to go. Danny Carroll is a busy man and getting slightly restless. “Who is that fella?” I ask, pointing to a giant portrait high on the wall, watching over everything.

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“That’s the great Mick Delahunty himself,” he says. “The one and only.”
I had heard Danny was slightly reluctant about this interview, and wonder why? “Well I’m not mad about looking back,” he says.
“I’m more of a what’s next person.”
How fitting to be ending here on this recurring theme of his life, asking what’s next, then zealously making it happen.
This has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience, filled with openness and warmth from Danny. We have agreed many times during our conversations that music is a kind of magic, affecting everyone.
It is the language of all.

Here is a man who has seen and harnessed its power not just in his own town but around the world. May he continue to do so for many years to come.