People are bracing for nine nights of excitement and spectacle in Tipperary this March

The Tipperary Drama Festival will return to Holycross this month for nine nights of theatre, bringing together drama groups from across the country in one of the county’s longest running cultural events.

Festival director Donal Duggan has been at the helm since the festival first came to Holycross in 1983 and has seen it grow from modest beginnings to the well supported event it is today.

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“The Tipperary Drama Festival goes back to the 1960s and it was originally founded by Munitir Na Tíre,” he explained. “It was called the Munitir Na Tíre Festival before it became the Tipperary Drama Festival.”

The festival was originally held in Thurles but closed in 1981 due to falling attendance. Determined to revive it, Donal Duggan and Pat McGrath began exploring the possibility of relocating the event to Holycross.

“We applied to the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland and they came and vetted our hall, which was the new hall that had previously been the old church,” he said. The building had served as a church until Holycross Abbey reopened in 1975.

Once approval was granted, the first Holycross festival was held in 1983. Duggan recalls that opening night clearly. “T.J. Maher MEP opened it for us and there were only 14 people in the hall,” he said.

Despite the small beginning, the event steadily gained momentum. Coverage in the Tipperary Star at the time, including commentary from then editor Gerard O’Grady, highlighted the effort being made to revive the festival and drew attention to the lack of representation from some local bodies. 

Over the decades attendance has grown significantly. “We grew from 1983 to the present day when we have full halls a number of nights during the festival,” Duggan said.

The festival is part of a nationwide network of amateur drama competitions. There are currently 34 drama festivals throughout Ireland operating under the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland.

“There are two sections in each drama festival, the Open and Confined sections,” Duggan explained. “In older days they were called Urban and Rural categories, aimed at high population centres and low population centres.”

Groups earn points as they compete across the national festival circuit. Winners receive 12 points, runners up receive five points and third place receives two. Each group can compete at a maximum of eight festivals, with their best three results counted.

“The maximum number of points a group can have is 36,” Duggan said. “The top nine groups qualify for the All Ireland.”

The All Ireland Open Finals are held annually in Athlone while the Confined Finals rotate around the provinces. This year the Confined competition will take place in Northern Ireland, with groups competing from all 32 counties.

As festival director, Duggan’s role is central alongside the organising committee to running a smooth ship for  the event each year.

“My job involves selecting the plays, talking to the groups and working out the schedule for what nights the plays will be on,” he said.

Donal Duggan’s own involvement in drama began shortly after he moved to Holycross in 1975. “Around 1977 I was shanghaied one night in a pub,” he recalled with a laugh.

“A few acquaintances asked me if I would take a small part in a play.” The play was Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come! and Duggan was cast as Senator Doogan in a production directed by Borrisoleigh man Joe Boyle. That experience sparked a lifelong connection with theatre that has continued for nearly five decades.

Drama remains a strong part of cultural life across Tipperary. While only a handful of local groups currently compete on the national festival circuit, Duggan says the number of active drama groups in the county is much larger.

“Drama in Tipperary is huge but there are only three or four groups that take part in competitive drama,” he said. “For instance this year we have three Tipperary groups in the open section, Thurles, Nenagh and Holycross. You have at least 30 groups all over the county though.”

Each night of the festival is assessed by a professional adjudicator who offers feedback to the performers. “The adjudicator watches every play and stays here for the nine nights,” Duggan said.

“He takes his notes and after the performance he comes on stage and gives a fifteen minute talk about the play. Afterwards the group has a private half hour session where they can discuss the feedback.”

This year’s adjudicator is theatre director and visual artist Geoff O’Keeffe, who has previously adjudicated at major national finals including the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone.

Duggan said the festival offers audiences a great breadth of theatre, “You have an assortment of tragedy, comedy, greed and generosity. It covers all aspects of Irish life.”

One production he is particularly looking forward to is Greta Garbo Came to Donegal by Frank McGuinness. “I’m told it’s hilariously funny and I’m really looking forward to seeing it,” he said.

Beyond the performances themselves, the social side of the festival is also an important part of the experience. “There’s an interval in most of the plays and it’s a great opportunity for old drama acquaintances and new to socialise and connect over a cup of tea and a bun,” Duggan said.

The festival will also remember the late Oliver Nolan, who passed away recently and made a significant contribution to the development of drama in Holycross. Nolan was a long time member of Holycross Ballycahill Drama Group and a teacher in Cashel.

This year’s festival runs from Friday 20th March to Saturday 28th March and features nine productions from groups across the country.

It opens with Heaven by Eugene O’Brien performed by Balally Players and concludes with Greta Garbo Came to Donegal by Clann Machua.

Other highlights include Moonglow by Tinahely Drama Group, I Never Sang For My Father by Clontarf Drama Group, The Burned Man by Fomire Productions, Sive by Holycross/Ballycahill Drama Group, DA by Brideview Drama Group, Dancing at Lughnasa by Thurles Drama Group, and The Salvage Shop by Nenagh Drama Group.

Tickets cost €15 at the door each night, with concession tickets for pensioners and children available for €12. A season ticket covering all nine nights costs €70.

With over four decades behind it in Holycross, the Tipperary Drama Festival continues to provide a stage for amateur theatre and a gathering point for drama lovers across the county and beyond.

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