'It's like a family'... Curtain call for St Mary's Musical Society stalwart

St Mary’s Musical Society has been a pivotal part of Meath’s community for decades. The society was formed in 1968 by a few people with one thing in common - a love for performance. The society began by putting on small plays before extending to musicals and larger shows to end up where they are today.

The first show ever performed by the society was called Trial by Jury and from there, the society went from strength to strength.

After 20 years of being a driving force within the society, Navan native and dad of three David Monaghan reflects on his time in the society and the impact it had on his life as a member of the community.

David never went looking to join a musical society, being preoccupied with working in kitchen design for almost 40 years, but his friends put on a pantomime show in Dunshaughlin every year in the community college.

He received a phone call to see if he and another friend would be interested in taking part in the pantomime one year as they were stuck for male actors.

After some gentle pressure, David agreed and found himself playing the role of Prince Charming in the panto for seven years in a row in Dunshaughlin.

“This was going back thirty years ago now and eventually, my pantomime career fizzled out as I got more involved with tennis and other hobbies.”

“My friend that I had done the pantomimes with was involved in St Mary’s Musical Society and Kilmessan man, Killian Donnelly, who started in St Mary’s Musical Society but is now a huge West End star, was putting on a production of 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' at the time.”

“Somebody had dropped out a week before the show and Killian rang me. Initially, I was reluctant as I had given up my performing days at this stage, but eventually I was convinced.”

David asked when the show was on and was given a week to learn his lines and get into character.

“Usually you have four months to rehearse for a role like this. I was told I had one line to learn and when I arrived, I was handed the script and I had one line per page. That was my introduction to St Mary’s Musical Society” he laughed.

In the 20 years he has been a part of the SMMS society, David has served as chairperson for nine years, vice chairperson for four years and on the committee for three years. After two decades of being on stage and working behind the scenes, David has decided to step down from the committee for the moment.

“What started off as a social club has turned into almost a business. We put on four performances a year, a main show, a cabaret during the summer, a panto at Christmas time and a kids summer camp. It runs from one straight into the other.”

The society has put on iconic shows over the years such as Oliver, West Side Story, South Pacific, All Shook Up and Jesus Christ Superstar.

“I’ve been involved with at least one show a year for the last 20 years and for some unknown reason, I’ve played the priest about six times,” David laughs.

St Mary’s were the first society outside of Dublin to host a Strictly Come Dancing fundraiser which was a huge success. David has acted as MC for any fundraiser shows the society puts on, including Navan’s Got Talent. Navan Shopping Centre also invites the society to do carol singing at Christmas every year before Santa arrives.

“We rehearse a lot and have backing tracks specially made. We try to put on the most professional show possible. We’ve also been asked by the Parish to do the Passion service in St Mary’s Church, Navan, on Good Friday, which we haven’t done since before the pandemic.”

The society uses the community centre at St Mary’s Church as their rehearsal space as it features a stage and a large hall.

Because David was on the committee for so many years, he was mainly in the chorus of the show when he was on stage.

“We would usually have around eight main characters with a chorus and a team of 50 or 60 who are working behind the scenes. There’s nine on the committee in total and the society itself is always changing. We share members with Trim and other musical societies.”

St Mary’s Musical Society’s most recent show was Evita in April and they are already planning Sister Act for April 2026.

“We can have around 80 to 100 members in any given year, but it won’t always be the same people. You’re meeting new people all the time. We host open auditions to keep it fair so anyone can audition and you don’t have to be a member of the society.”

“We like to use as much of our own cast as we can but other talent is always welcome.”

The leading lady in the society's production of Evita, Jenny McCabe, recently won Best Singer in Ireland at the most recent Association of Irish Musical Societies Awards or AIMS Awards. The society is well known to the awards show, with St Mary’s winning Best Actress, Best Lighting, Best Wardrobe, Best Overall Show and Best Stage Manager to name a few.

David was part of the chorus for All Shook Up in 2017, bringing home the Best Chorus Award at AIMS. Each win is a massive achievement for the society as they keep continuing to gather nominations and wins every year.

While the awards and the shows are important to David and the other long-time members of the society, David mentions one of the best parts of being a part of it all is the friendships you build along the way.

“The main thing about the society is the friends you make and the true team effort. Being the chairperson and having Siobhan Blake Lynch as treasurer, we always ensure we pick the best shows for the members of the society, not for any other reason.”

“Over the last 20 years, the people I have met have been the most important part. It has opened so many doors for me and St Mary’s Musical Society is truly like a family.”

Now David hangs up his stage shoes and continues with his current career in property management and his other hobbies such as tennis.

From small, humble beginnings to putting on well known bigger productions in recent years such as Calamity Jane and Pirates of Penzance, the society turned into something much bigger than was ever expected and is now one of the top amateur musical societies in the country.