Super work: Mary's Meals Longford barn dance treat will help feed over 1,600 children

The Longford Branch of Mary's Meals organised a Barn Dance fundraiser in Connolly Barracks on Saturday May 3 last. 

The large crowd in attendance seemed to enjoy every minute of it, the dance floor was in use from the minute the gates opened.

The children were welcome by so many characters including Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Bluey, Peppa Pig and many others, the children stood in awe until they got used to the giant figures, then they all shook hands, some slapped hands, or had their photos taken. 

It was also great to welcome the residents of St. Joseph who really seemed to enjoy the breeze on their faces, tapping their feet and hands. 

READ NEXT: 'Really sick': Sex offender 'befriended' 10-year-old Midlands girl on Snapchat

Mary's Meals is a worldwide organization that feeds children in school so that the children can come to school, be fed at school, be educated at school, through this initiative the children help their locality, their area and finally their country.

In the countries Mary's Meals are in children have to take on an adult role just to survive with food and water being the basic necessity for life. Once food is provided, by Mary's Meals, it eliminates a great burden from the parents and children.

When food is in the school it is an added attraction to ensure the children come each day and learn.

READ NEXT: 'Abusive' Longford woman spat at Penneys security staff and manager

Once the music started it never stopped for the entire event.

Brid Shaughnessy opened, giving a fantastic performance, with the help of the Robert Mizzell band she really showed her true talents on the day.

Following on with Claudia Buckley and Robert Mizzell, the dancing competition took place during Robert Mizzell stint.

Mary's Meals want to thank Brid, Claudia and Robert for their very generous donation of time on the day. 

The programme had the locals of Seamus Farrell, Pascal & Davey, Sean Hussey, Tommy Flaherty. Tommy Flaherty and Sean Hussey, who have played for them so often voluntarily, were to be next for their performance stints, but due to Brendan Kelly Band having a committee he came on first with the lads following on.

The crowd stayed until the end with John Joe O’Reilly singing solo, at the end everyone present wanted more.

A huge thanks also to David Kelly. It was a great day with Brian O’Neill sponsoring bales, a great dance floor with lots of seating around the dancing area. 

Many danced for the 4 hours and their enjoyment expanded to the whole crowd in attendance. 

All ages, whether it be old or young, enjoyed what was to offer.

Mary's Meals were raising funds to the value of €36,024.79 to feed 1637 children for a year, in school by the generosity of all paying guests, all donations, all raffle tickets and all Mary's Meal stalls.

Longford County Council are acknowledged and thanked for allowing use of Connolly Barrack for the day.

So many local business gave donations, some extraordinary amounts, so a sincere “Thank You” to all who gave donations, either money or goods for raffle.

All our volunteers who came and manned stalls; the main sponsor Kiernan Steel who helped out in every way possible; their staff, whom generously gave of their time, who were at every possible required position.

A special note of thanks to KSSL’s Martina Brady-Farrell, her staff who took the brunt of the organising with the great help of Mary's Meals Secretary, Kitty Ross, and her husband Brian. Gabrielle Devine was responsible for paying and receiving all monies on the day. To Mary's Meals volunteers who manned the Mary's Meals staffs also a very sincere thank you. 

With the event having sunny weather, there were plenty of ice cream cones, candy floss and music in the air it was an ideal venue for live dancing.

The large crowd in attendance seemed to enjoy every minute of it, the dance floor was in use from the minute the gates opened.

Having raised an impressive number, the May event proved to be a massive success in Longford Town.

To all who attended the Connolly Barracks event a very sincere thank you has been given by the organisers.

They ask to keep May 2, 2026 in mind, as it is a proposed date to be for a bigger and better event. Mary's Meals in Longford adds that there are plenty of voluntary positions throughout the year with this good cause. 2025 has proven to be a great success, with Longford showing support.