WATCH Limerick’s Torch Players theatre group celebrate 50 years

Torch Players presented Dancing at Lughnasa at the Belltable in March for their 50th anniversary . Pictured above is founder Mossie O’Sullivan with cast and crew on opening night. Picture:Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick

Torch Players celebrated an incredible 50 years with their production of Brian Friel’s award-winning play Dancing at Lughnasa at Belltable

By I Love Limerick Editor, Cian Reinhardt

Torch Players brought Brian Friel’s Tony and Olivier award-winning play Dancing at Lughnasa to the Belltable stage to mark an incredible 50-year milestone for the Torch Players, which has gone from the humble beginnings of producing student-led one-act plays and pantomimes to performing on Limerick City’s biggest stages.

In the early 1970s, Maurice, with wonderful assistance from Brendan Nash, began producing pantomimes and one act plays as Gaeilge with students at the School of Commerce (now Limerick College of Further Education) in Mulgrave Street. 

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They went on to win the Feile Scoildramaiochta Naisuinta in 1972 and 1975 and when these talented students left school in the mid-70s, Aisteoiri Scoil na Tractala evolved into the Torch Players.

Fast forward to 2026 and the Torch Players celebrated their 50th birthday with a production of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa. Maurice, who lit the torch for every one of those 50 years as founder and chairman, directed the play.

Dancing at Lughnasa is a 1990 semi-autobiographical play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal, Ireland, in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. This play is loosely based on the lives of Friel’s mother and aunts who lived in a small town in County Donegal. It was playwright Brian Friel’s most successful play, for which he earned his only Tony and Olivier awards.

It is a beautifully crafted, poignant and lyrical play set in rural Ireland in 1936. It is told through the nostalgic memories of Michael Evans, the narrator, who recalls one August with his mother and her four unmarried sisters when he was seven years old. There is a tender, nostalgic sense to the play, which is strongest when Michael speaks directly to the audience. Michael narrates his memories, smoothing their sides.

Blending humour and pathos, Friel captures the chaotic warmth, sharp wit, and quiet heartbreak of the Mundy sisters as they navigate love, loss and change. Their laughter and teasing reveal both deep affection and unspoken sorrow, while the rare joy of dancing together offers fleeting escape from hardship. Richly human and emotionally resonant, the play celebrates resilience, memory, and the fragile moments that define family life.

Torch Players can trace its roots to the early 1970s, when Maurice O’Sullivan began staging Irish-language pantomimes and one-act plays with students at the School of Commerce on Mulgrave Street. Those early productions, shaped in no small part by the technical talents of Brendan Nash, won the national Féile Scoildrámaíochta in 1972 and 1975. When the students graduated, they didn’t want to stop.

Reflecting on 50 years of Torch Players, Maurice O’Sullivan said, “In the early 1970’s, with wonderful assistance from Brendan Nash, I began producing Pantomimes and One Act Plays “as Gaeilge” with students at the School of Commerce (now Limerick College of Further Education) in Mulgrave Street.”

The group would go on to win numerous awards, and with the students leaving school in the mid 70s, Maurice explains the group evolved into the Torch Players, beginning with a focus on one-act plays, leading toits first full-length performance, ‘To Live in Peace’ at the School of Commerce Halll, before moving to the Belltable stage the following year with a production of Abelard and Heloise.

Maurice added, “We performed on the Full-length Festival Circuit from 1979 until 2003 and qualified for the All-Ireland Finals on fourteen occasions, including ten consecutive appearances. We were one of the first Drama Groups to perform in the Belltable when it opened in 1981 and have played there at least once a year since then.”

Now, celebrating 50 years, Torch Players brought Dancing at Lughnasa to the Belltable, boasting a cast of eight with a further eight as crew, with Maurice O’Sullivan producing the show.

The cast featured Brid Hartnett as Kate, Joanne O’Brien as Chris, Jeanne O’Connor as Maggie, Laura O’Brien as Rose, Mary Jones as Agnes, Dan Mooney as Michael, Paul McCarthy as Father Jack, and Peter Hayes as Gerry.

With Maurice O’Sullivan as producer and director, he is supported by a crew of Stage Manager, Daordre Minogue; ASM, Ava Hennessy; Stage Crew, Holly Gilmour and Lauren Tobin; Lighting Operator, Justin Dunne; Sound Operator, Hayley O’Neill; Set Design, Gerry Lombard; and Set Construction by Justin Dunne.

The Torch Players’ production of Dancing at Lughnasa showed at the Belltable from March 10 to 14 and was a huge success! Congrats to all!