PHOTOS: Unity Gospel Choir Limerick sing their praises for Pieta House in new CD 

UGCL CD: Pictured at the Unity Gospel Choir Limerick, CD Launch held at Maggie Choo’s on Wednesday, October 23, 2019. Picture: Anthony Sheehan/ilovelimerick

PHOTOS: Unity Gospel Choir Limerick sing their praises for Pieta House in new CD 

Unity Gospel Choir Limerick (UGCL) held a press launch today, Wednesday, October 23 at Maggie Choo’s 101 to introduce their new CD, ‘Love Shine a Light’ in aid of Pieta House and in memory of suicide victims Brendan (Benny) McNamara and Yasmin Lee Williams. 

The CD is set to officially launch Monday, November 11 at Maggi Choo’s at 101 and will have Patrick J. Hogan as compère. The Mayor, Mr. Michael Sheehan amongst other guests will also speak on the night and will be accompanied by a few songs from the choir, including the new single ‘Love Shine a Light’. Chloe O’Halloran (17) will also perform on the night. 

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In recent months Limerick has been the scene of much sadness due to the loss of loved ones to suicide. The fact is over a 3-week period, 13 people died by their own hand in the Midwest. 

Founder and director of UGCL, Gretta O’Shea said, “There has been a spurt of suicides in Limerick over the last month or so and we decided it would be a great help to keep existing services open”.

Pictured at the Unity Gospel Choir Limerick, CD Launch held at Maggie Choo’s on Wednesday, October 23, 2019. Picture: Anthony Sheehan/ilovelimerick

Pieta House is one of the services in Limerick tackling this issue and provides a space to talk to a professional, have a cup of tea and meet understanding people. However, running a service like this requires a lot of money and this takes funding. 

The CD comes as a result of the shared dream between Pieta House founder, Joan Freeman and director and founder of UGCL, to someday record ‘Love Shine a Light’, and with the help of many kind donations, this dream has been made a reality. 

Paddy Donning, the owner of the infamous Grouse Lodge Recording Studio kindly gifted UCGL the usage of a recording studio and engineer to record the single. Not only this but his wife, Claire also cooked a big meal for the whole crew. 

Hazel Manning of Manning Coaches provided UGCL with a bus and driver at no cost and when the crew attempted to pay the driver, he instructed them to donate the money to Pieta House. 

This kindness ran through all donators involved in making this project a possibility. Just Print and Dutec did all the printing and artwork for free. Donoghmore Pioneer Service sponsored the nominal fee for the pressing of the CD, Mike Sutton and the people at Ishka sponsored 100 bottles of water, Richard Dowling at Wav Mastering did the mastering for free and Lenny and the staff at Maggi Choo’s will be sponsoring the launch of the CD. 

A wonderful live performance by @U_G_C_L at the launch of their new album ” Love shine a light”. All proceeds go towards @PietaHouse @SeeChangeIRL #darknessintolight #endmentalhealthstigma pic.twitter.com/r9HhKleoty

— #LimerickTilliDie (@ilovelimerick) October 23, 2019

Mental health advocate and businessman Doug Leddin will be launching the CD and is an amazing person to have on board with this project as he himself speaks out on his own experiences with mental health and the importance of talking. 

UCGL hopes through this CD to bring attention to the issue of suicide and help raise funds to help Pieta House continue with their amazing work. The official launch will take place at 6.30 pm on Monday, November 11 at Maggi Choos at 101. 

For more information on Pieta House click here. 

For more stories on  Unity Gospel Choir Limerick click here.

Picture: Anthony Sheehan/ilovelimerick