Dublin All Stars

History

The Band started life in 1988 in Donaghmede. It all began on the 12th of May 1988 with 12 members and grew to an impressive 250 by 1995. With both a junior and senior band, the aim was to recruit members aged from 6 years of age to adult. It has since grown from strength to strength, performing on a local, national and international scale.

In 1989 the band (49 members in all) set off for the Rose of Tralee Festival in late August and were so popular that they returned many times since. The band performed in various St Patrick’s Day Parades, including Bray, Drogheda, & Dublin. Other parades included Galway, Dundalk, Balbriggan, Malahide, Skerries, Swords, Thurles and many appearances at Dublin Airport.

The junior band which caters for the children aged 6 to 11 years has been a great success, winning various trophies and appearing on RTE in Bray’s St Patrick Day Parade.

In 1994 the band was invited by the Springfield Drum and Bugle Corps, to travel to the USA. It performed in the cities of Holyoke, Hartford, Springfield, Newhaven, and Meriden for their St. Patrick’s Day Parades. The band took the top awards in three parades and received citations from Senator Ted Kennedy, the United States Government and the state of Massachusetts for the band's brilliant contribution to music.

In 1995 the Band visited London in March for the Patrick’s Day Parade, which included playing both inside and outside Westminster Cathedral. Again in July the Band visited the London Irish Festival, with all members receiving medals for their magnificent performance. The Band have also performed in the Lord Mayors Parade, Belfast and were the first Southern Band in 25 years to take part. The Senior band were invited to Dublin Airport, to play on the runway and welcome the Concorde and the winning Ryder Cup team for their return to Ireland.

In the late 90's, the band expanded to Swords and Balbriggan, increasing the membership numbers to a record 300. In the summer of 1997 the band appeared at Dublin Airport for the display of aircraft from the US Aircraft Carrier JFK. These few years saw us travelling to London, Ennis, Lisdoonvarna, Tralee and even Edinburgh for the International Festival in which we were the first Irish band to take part in the parade. Other performances took place in Malahide, Balbriggan, Swords, Bray and Dundalk.

In 2000 the band played in the Dublin City Parade for the St. Patrick's Day, and again made the news on the Irish television station RTE, the band also returned to London for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations that same year. During the summer engagements included the Fingal Parks Family Days, the Ladies Mini Marathon and a charity football match in Balbriggan. In August we re-visited Edinburgh for the second time and performed in the cavalcade parade.

In 2001, The band played in the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Roscrea, which took place in May because of Foot and Mouth Disease precautions. We also visited Ozoir la Ferriere in France as part of a culture exchance with the Dublin town, Swords. Later in the same year a group from France visited Swords and took part in many activities in Dublin. For the third time in August we returned to Edinburgh for the International Festival, still being the only Irish Band to play at the festival.

In 2002 the band played in the Drogheda and Carrickmacross St. Patrick’s Day Parades. In the summer, we performed at the National Special Olympics Closing Ceremony and in the Bloom’s Day Celebrations. In August the band made its return to Tralee for The Rose of Tralee Festival after a three year break and got a brilliant welcome back.

In 2003 the band performed in the London St. Patrick's Day parade and then returned to Ireland for the Greystones and Wicklow town parades. In June, the band did another performance in Greystones to welcome the 2003 Croatian Special Olympics team to Ireland for the 2003 Special Olympics Games. In July the band took part in the Buncrana music festival and once again returned to Edinburgh for the famous International Festival.

In 2004 the band took part in the Greystones and Wicklow town parades. After exactly 10 years the band returned to the United States to perform in the 4th of July parade in Smyrna, Delaware. The band while in Washington was greeted by numerous majors and senators and were presented with 6 citations and also were given the key to the county of Dover. there was also a week declared to be dedicated to the band and so from the 1st of July to the 8th of July 2004 the people of Delaware celebrated the 'Dublin All Stars Marching Band Week' The band took part in the July 4th parade and won 3 trophies

2005 saw another return to Edinburgh for the international festival which proved a great success. Towards the end of the year plans for a triumphant return to America in 2006 began to form, however the many natural disasters of that year resulted in prices being too expensive for the band.

However the idea was not scrapped completely, America had to be postponed for 1 year, In 2007 we will return. This year for our highlight trip we will be heading to Midsomer Norton to take part in the International Marching Band competition.

Website designed by Niall Sweeney and hosted by Shane Sweeney

Thanks to everyone for their support.