The James Fitzgerald Memorial Brass Band

The James Fitzgerald Memorial Brass Band is based in Mitchelstown, a small town in North Cork, close to the Limerick and Tipperary border. It is a small band with a membership in the low twenties. There has been a long tradition of bands in Mitchelstown spanning from the turn of the century right up to present day. The current band was re-formed in the 1960's after a brief lapse, and was named after James Fitzgerald, better known as Jimmy Fitz, who was one of the leading lights in Mitchelstown's music circles of the time.

In the 1980's the Band purchased and renovated a premises in Robert Street, which coincidentally was once the home of James Fitzgerald, which is used as a practice and meeting rooms.

The Band is totally dependent on the goodwill of the local and surrounding communities for its finances, and as there is no readily available 'pot of gold' the Bands selection of instruments tends to be a bit on the historical side, with available funds used to keep existing instruments in some kind of working order rather than being able to purchase new instruments.

As with many rural bands membership is a problem, with many members leaving the ranks of the Band once they complete their education and take up employment elsewhere. Over the past number of years it has been the Bands policy to attract new membership from the local primary schools, targeting 4^th class students, with the expectation that they will stay with the Band at least until the end of their 2^nd level education. As a result the age profile of the Band is quite young with around 70% of the membership under the age of 18.

The Band's uniform consists of a Red Blazer, bearing the JF crest, worn with black slacks and complimented with a black tie with red stripes. Red and Black are historically the colours associated with Mitchelstown's various sports teams.