Rita Monaghan - The Mammy of St Mary’s Musical Society

Some people do great things and make them look simple. Some people do lots of things and make them look easy. In St Mary’s Musical Society in Navan, Rita Monaghan is one such person – and she does it all with a great big smile.

“There is no point in being in bad form, is there?” quips the good-humoured seamstress who has volunteered her time and worked for almost 20 years in theatre production.

Rita’s stretch in St Mary’s Musical Society began when she was essentially headhunted from friendly neighbours Rathkenny Revels, where she had enjoyed years of being a stage actor and working in costumes.

Throughout the years, the Kilskyre native’s role has seen her spend many hours at home fixing up costumes and doing alterations before a production starts and being on hard during production to look after the department.

She has also been known to work as a runner, doing last-minute dashes for bits and pieces that the production team needs. “I love to help out,” says the energetic multi-tasker. “It is all part of the it.”

The 71-year-old’s role in SMMS has another very important layer too – one that endears her greatly to her fellow production team, on and off the stage - as she provides great hospitality backstage, giving rise to her reputation as something of the ‘Mammy’ of the society.

“I would help out in the kitchen when the shows are on,” she says with sandwiches a plenty to feed the posse and apple tart – her speciality.

In the early years of the Rathkenny Revels and St Mary’s Musical Society most costumes would have been made from scratch.

In recent years as shows got bigger and better, costumes are often hired in. Some time after joining SMMS, costume director Miriam Donnelly joined the brigade, which Rita says brought a whole new level of professionalism to the team and gave her someone to learn from.

“Miriam is brilliant at what she does,” says Rita. In any theatre production, Rita highlights how the costume department is just one part of a large backroom team.

“So much goes on behind the scenes with regards to props,” she says.

“Some of the people working with them could perform miracles back-stage, with most not getting any recognition or very little for the work that they do.”

Being part of an amateur stage production, is a juggling act for everyone involved, who mainly also have a regular ‘day job’ to hold down. For Rita this was working - until recently - as a Carer with the HSE in the community, a job she started in 1997 and has really enjoyed. The nature of this work has meant that Rita has lost a lot of people that she got close to along the way. The oldest lady Rita cared for was 101 when she passed. “She was in great form until the end with a great memory and a family around her that treated her very well. I have been blessed to be part of that. I enjoyed being part of it all. Thanks be to God I have got a good life. I have never had any illness. I have been able to work all through my life.”

Amongst Rita’s passions is the GAA and once upon a time, was an ardent follower of the men’s senior team, when herself and husband Tony “drove the length and breadth of the country” to see the men in green and gold.

Now, she travels less to county championships but more to see her grandchildren who line-out for the local GAA set-up Castletown – Killary Emmets and Castletown GFC.

Rita who has lived all her married life in Castletown, with husband Tony and one son and daughter, has used her creative streak also in her work through the years as a florist, which she still dabbles in for family celebrations and friends.

This woman of many talents is also a great singer and was part of the Blue Lagoons that played two gigs most weekends in the vibrant pub scene of the 80s, 90s and 2000s around Meath and surrounding counties. The four-piece band that was started by Rita and Tony, saw Rita on vocals and drums, Tony on the accordion and different talented musicians on keyboard and guitar joining them through the years. “They were great times,” she recalls fondly. “You could tell many a story.”

Although it is clear from Rita’s good reputation and a life well lived, that this lady has many natural talents and traits, she remains humble to the core.

Post-Covid when the curtain rises again for St Mary’s Musical Society in Navan, Rita will be there to slide back into her role in costumes but perhaps most importantly, to shine her natural light into the theatre and backstage with her good spirits and great heart.