Joe Hanratty's New Play Opens at Íontas Castleblayney: a Schoolyard Fight With Big Consequences
The Trouble With Tommy Rafferty, a new play by Castleblayney playwright Joe Hanratty, is staged by Castleblayney Players and Caisleán Theatre at Íontas Theatre on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 October at 8pm.
By the Monaghan Brief staff·Edited by Seamus McKenna·Published · 2 min read
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Drumlin countryside, Co. Monaghan, near the border. Archive location photograph; not a photo of the events in this story. Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and colour-graded; cropped in layout.
Castleblayney playwright Joe Hanratty's new play, The Trouble With Tommy Rafferty, opens at Íontas Theatre, Castleblayney, on Friday 23 October and Saturday 24 October at 8pm, the Anglo-Celt reports. It is staged by Castleblayney Players and Caisleán Theatre and directed by David Maine.
The story
Set in a second-level school, it begins when teacher Peter McGee breaks up a fight between two pupils. That sparks a chain of events with consequences nobody could have anticipated, as tensions rise in the principal's office and personalities clash in the staff room, the Anglo-Celt says.
The Garage Theatre's listing says events from the past are revealed, along with their impact on relationships, ambitions, decisions and futures, and on Tommy Rafferty himself. "It's a story told with humour and poignancy," it says.
The cast
The cast in rehearsal includes Aoife McCooey, Shane Comiskey, Nicky Hore, Roraidh Irwin, Pauline Clarke and Pat Kerley, according to the Anglo-Celt.
It is Hanratty's fourth play. His earlier work includes Golden Jackets And Black Bow Ties, The Manager and No Going Back, according to the Garage Theatre.
The R181 Castleblayney to Keady road at Killygola can close for up to two weeks between Monday 26 October and Friday 28 November. The signposted diversion runs about 30km via the R182, Newtownhamilton and the A29.
Castleblayney Hurling Club planted 15 fruit trees at its Concra pitch during Climate Action Week, remembering four recently deceased members, and its past players play a charity match for Castleblayney Cancer Society on Bank Holiday Monday.
The average price of 500 litres of kerosene in Monaghan climbed from €808 to €839 in the six days after Budget 2027. A Castleblayney oil distributor blames world markets, not the budget, and says local customers are buying smaller amounts.
