Róisín Rice is happiest when she is singing

Derry Feis is 101 years old this Easter. To celebrate the turning of its second century, Derry Now will feature a weekly interview with some of the incredibly talented stalwarts of this unique cultural event. 

Vice Principal of St Mary’s College, Róisín Rice, credits Feis Dhoire Cholmcille with giving her confidence and resilience and lifelong friendships.

As she prepared for an Easter trip to Mexico with Derry’s superb Codetta Chamber Choir, which is singing in Guadalajara Cathedral, Róisín Rice said, competing in Derry Feis had given her life skills which she very much valued.

“Working now as I do as Vice Principal of St Mary’s College, I have confidence when I am on stage speaking to parents or when I am speaking to the ‘sea of blue’ that is in front of me, our girls. 

“Those years at Feis Dhoire Cholmcille, of standing up and performing in front of an audience, have really taught me and given me life skills for the future. And, it is all thanks to my Mammy, the original Feis mother,” smiled Róisín.  

Róisín Rice with the Fr McDaid Cup & WJ McDaid Cup which she won at Derry Feis.

Reminiscing about the Feis, Róisín said: “I probably started competing when I was three or four years old, singing or saying a poem. My very first memory of Derry Feis is a competition which took place in Nazareth House Primary School. 

“The Feis used to take place in lots of different venues. It would just have been the more prestigious competitions which would have been held in the Guildhall or St Columb’s Hall. 

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“I remember standing up on the stage and saying a poem. I can still remember it. ‘There was a little girl, Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, She was very good indeed, But when she was bad she was horrid.’

“I loved being on the stage and not only did I say poems, I sang many, many songs with James MacCafferty, who was my first singing teacher. I remember singing ‘The Friendly Cow’. I also danced with Mary McLaughlin, so, one of the things I remember most vividly was running from hall to hall. My poor Mammy was wrecked with changes of clothes and tap shoes and pumps and Irish dancing dresses and then changing onto your Feis frock for your poems or studied prose,” said Róisín enthusiastically. 

As she got older, Róisín said she gave up poetry, speech and drama and Irish dancing. 

“I just focused on my singing then and I have many happy memories, especially of James MacCafferty, singing in the Guildhall and St Columb’s Hall.

Róisín with her Laurence Hasson Cup and the Fr McGettigan Cup.

“I won many awards in the Derry Feis over the years. I won the Feis Blue Riband in 1992, the Sybil Sharkey Bursery. Over different years, won all of the adult singing competitions in Derry Feis.  

“And I have so many fond memories of the camaraderie and the friendship.

“When I was at singing lessons and participating in the Feis I made friendships for life. 

“My husband, Mark Cutter, was also an Irish dancer and the yearI won the Sybil Sharkey Bursary, he won the Senior Boys’ Championship in Irish dancing. 

“I remember running into the Hall to see him. I was singing in the Minor Hall and he was dancing on the stage in the Guildhall. I remember standing, about to start singing, and you know the way they close the doors, all I heard was this clippity clop, clop clop coming along with tap shoes on and it was my husband Mark, trying to get into the back of the Minor Hall to hear me sing. We had only started to know one another then, only started to go out, laughed Róisín. 

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Quick to pay tribute to her Mammy, Doreen, Róisín said: “She took my sister, Grainnia, and my two brothers, Emmett and Declan, and me to the Feis every single year without fail. She has pictures of all of us winning prizes at one stage or another. 

“Derry Feis set me up for life. It taught me many things,” said Róisín. “It gave me confidence. It also gave me many skills, including resilience because sometimes when you didn’t win or they didn’t give out the first prize, we had to be resilient. 

“It also taught me how to prepare. It taught me endurance. We had to practise for competitions. It also taught us how to go for our goals, to reach for the stars.

“If  you want something, you have to work hard and be proactive and it was always a goal.

“When I was doing the adult singing competitions, you could be singing maybe 10 or 12 songs during the week, with some of them in different languages,” said Róisín, who added she used to worry about her Irish pronunciation, especially in the Fr McGettigan Cup competition. 

After James MacCafferty, Róisín went to singing lessons with Una O’Somachain, James’ daughter. 

“I have so many memories of Una and her kindness and her inspiration,” said Róisín warmly. “I was blessed to have two wonderful teachers in James MacCafferty and Una. I would still be very, very good friends with Una today. She regularly asks me back to adjudicate at her class feis. From time to time she would ask me to come back and maybe polish off the girls for the Feis as well.

“That is very, very enjoyable too. It is lovely to be able to give back and it is lovely to have had that teacher - student relationship grow into a beautiful friendship that has lasted a lifetime,” said Róisín, who was head of the RE department at St Mary’s and taught computers before she became Vice Principal. 

A singer to her very fingertips, Róisín also performed in school choirs and other choirs.

She added: “Probably one of my Feis was singing a duet every year with Jennifer Curran. We had great fun doing that. In later years I would do duets with Anne Marie Hickey too. 

Róisín with her brother Declan who won first in the Boys' Singing Competition.

“I am currently a member of Codetta and we are about to travel to Mexico to sing in Guadalajara Cathedral and in Tequila, so I am still very much about the singing.

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“I sing regularly in St Eugene’s Cathedral and also in the Longtower. I love being a member of Codetta and we have travelled everywhere. Singing has really been something that has given me so many opportunities, particularly during the City of Culture year.

“Singing with Dónal Doherty and Codetta has opened up so many opportunities and experiences which I can’t even begin to describe or explain.

“I have just been truly blessed and I thank God everyday for giving me the gift of my voice and being able to sing because it not only gives me pleasure but hopefully it gives others pleasure as well.”