The musical soldier

Austin Berry has spent a lifetime promoting the army and trad music. He first became a recruit to the army in Athlone in 1947, and over those years, in different roles, he has worked to enhance and promote the Defence Forces. In a parallel career to his life in Custume Barracks, Austin has been a musician that has picked up four All-Ireland titles, and has brought young musicians to the same prizewinning level. Although, a Co. Offaly man through birth and childhood, Austin has spent over sixty years living in the Athlone area. He will be 80 years old next month, and was born in a famine cottage in the rural townland of Clonshanny, near Ballycumber. The Berry family owned a piece of ground encompassing three fields, and their own bog. They sowed every inch of the fields with crops including golden wonder potatoes, cabbage, brussel sprouts and cauliflowers. In 1947, Austin and a friend, walked along the railway line from Clonshanny to Athlone to join the army. "I was hardly five foot two at the time, and I wasn't exactly 17, and I joined the Construction Corp, which was the non-combatant side of the army," he said. "You had to live in barracks in those days, it was a very strict regime that way, and even when you went out for a day's leave in town, you had to be in full uniform, carrying your gloves, and your cane, even in hot weather." Austin was first sent to Naas in Co. Kildare with the Construction Corp, and then to the Aerodrome, in Fermoy, Co. Cork, until the Construction Corp was stood down. After the corp ended in early 1948, the men were let go, but Austin joined the army later that summer, and was posted to the Curragh, Co. Kildare. In December 1948, he passed out in the army, and was sent down to Kickham Barracks in Clonmel, where he remained for six months. He transferred back to Athlone in 1949, where he remained until 1952. Austin left the army for three years, and worked in Birmingham, but re-joined again in the Curragh in 1955. In 1958, he married his beloved Clara born, Maureen, and the couple moved to married quarters in the Curragh. They had four children when he moved to Athlone's Custume Barracks in 1963, and then the family moved to Fardrum, and remained there until November 29th, 1965, when they moved to Assumption Road, Athlone. He loved gymnastics and running with the army in 1947/48, and continued it on in later years, and in the 1950's, he won three All-Army medals for gymnastics, with one of the top army teams in the country, which was the Curragh command team. Austin also got one individual medal in 1960 and two team medals, in 1959 and 1961. Austin's father, Tommy was a great melodeon player, and ballad singer, and his mother, Annie was a Irish traditional dancer. "I was taught the drums by my father when I was about four years old and he was a drummer with the Ballycumber Fife and Drum band, and the Clara pipe band," said Austin. Austin's music teaching days began in the late 1950's, when he taught drums to the Monasterevin Girls Pipe Band, while he was based in the Curragh. He joined the 6th Battallion Pipe Band in Custume Barracks, and went on to teach the Longford Pipe Band with famous songwriter, Patsy Farrell, of 'Where the Three Counties meet' fame. Through his work with the Longford Pipe Band, he became acquainted with the legendary Piper Reynolds himself, Willie Reynolds from Walderstown, who was one of the founder members of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann in 1951. Austin used to teach drums with Willie, who was teaching the pipes, around the midlands through the 1970's. Austin learned to play the mouthorgan early in life, but amazingly it was not until he was 63 years old that he won his first All-Ireland title for mouthorgan. Austin joined Comhaltas in the mid 1980's, and got playing with the Costello family from Baylough in their band, 'Sin E'. The group played in Libramont, Belgium in the first European Festival in 1992. "My time with Sin E was the greatest time of my life as regards music, and we played together about four nights a week for six years," said Austin. In 1993, they were asked to go to Switzerland to play at the World Ski Championship in Veysonnaz, and they got an invitation to go back there and to Zurich, twice the following year. It was in 1993 in Clonmel, that Austin won his first All-Ireland, but 1996 was a most extraordinary music year for Austin. He won his second senior All-Ireland title that year, and his then 15 years old Athlone pupil, Ruairi O'Leochain also took home a title. Ruairi won the All-Ireland in the 15-18 section and the Athlone duo repeated their success in the following two years, making it three in a row All-Irelands for them both. "My wife, Maureen was in hospital at the time of the 1998 competition, and encouraged me to go to the competition, to take the three in a row," said Austin. "I always said that that All-Ireland title was for her." There had been a local branch in the 1950's of the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women (ONE), and the branch was re-formed in Athlone in July 1988. Austin had retired from the army in 1977 and with many of his local fellow ex-servicemen; he joined the new branch in Custume Barracks. Later ONE became ONET, with the last letter meaning 'teoranta', when the organisation became a limited company. Austin was National PRO for six years, and he then became Secretary/PRO of the Western Area Council of ONE in 1991, and for the past four years, he has been President of the council. He was also proud of the purchase and opening of ONET's Custume House, Bonavalley, Athlone, which was opened in 2006. Austin has appeared on UTV talking about ONE, and on RTE television many times, having been interviewed on 'Live at 3' about ONE, and he played music on 'Open House' and 'PM Live'. He even played on Gay Byrne's 'Late Late Show' with his pupil, Ruairi in 1996. Tragedy visited Austin many times over his years of success, while he lived in the public eye. He had a run of bereavements following his election as an Independent councillor to Athlone UDC in 1999. Austin is father to seven children, and his second son Paddy was killed following a road accident in October 1999. "We were asked at the time to donate his organs, and we agreed because Paddy carried a donor card, but my wife Maureen asked for his eyes not to be donated, but his main organs were given and his death gave other people life," said Austin. In 2000 Austin had a by-pass operation, and in 2001 he lost his sister Pauline, and on February 1st, 2002, he lost his beloved wife Maureen. In 2003, he lost his brothers, Tommy and Paddy, and later that year, he lost his great-granddaughter, aged seven days old. In 2008, he lost his niece, Lillian Scanlon, (the daughter of Austin's sister Pauline) through tragic circumstances. "It helped me that I had my work on the council and in music and with ONET, and a very supportive family," said Austin. "But a wonderful way of handling things is to sit down and talk about the people that are gone. I have wonderful memories and am blessed for that and I had a wonderful marriage of 44 years." In 2008, Austin launched his first music CD, 'Sounds of the Brosna'. This pure mouthorgan album was sold in aid of Athlone Hospice, and raised in excess of €3,000 for the local charity. €1,000 sponsorship by the Athlone branch of ONET was given towards the cost of the production of the CD. Last year, Austin retired from Athlone Town Council, after having completed ten years there as an Independent councillor. He was Mayor of Athlone during the 2004/05 year.