Memories of the 50th anniversary of Apparel Tops of the Town

By David Flynn

This year is the 50th anniversary of the start of the Tops of the Towns journey for staff at the Athlone Apparel factory.

Athlone actor, singer and raconteur Ray Collins recalls the excitement of the heyday of the Tidy Towns competition.

“I worked in Parsons on the corner of Northgate Street and I remember the queues of people up the street from Temple’s Printing Works collecting tickets for the Apparel competition nights in the Dean Crowe Hall and other parts of the country,” said Ray to the Westmeath Independent this week.

‘Tops of the Town’ was a local X-Factor-style competition in the 70s and 80s, where community groups and businesses competed with each other in variety shows and it was sponsored by the John Player cigarette company.

Ray was 25 years old, with a history of starring in local musicals and dramas when he was invited to join the Athlone Apparel workers in their first Tops production in March 1975.

“We won it straight through in Athlone for six years, and were four-times quarter finalists and twice semi-finalists,” said Ray. “Jack Cruise was a well-known theatre comedian in Dublin and he said on the ‘Late Late Show’ on television that we were one of the most entertaining groups he had ever seen and he’d never forget us.”

Ray paid tribute to those at that time who were involved in the Apparel shows, beginning with the late Dermot Kilduff, factory manager who was the show’s director.

“There was also Dermot’s wife, Margaret, who was a wonderful singer in the show, and another great singer, Ian Wilson,” said Ray. “There was the late Mary Burke who was the organist in the show and I can’t say enough about the girls who were very young and worked in the Apparel who got on stage and some even played men in the chorus. They were fantastic and powerful.”

He also fondly remembered a comedy number acted by Liam Dwan, where Liam played Charlie Chaplin and had the local theatre-goers of the Dean Crowe Hall talking for years afterwards.

“Liam was great with sketches, but his Charlie Chaplin was second to none,” said Ray. “Tops of the Town at the time gave the best entertainment value to local people, because local townspeople were involved and supported by their families, friends and neighbours.”

Ray spoke highly of three girls who performed an Abba song in the shows.

“There was Veronica Ryan and two sisters Dolores and Brenda McMonagle who did a show-stopper of a number, ‘Chiquitita’ by Abba,” said Ray. “There was also the late Tom McHale who was an All-Ireland winning tin whistle player, doing music, which sounded like an orchestra.”

He said the girls sang many of the modern songs of the time, including Margaret Kilduff who did a rendition of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’.

“I remember Mary Burke wrote a song about the Apparel that the girls sang,” said Ray. “We were all like one big happy family, and the Tops of the Town was one of the highlights of my time involved in dramas and musicals. Tops was usually on before the Athlone Musical Society show every year, so I was able to do both shows.”

The Athlone Apparel also played in the Cork Opera House and a theatre in Galway, and Athlone audiences of families and friends travelled to those venues by bus.

“We did our rehearsals in the Apparel and got to use the Dean Crowe before we went on stage,” he said. “A few of us went to Dermot and Margaret’s house to rehearse and two of their young sons, Alfie and Conor took part in the shows as well. Dermot directed the comedy scenes and a lot of the women in the factory would do choreography and it was a competition and we had to get things right on the night. The shows lasted about 90 minutes with no break in-between.”

Ray also praised three Apparel women, Mary Roper and sisters, Joan Wykes-Ryan and Helen McCaul who planned and arranged the 40th Apparel Tops anniversary celebrations in 2015.

“They worked exceptionally hard on that, and there was some money given to a charity on the night in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel,” said Ray. “That was such a success and our only reunion and most from the old days came to it. It was a perfect night!”

Ray said ‘Tops’ was of its time, and it ended due to cities getting involved in the competition, making it harder for local towns to continue.

“It’s important now to congratulate all those Athlone people from the Apparel, who gave great entertainment for their town fifty years ago,” said Ray. “They were so talented.”