Mary Fran and Tom Cassidy
Faith and music are just some aspects that often bring people together. For Tom and Mary Fran Cassidy, the founders of the Dublin Singers, their story involves a life of love, faith and music, but it all started with a written letter.
Lovely Letters
Since childhood, Mary Fran has loved, created and always been surrounded by music. She says her mother was her first and best piano teacher, and her father was a passionate singer. When her parents grew older, though, Mary Fran returned to her hometown of Delaware to assist the couple.
Then Dublin came into the picture.
When the St. Brigid of Kildare congregation opened in the mid-’80s, Mary Fran already knew the priest from her old church in Delaware. So, when the priest was looking for a new organ player, Mary Fran took to the keys.
“I told him that if I could help him with anything to give me a call. Two weeks later he called me,” Mary Fran says. “The rest, as they say, is history.”
For more than 30 years, Mary Fran has been with the congregation, but not just as a talented musician and member. Even though she went to college for English and music education, her experience is vast, and in 1989 she accepted a position with St. Brigid as the director of religious education – a position she held until retirement in 2015.
Through this position, Mary Fran and Tom met.
In the early ’90s, Tom was working with St. Brigid – specifically Mary Fran – to plan a personal family matter. The two began communicating about the details of the event through the mail, but even when the event ended, the letters didn’t. Eventually, a new friendship blossomed, and soon a new journey began.
For the past 26 years, the couple has resided in Delaware, but their ties with the Dublin community are strong.
Creating the Choir
In eastern Ohio sits the small town of Cambridge, and for many years Mary Fran worked in the city as a teacher and the director of the Cambridge Singers. Even after her move to Delaware, she and Tom would make the 200-mile round-trip to continue her leadership role.
The long drive and late nights were becoming too much, though, and the couple knew they needed a change. Thankfully, the Dublin Arts Council was searching for someone to start a community choir.
“In 1996 the Dublin Arts Council had an ad in the paper that they were interested in starting a community chorus,” Mary Fran says. “And I responded.”
From there, the Dublin Singers emerged. For 23 years, the choir has been an integral part of the community.
“We couldn’t have done any of this without the Dublin Arts Council,” says Tom. “They are, and have been since day one, the main contributor to our financial viability.”
The choir fluctuates in numbers every year, but it is always looking for new members who are passionate about singing. One way the group hopes to help inspire others and get younger people involved is through the Dublin Singers scholarship program, which awards a central Ohioan soon-to-be college student – preferably pursuing a music-focused major – $1,000.
“It’s exciting not only for the kids, but the audience can say, ‘You’re not just taking our money at the front door, you’re doing something with it,’” Tom says.
“And also, as a community chorus, our continued existence depends on those kids when they’re done with their education to come and sing with us,” Mary Fran says. “We need young voices as well as aging voices.”
Mary Fran says one of her favorite parts about the choir is the sound, so members are required to memorize the songs, which produces a stronger sound because members are facing forward instead of looking down at sheet music. Scores are allowed for difficult pieces.
“I enjoy the sound, and hearing the fruit of our labor,” Mary Fran says. “And, really, the bond between our singers, too. When you make music together, there is a bond that’s formed; a strong community is formed.”
Tom also notes some of his favorite aspects of being involved with the Dublin Singers.
“I enjoy the camaraderie and the privilege of singing with other people,” he says. “Because of the nature of our audience, there is always a tremendous response. … And even though (the applause) lasts for maybe 30 seconds, it was well worth the effort to memorize all the music.”
Memorable Moments
The Playbill from when the Dublin Singers sang at Carnegie Hall.
One of the most significant achievements for many musicians is performing in Carnegie Hall in New York City, and the Dublin Singers can check that off the list.
Since Mary Fran took her previous choir, the Cambridge Singers, to the famous concert hall beforehand with John Rutter’s Cambridge Singers from England, her connections with the venue aided the second time. In 2002, the Dublin Singers performed for the first time at Carnegie Hall singing Rutter’s Magnificat.
“Music has been a part my life, really, all my life,” Mary Fran says.
The group doesn’t always sing in-depth classics though; they also perform holiday-themed, secular, Broadway and classic rock music. There are two concerts held throughout the season: a holiday show and a spring recital.
During the 2011 spring program, Tom performed the wordy 1971 song “American Pie” by Don McLean. And his personal connection with the classic tune is pretty interesting.
During his college career in New York, Tom bartended at a local bar that McLean regularly visited. The two became close, and Tom actually witnessed McLean writing the convoluted lyrics to “American Pie” on bar napkins.
“I called (McLean)maybe four years ago and said, ‘I really got to know where the levee is,’” Tom says. “And he said, ‘Why do you think it’s so popular today? Because I haven’t given in to any of the crazy things about that song.’”
He never learned the secret. Regardless, Tom had the lyrics down during the concert.
“As you gracefully mature, sometimes your memory doesn’t quite follow,” Tom says. “So, on my finger, I wrote the first letter of each word of each of the verses. That’s the only way it would click.”
Mary Fran showcases one of her many Dublin Singers scrapbooks. On the page above there is memorabilia from the group's trip to NYC.
Love for Dublin
The Cassidys also fundraise for the Dublin Singers at the Dublin Irish Festival, and are involved in the choir at St. Brigid. and Mary Fran speaks to religious education classes and plays the organ and sings during mass. The couple may live in Delaware, but their hearts are undoubtedly split between there and Dublin.
“Dublin is a great community for everything,” Tom says. “But for appreciation of music, it’s been really great.”
“And even though we live in Delaware,” Mary Fran says, “Dublin is a very special place.”
Fun Facts About the Duo
- Mary Fran was the first student ever to receive a master’s degree in theology at Ohio Dominican University in 2003.
- Tom lived in Hong Kong for 10 years, working as an international management consultant. There, he adopted a baby girl that Mary Fran proudly calls daughter, too.
- Tom also helped in the education department at St. Brigid, teaching seventh-grade classes for 15 years.
- Mary Fran has taught every grade level from first to college in subjects of English, music and religion.
Lydia Freudenberg is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
