Trumpeter Frankie set for Áras return sixty years on

Popular Athlone entertainer Frankie McDonald will be performing at a garden party hosted by President Michael D Higgins this weekend, some 60 years after his first performance at Áras an Uachtárain.

Frankie is due to perform with his son and daughter, Keith and Lorraine, at a garden party hosted by President Higgins this Sunday, June 18, as part of the Bloomsday celebrations.

In a remarkable coincidence it's almost 60 years to the exact week since his earlier performance, when, as a member of the Band of the Western Command, he was sent to augment the No 1 Army Band for the the garden party hosted by President Eamon De Valera for visiting US President John F Kennedy at Áras an Uachtárain.

Frankie said he is eagerly awaiting the event later this month, describing it as very special, not only as he is sharing the occasion with two of his children, but also because of the connection with 60th anniversary of the garden party for US President John F Kennedy on June 27, 1963.

He was also regularly among the official buglers for State receptions for visiting dignitaries including at the arrival of Princes Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco at Dublin Airport and at President De Valera’s reception afterwards in Áras an Uachtárain.

Frankie also performed on the trumpet at Arbour Hill Cemetery in June 1963 when President Kennedy laid a wreath on the graves of the executed leaders of the 1916 rising.