MONICA BONNIE, BORN 1938, FORMER TEACHER OF PERCUSSION, COLLEGE OF MUSIC, CHATHAM ROW (Part 1)

Monica Bonnie was recorded in Rathmines, and she initially recalls her early childhood stage performances, which she began at the age of four. She learned the piano at the Municipal School of Music in Chatham Row from the age of five, where her father Joe taught percussion. She discusses her father’s performances in Dublin, and on his death, Monica was asked to take his place as a teacher of percussion at the Municipal School of Music in 1961. That year, she was one of a group of musicians who travelled to the Congo to entertain the Irish troops there. She discusses her teaching skills, and the various media of music taught at the school. She remembers all the individual music teachers who worked there down the years, and she discusses the class distinction which existed between those who had attended the Royal Irish Academy, and the attendees at the School of Music. In the second section of the recording, Monica Bonnie recalls her childhood in Collins Avenue, Beaumont, where she grew up with her two siblings. She discusses the fabric of the buildings at Chatham Row, and she also explains that her father Joe Bonnie taught Larry Mullen, drummer with U2. He also gave him direction in his life in the early days, pointing him in the direction of his later huge success in the music world. Monica also discusses her many performances in theatre, and the enormous and detailed work in production.