Brendan’s Over 40’s club has raised thousands for local charities

Brendan Marmion will celebrate 40 years trading on Clanbrassil St. this year. The popular paint shop owner still works in the shop alongside three of his four daughters daughters (Emma, Gillian and Lyndsey) while fourth daughter Lisa works with Safe Ireland. Sadly Brendan and his wife Joan lost their only son Garrett who died 52 years ago when just a baby.
When you walk into Brendan’s shop, the back wall is adorned with a number of photographs which tell a story of the phenomenal amount of charity work the Dundalk man has been doing down through the years.

Brendan’s method of raising money for these charities is through his popular ‘Over 40’s Club’ which he holds in the Lisdoo every Thursday night. Some of the country’s best known bands have performed at Brendan’s over 40’s club down through the years which have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for various charities across the county.

As well as supporting local charities, Brendan’s Over 40’s club has managed to change lives as far away as Africa thanks to his generous donations which have helped build ‘St. Gabriel’s College in Bafmeng, Cameroon’. As Brendan explains he decided to help build the school thanks to a local link who came to him asking for help.

“The Over 40’s club’ has been helping local charities for years but when I got talking to Fr. Byrne he was telling me about the work he was doing in Cameroon and how he was trying to provide as many school places as he could to local kids in the area. I was sold on the project straight away and we donated €55,000 to Fr Brian about twenty years ago which helped build the school.

There was only a handful of students in the school back then and now there are over 1000 which is something I’m very proud of’ stated Brendan.

Fr Byrne is from the Carrick Road originally and he is very passionate about improving the lives of young people in Cameroon. The school has made a huge impact on thousands of kids from the area over the last two decades and hopefully it will keep on doing so in the future.

“I wouldn’t be able to help out as many charities as I do without the success of the Over 40’s club and I am very thankful for the good people of Dundalk who have always supported us down in the Lisdoo every Thursday evening. It was €10 for a live band and supper when we started out nearly 30 years ago and it’s still €10 today. I got the idea to start the club when myself and my wife Joan went to Ridley’s to watch a band called ‘The Absolutelys’.

“We loved going to watch live music but when we looked around that night we came to the realisation that were the oldest people in the room. I figured that there was nothing in town really for the over 40’s and so I went to Jim Hackett who owned the Lisdoo at the time and approached him about holding a weekly night for the over 40’s in town. Thankfully it took off immediately and we have had great bands from all over the country play in the LIsdoo down through the years. As a youngster I absolutely adored the showband era and I would travel all over the country to watch the likes of Brendan Bowyer, Dickie Rock and all the big names of the time. I left school early and went to work in Williamsons at just 14 years old. I worked my way up to become the manager of the DIY section and they were fantastic days.

“I was also in a mime act with Pat O’Shaughnessy called Pixie and Dixie and we did well. It was a comedy show and Pat was the woman and I was the man. It was great fun altogether,” recalls Brendan.

“I have always loved helping people out and that is why I have been involved in helping out so many charities down through the years. I was hugely appreciative for the help that the likes of Vincent Mulligan, Willie O’Dooley and Darren O’Brien have given me down through the years and they have all been a great help in ensuring the continued success of the Over 40’s Club. We have had huge nights including bringing Liam Lawton to Dundalk where he sold out St Patrick’s Cathedral which payed for the CCTV in the church.

“It keeps me young and it’s great crack. We hold the Over 40’s Club every Thursday between 8:30 and 11 and we have a live band and supper. The way we work it is we will generally wait until we reach €5000 in funds raised from the club before giving that money to a worthy local charity. The people of Dundalk have been good to me down through the years and it is the least I can do to give back to the town by helping out all these brilliant local charities around town,” concluded Brendan.

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