The founders of the annual concert season at Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, were not an optimistic lot.
"At one of the our first meetings we took bets on how many people would turn up. It ranged from five to 45," recalls Dr Marian Tierney, a member of the event's organising committee.
Appropriately, perhaps, the only founder member who showed some faith was the late Mgr Seβn Swayne, the parish priest. He predicted an audience of 120, and in the event 110 people were inside the 13th-century abbey for that opening night.
That was 10 years ago, and since then Duiske has hosted concerts featuring the best of classical and traditional musicians, from the Vienna Boys' Choir to the Moscow Piano Trio, Altan to De Danann, Ronan Tynan to Finian Collins and Liam O'Flynn to Mairt∅n O'Connor.
"When the idea was first mooted, we didn't even have a piano, let alone an audience," according to the committee chairman, Mr Sean Hardie. "But audiences and musicians seem to love coming to Duiske. We had over 700 in the abbey for the Vienna Boys' Choir last year and we could have sold twice as many tickets."
The 10th anniversary concert season opens tonight with the young and hugely successful Norwegian violinist, Henning Kraggerud, playing works by Brahms, Beethoven and CΘsar Franck. Further concerts take place each Wednesday this month.
Next week it's the turn of the Oslo String Quartet, accompanied by clarinet-player Michael Collins; on November 21st soprano Suzanne Murphy will sing a selection of songs by Haydn, Brahms, Strauss and Moore; and the season ends on November 28th with an evening of music ranging from traditional to gospel with Liam ╙ Maonla∅, Steve Cooney and friends.
Children from the local boys' and girls' primary schools will perform at the concerts this year for the first time.
Tickets for each night cost £8 (£5 unwaged), and further details can be obtained at (0503) 242 38.
Major celebrations are planned for the abbey's 800th anniversary in 2004.