Gormanstown Choir in Kildare Cathedral for Syria

A Winter Concert at Kildare Cathedral on the evening of Saturday 29 November will raise funds for the next mission to Syria by Atlantic Humanitarian Relief (AHR), which includes volunteers from the Kilcullen area, writes Dr Brendan O'Shea. Music by the Gormanstown Choir (Director Dorly O’Sullivan), with guests Arthur Greene playing the great Cathedral Organ, the Dara String Quartet, and the Oldcourt Duo. 

Doors open at 7.15pm, and tickets at €20 are available at the door. There will be the usual raffle, supported generously by individuals and Kildare businesses. This is a family-friendly event. Come for the wonderful music, enjoy the atmosphere and superb acoustics of Kildare Cathedral, and brief talks from Irish AHR Volunteers.

In April and November 2025, AHR commenced medical missions to Syria. These were the first conducted inside Syria since the fall of the Al-Assad regime in November 2024 and included several Irish volunteers.

The impression from these missions, involving around 300 volunteers in healthcare, humanitarian care and logistics, is that remaining healthcare services in Syria have been profoundly run down by over two decades of corrupt, violent and kleptocratic rule. Essential medical and dental care is basically unavailable in most communities. People are dying from untreated diabetes and hypertension.

The AHR 2025 missions have begun collaborating on which services can be reestablished and which are most urgently needed. The missions have been successful in forming working partnerships with several selected hospitals, community clinics, and dental facilities, and in 2026, we plan to build on these partnerships.

You can be directly involved in this humanitarian work! Your support is greatly appreciated as an expression of your desire to assist households and families in Syria by increasing access to essential healthcare. Your support is also an expression of our solidarity with the Syrian people, who have endured years of systematic oppression, exploitation and terror.

The level of chaos and disruption worldwide can, at times, seem overwhelming — what can you do and where can you start? You can start (or continue, if you have supported AHR before!) here by supporting our AHR November fundraiser Winter Concert. Our thanks to Dean Isobel Jackson and Kildare Cathedral for allowing us to use this wonderful venue.

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