The Trouble with Tommy Rafferty - Castleblayney Players

What to Expect

Castleblayney Players bring Joe Hanratty’s play The Trouble with Tommy Rafferty to the Garage Theatre in Monaghan on Thursday 5 November 2026 at 8pm. The action starts with a school Deputy Principal, Peter McGee, stepping in to separate two pupils fighting in the corridor. Pulling that thread turns up events from the past that reach well beyond the two boys, unsettling relationships, ambitions and futures for the adults around them as much as for the pupils.

The Garage Theatre describes the piece as being told with humour and poignancy, working through the consequences of what surfaces and the personal struggles it exposes. Castleblayney Players are a Monaghan amateur drama company, and the Garage is the main receiving house in Monaghan town, so a county company bringing a new play up the N2 for a single night is the kind of booking the venue exists for. Expect a straight play rather than a musical or a variety night. Tickets run from €14 to €16, the venue’s standard band for a one-night drama.

Good to Know

• Date: Thursday 5 November 2026
• Time: 8pm
• Venue: Garage Theatre, Monaghan Education Campus, Monaghan town
• Price: €14 to €16
• Written by Joe Hanratty, performed by Castleblayney Players
• Booking: through the Garage Theatre’s Ticketsolve page, or the box office on 047 39777
• One performance only, so book ahead rather than relying on the door

Getting There

The Garage Theatre is on the Monaghan Education Campus, a short walk from the Diamond in Monaghan town centre, with parking on the campus beside the theatre. Monaghan town is on the N2, roughly 90 minutes north of Dublin and under an hour from Belfast on the A3 and N12. Bus Éireann routes from Dublin, Cavan, Armagh and Derry serve the bus station on North Road. Castleblayney is about 20 minutes down the N2 for anyone travelling with the company’s home crowd.