Gig of the Week
Liam Gallagher
Friday, September 24th, Ormeau Park, Belfast, ticketmaster
The mouthy Mancunian swaggers into Belfast as part of the Belsonic music festival, and the faithful will be out in force to hear Oasis classics along with more recent favourites from his solo albums As You Were and Why Me? Why Not. Ever since Liam Gallagher decided to (as his high-flying big brother, Noel, put it) "put his balls on the line, put his name up in lights and go for it", the former Oasis singer has outstripped his older sibling's enormous solo success. "He's selling more records than I am and he's selling more tickets than I am, if you can believe that," Gallagher snr conceded recently. Twenty-five years after their famed Knebworth concerts in 1996, when Oasis performed in front of 250,000 people over two nights, speculation still rages about a possible reunion for the feuding Gallagher brothers, and the recent release of a concert movie of those Knebworth shows has only whetted appetites even more. The squabbling siblings are unlikely to kiss and make up very soon, but Liam will be there on Saturday to deliver Britpop nostalgia to the hungry masses.
IFI Documentary Festival
From today until Sunday, September 26th, Irish Film Institute, Dublin 2, and online, ifi.ie
While film fiction is increasingly reliant on rehashing old stories and rebooting tried-and-tested formulas, documentaries have the scope to be gloriously original and surprising, and their subjects can often be even more strange and entertaining than the most out-there fictional characters. This year the IFI Documentary Festival is dipping a toe back in the cinema space but keeping an online lifeline in case anyone is worried about getting out of their depth. The festival is bookended by two powerful music docs, opening with Ross Killeen's Love Yourself Today, a part concert movie, part spiritual meditation centring on Damien Dempsey's cathartic annual Christmas shows at Vicar St (Monday, 6.30pm, sold out; Wed 4.30pm, €13) and closing with Breaking Out: The Remarkable Story of Fergus O'Farrell, Michael McCormack's Ifta-winning profile of the inspirational leader of the Dublin band Interference, who refused to allow his muscular dystrophy to stifle his creativity (Sunday, 8pm, €13). There's lots more in between, including The Irish Wedding, Alex Fagen's celebration of all the nuptial cliches we know and love (Sunday, 3.30pm, €13).
Dublin Festival of History
From today until October 10th, various venues and online, dublinfestivalofhistory.ie
This year’s free festival is offering a mix of in-person and online events, all with the goal of bringing history to vibrant life through talks and panel discussions exploring a whole range of interesting topics, including gender history through the filter of the mother-and-baby-homes report, our national obsession with who’s died, and why some statues are doomed to be toppled. Online-only events include the launch of the physicist Erwin Schrodinger’s cycling map of Dublin, stories of Covid by the children of Dublin 12, a peek at Countess Markeivitz’s prison prayerbook, and a chat with Neil Jordan about his new historical novel, The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small. If you’d prefer to be there at the retelling of history, the Little Museum of Dublin is hosting a walking tour of St Stephen’s Green, there’ll be a panel discussion on LGBTQ+ lives and public history, and the author Julie Kavanagh will talk about Irish assassins through history.
Bring Me into the spotlight of a London Conference': Michael Collins from Truce to Treaty
Thursday, September 23rd, 8pm, nli.ticketsolve.com
The months between the brokering of a truce with Britain, in July 1921, and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, in December 1921, were crucial, and saw Ireland’s two most powerful republicans, Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera, hammer out a deal for Ireland’s future, north and south. Collins led the Irish delegation at the peace talks, and this online talk in the main reading room of the National Library of Ireland brings us back to those fraught negotiations that resulted in the creation of the Irish Free State and the Six Counties. The speakers are the history professors Anne Dolan and William Murphy, coauthors of Michael Collins: The Man and the Revolution; the moderator is the journalist, author and RTÉ presenter David McCullagh.
The Wild Atlantic Tales: Niall de Búrca
Thursday, September 23rd, Glor, Ennis, Co Clare, glor.ie
Are you ready to be blown away by some wild and wonderful storytelling? Then gather round as the seanchaí Niall de Burca regales you with amazing yarns inspired by the Wild Atlantic Way, and filled with heroes, hags, bowsies and banshees. De Burca takes traditional stories, myths and legends and mashes them up with his own imaginative tales – the result is a storming night of ninja storytelling that’ll have your head spinning. This premiere at Glór is followed by a nine-date tour taking in locations along the western seaboard in October.
Fiestaval Street Arts & Circus Festival
Saturday, September 25th, Alfie Byrne Park, Clontarf, Dublin 3, noon and 4pm, free but prebooking essential, fiestaval.ie
Is it time to celebrate? Can we really be nearing the end of the pandemic? Caution will continue to be the better part of valour over the next few months, but there's no reason why we can't enjoy a street party before September ends, the weather cools off and the nights start to draw in. Families are invited to head to Clontarf for a day of music, comedy, craic, acrobatics, sword-swallowing and limbo dancing, in the company of the magician Jack Wise, Hakuna Matata Acrobats, Tumble Circus, Dublin Circus Project and the comedian Damien Clarke. Tickets are free, but you'd better prebook, because places are limited.
