Friday
Achill Aid
Achill Island Hotel, Co Mayo 8pm €30
tickets.ie
Benefit concert in memory of the late Joan Egan, who was part of the team that developed Riverdance in 1995. Declan O'Rourke headlines, and performers from the Riverdance company will take to the stage. All proceeds raised will be donated to the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Galway Hospice.
Soul Clap
District 8, Dublin 11pm €20/ €18/€15
district8dublin.com
Eli "Elyte" Goldstein and Charles "Cynce" Levine have got the funk. For the pastdecade and a half, the Boston DJs and producers have released deeply funky cuts for their own label and such imprints as Wolf + Lamb. They hit Dublin ahead of the release of their second album, which is the result of "four years of recording, experimenting, arranging and mixing" and plenty of time spent in George Clinton's studios in Tallahassee.
Boris Werner
Electric, Galway 11pm €10/€8/ €5
electricgalway.com
The Sound Atlas series brings Amsterdam to town and it's Boris Werner who will rep the Dutch city on this occasion out west. The DJ has a strong reputation thanks to cracking residencies at clubs such as the much-lamented Trouw and Ibiza's Circoloco, as well as regular sets for Red Light Radio. Werner's productions are also worth checking out, especially the driving Acid Casino.
Buttons & Bows
The Barn, Tyrrellspass, Co Westmeath 7.30pm €15
087-6479711
Cylinders are all fired up as this lateral-thinking foursome (Seamus and Manus Maguire, Garry Ó Briain and Jackie Daly) continue to celebrate the release of their fine The Return of Spring album. Regional tunes sit easily alongside originals, bridging the gap between past and present with precision and flair.
Cork Folk Festival
Various venues, Cork Also Sat-Sun
corkfolkfestival.com
True to the eclectic notion of folk as a genre with moveable boundaries, this year's Cork Folk Festival is particularly diverse, with We Banjo 3 and The Atlantic Arc Orchestra heading up the billing tonight. The AAC is a new collective featuring Dónal Lunny, Pauline Scanlon, Jarlath Henderson, Aidan O'Rourke, Padraig Rynne, Ewen Vernal and John Blease, so there's no predicting what trajectories they might pursue. Shenanigans continue throughout the weekend.
Breaking Rainbows
A live performance and video installation. Live performances Friday/Saturday 6pm/8pm
Gallery Exhibition Oct 6-Nov 5 templebargallery.com
Orla Barry's new performance and video installation involves performers, an aural landscape and 300 kilos of wool produced on her Wexford farm from a flock of pedigree Lleyn sheep in 2015. She uses her dichotomous roles as artist and shepherd to investigate the level of our disconnection from the natural world in a series of performance vignettes.
Seán Mac Erlaine & Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Fumbally Stables, Dublin 8pm €16
note.ie
Mac Erlaine and Ó Raghailligh are two quarters of This Is How We Fly, the rising trad-meets- avant-garde group that's taken the Irish tradition for a merry dance in the 21st century. This pared-back duo matches Mac Erlaine's new low-pitched clarinet with Ó Raghailligh's haunting Hardangar fiddle: Two courageous musicians who magically connect the very ancient with the very new.
Saturday
Boxed Off
Fairyhouse Racecourse, Co Meath 2pm (sold out)
boxedoff.ie
Boxed Off goes racing for the second year in a row. Given that the festival is sold out, it is unlikely that either the All Ireland replay or the Dubln Bus strike will have much effect on turnout. There's a serious line-up in place for Bedlam's event, with Alan Fitzpatrick, Dax J, Eats Everything, Kolsh, Len Faki, Route 94, Waze & Odyssey and many more on the bill.
Shine
Shine, Belfast 9.30pm £20/£18
shine.net
Shine's autumn/winter season kicks off with a bang featuring some champion electronic stars across three rooms. The main draw is Drumcode's Alan Fitzpatrick, who has produced tracks for the likes of Hotflush, Hypercolour and BPitch Control of late. He will be joined in Room 1 by B.Traits, the BBC Radio One DJ behind the Fever hit, and local duo Schmutz. Jimmy Edgar is the headliner in Room 2, with support from Belfast's Space Dimension Controller. DSNT host Room 3 with rising Rinse FM teenage star Happa.
The Muse of Yeats Festival
Rossnaree House, Newgrange, Co Meath
041-9820975
The splendid surroundings of Rossnaree House overlooking the Boyne at Slane hosts this festival celebrating the life of Maud Gonne and the women of the revolution. Hosted and curated by Maud Gonne's great-granddaughter, Aisling Law, this special event joins the commemorations to mark the centenary of the Rising. Law and other family members, including Imogen Stuart, Ireland's foremost sculptor, will reminisce about Gonne, revealing the more secret world of one of Ireland's most prominent and colourful activists. The programme includes intimate poetry readings and discussions by renowned Yeatsian scholars, authors and artists. Sabina Higgins will open the event and author Joseph Hassett, Turtle Bunbury and Adrian Frazier will give talks. There will be live music and an exhibition of previously unseen artwork and albums by Gonne from the family's archive. This will be presented by Iseult White, great-granddaughter of Gonne and Maj John Mc Bride. The event will culminate on Saturday evening with a candlelit dinner. Lunch is included in ticket price.
Sunday
Eoin Dillon
Whelan's, Dublin 8pm €10
1890-200078
Full of whimsy and delight, Kíla piper Eoin Dillon releases his latest solo offering (the delightfully titled Pondelorum) with a cast of colourful characters in support. Running the gamut of slow airs and trance-like rhythms, Dillon has again confounded with this ever- surprising collection. One constant remains, however: a plethora of superbly-crafted tunes.
