Saturday 2
Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny
Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co Wicklow 8pm €22/€20 mermaidartscentre.ie
Two of the hardest-working musicians in the trad and folk firmaments come together for a rare concert. Irvine, fresh from his Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards late last year, brings a gargantuan song and tune repertoire to the evening, as does his former Planxty compadre Lunny. Calculus-like rhythms, delirious melody lines and influences that stretch from Bucharest to the further reaches of the west coast of Clare. Adventures of the musical and geographical kind.
Féile na Tána
Various venues, Carlingford, Co Louth (until Sunday) feilenatana.com
The Cooley Peninsula comes alive this weekend for its own boutique festival, now in its fifth year. Artistic directors Zoë Conway and John McIntyre have devised a packed and vibrant programme that will see Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Mary Bergin, Mick O’Brien, Laoise Kelly, Éamon De Barra, Mairtín O’Connor, Edel Fox, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Cathal Hayden, Robbie Harris, Des Cafferkey and Edwina Guckian all involved in the concerts, sessions and workshops that will run throughout the weekend.
Friday 8
Spike Cello Festival
Various venues across Dublin until Sunday spikecellofest.com
Both a celebration of the cello and an excuse to mine its nether regions, this quirky festival offers up an intriguing programme for the weekend, with performances from Dutch cellist and über collaborator Ernst Reijseger, who counts Werner Herzog among those for whom he has composed soundtrack material; digital audio wunderkind Claire Fitch; Cello Ireland; storytelling strings trio The Devil’s Violin; and composer and cellist Semay Wu. Concertina player Cormac Begley and piper Pádraig Keane will join Cello Ireland on Sunday night when they will meld contemporary and traditional music in new arrangements to be premiered for this festival. Not so much genre-bending as genre-stretching – in every direction.
Ímar
The Backyard Arts & Cultural Centre, Moynehall, Cavan 7.30pm €15 086-8173153
Cavan’s deliciously named NYAH Festival hosts Glasgow’s hottest new folk property and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner, the five-piece ensemble Ímar. Irish piper Ryan Murphy, bodhrán player Adam Brown, bouzouki player Adam Rhodes, concertina player Mohsen Amini and fiddle player Tomás Callister ply a trade in potent and innovative arrangements of music whose roots straddle Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. With support from Savannah Donohoe on flute and Charlie Galloway on guitar.
