Edwina Guckian DVD Launch – Claire Egan Album Launch Sean Nós dancer Edwina Guckian, from Drumsna in Co. Leitrim, learned her dancing from her mother and the local dancers of Leitrim and Roscommon. Her style is greatly influenced by the music she grew up listening to. A fine musician, she plays the fiddle and tin whistle […]

We present a rare treat for lovers of fine accordion and melodeon playing, as father and son, Johnny Connolly and Johnny Óg Connolly, from Connemara, pay their first visit to the Festival. Afternoon Concert * Johnny Connolly and Johnny Óg Connolly * The London Lasses and Chris O’Malley 2.00pm ¤ London Irish Centre (Pres) ¤ […]

One of the truly seminal bands in Irish music today, Altan started out in the early 1980s as a duo of Belfast flute-player, Frankie Kennedy and Gweedore singer and fiddler, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. They specialized in performing old Donegal fiddle music (then little known outside Donegal) and unusual Northern flute tunes and rapidly became known […]

From Rannafast, Co, Donegal, singer, whistle and bodhrán player Eamon Rodgers has lived in North London for thirty years. He launches his debut album, Too Many Tunes, Too Little Time and will be accompanied by many of those who accompanied him on the recording, with a guest appearance by accordionist Andy Martyn of Le Cheile. […]

Le Chéile was formed in the early 1970s by musicians who played regularly in the famous sessions at The White Hart, on Fulham Broadway. The 1960s and ‘70s were golden years for traditional Irish music in London, when musicians played to packed houses and sparked the revival which went on to spread back home and around […]

Making a welcome return to the Festival is Cork’s dynamic Abbey Ceili Band. Founded in 1995, the band started out with just two musicians, accordionist Ger Murphy and keyboard player Micheál Creedon. They played on Thursday nights for a weekly set dancing session in the Abbey Hotel, in Ballyvourney, Co. Cork, which was (and is) […]

Uilleann Pipes Workshop with Pádraig McGovern Saturday 24th October – 11am  – London Irish Centre – £10  

Evening Concert – Leitrim Equation 4 (featuring Eleanor Shanley, Padraig McGovern, Dave Sheridan, John McCartin, Edwina Guckian and Vincent Woods) Combining music, dance and poetry in one mesmerizing and beautifully crafted show, The Leitrim Equation concert performance looks to the long tradition of music in a small county in the northwest of Ireland, to trace a […]

Afternoon Concert In association with Irish Elderly Advice Network – Cran / Bryan Rooney and Pete Quinn / Comhaltas in Britain – 2pm ¤ London Irish Centre ¤ £5 Cran are Ronan Browne, uilleann pipes, flute and vocals, Desi Wilkinson, flute and vocals and Sean Corcoran, bouzouki and vocals. The band’s performances combine musical virtuosity with songs, humour, banter and […]

Sunday 25th October – 11am-1pm – Fiddle Workshop – Ciarán Ó Maonaigh – London Irish Centre – £10 Sunday 25th October – 11am-1pm – Concertina Workshop – Caitlín Nic Gabhann – London Irish Centre – £10