The Máirtín O’Connor Band has been on the road intermittently since 2001, and those that have been lucky to catch them will know what a treat we will have when they blow into North Clare for the Kilfenora Trad Fest 2025. They will headline our main concert at the Kilfenora Traditional Music Festival at 8pm in the Community Hall on Saturday 26 April. Tickets (€20 plus small booking fee) may be booked online here – up til 10am on the 26th – and collected at the door from 7.30 pm (bring ID). Alternatively tickets can be purchased at the Burren Visitor Centre, Kilfenora and in Custy’s Music, Ennis from early March; there should also be tickets available to purchase at the concert, but be there at 7.30 sharp to avoid missing out!
Arguably the most musically spectacular traditional music act in Irish traditional music, they have wowed audiences around the world with their virtuosity. Individually they have also been members of some of Ireland’s most renowned traditional acts, and made many recordings. As the Máirtín O’Connor Band they recorded the acclaimed albums “Crossroads” and “Going Places.” They combine great compositions and pure tradition in creating a vibrant experience that is the very definition of brilliance.
In support is one of the talented prize-winners at the 2024 Meitheal Summer School, Aoife Ní Chonghaile, who is also U18 Fleadh winner 2024 on the harp.
See below for more details on the performers.
Named Ireland’s 2015 Traditional Musician of the Year (TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards), accordion virtuoso Máirtín O’Connor was one of the main musical forces behind the Riverdance phenomenon. Through his work with De Dannan, Midnight Well and Skylark and also as a solo artist, Máirtín has quite simply gone where no Irish accordion player had gone before. One of the most respected and best loved musicians in Ireland, he has an extensive discography as a solo artist and in combination with others.
Cathal Hayden (Tyrone) needs no introduction to anyone familiar with traditional Irish music. A multiple All-Ireland Championship winner, he achieved world-wide recognition as a founder member of Four Men and a Dog, with whom he has made many CDs. He is one of Ireland’s top fiddlers and his solo banjo performances are quite simply show-stopping. He has recorded 3 solo albums and one with his brother Stephen as the Bow Brothers.
Seamie O’Dowd (Sligo) is a composer/songwriter and singer who plays guitar, fiddle, harmonica and mandolin. He has toured worldwide and played with many great musicians including Christy Moore, The Chieftains, Dervish, Matt Molloy, Liam O’ Flynn, Thom Moore, Dick Gaughan, Cathy Jordan, Rick Epping, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill. His experience also includes recording production, teaching and film soundtrack work.
Born into a musical family in Renmore, Co Galway, Jim Higgins studied music in Cork under Micheal O Suilleabhain, and built his bodhran skills alongside other top percussionists such Mel Mercier, Colm Murphy and Frank Torpey. For a while he was a percussionist with ‘The Stunning’ rock band, also playing trumpet and keyboards. He went on to play drums with ‘The Saw Doctors’, following a four year stint with the Riverdance show which took him around the world. He has recorded and toured extensively with Altan for the last 15 years, and also specializes in ethnic percussion encompassing the djembe, the darabukka, the dumbeq and the mbira.
Filling the Meitheal Summer School prize-winner slot this year is Aoife Ní Chonghaile from Limerick, who started learning music at 4, and harp at 7, guided by the redoubtable harpist Fionnuala Rooney. She has won numerous solo All-Ireland medals, including in 2024 the U18 harp title (she was runner up in harp slow airs). She is a member of the Burren Grúpa Ceoil who won U18. She was also a finalist in the Bonn Ór Seán O’Riada competition 2024 and a Member of the Fiddler of London Trad group. She performs as an entertainer playing harp at Bunratty and Knappogue castle banquets in Co. Clare.
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