The Kilfenora Traditional Music Festival 2025 will take place as usual on the last weekend of April (Friday 25-Monday 28th).
Start tuning your ears and polishing the dancing shoes for another great mix of céilís, concerts, sessions, CD launches and workshops.
Our main concert act this year (Saturday 26 April 2025, 8pm, Community Hall) is the stunning Máirtín O’Connor band, renowned for their blistering virtuoso performances around the world – and now in North Clare! Máirtín is arguably Ireland’s top accordionist, and the band also features the fantastic fiddle and banjo of Cathal Hayden, the songs and accompaniment of multi-instrumentalist Seamie O’Dowd, and the percussion brilliance of the mighty Jim Higgins. Support is provided by 2024 Meitheal Summer School prize-winner Aoife Ní Chonghaile, who is also U18 Fleadh winner 2024 on the harp. Tickets (€20 plus small booking fee) are available online now – click here – until 10am on 26 April, and should be 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. There should also be tickets available to purchase at the concert, but be there at 7.30 sharp to avoid missing out!
On Friday night in the Hall there will be a very special event – a launch of The “Sounds of Kilfenora” project, with an exhibition and musical performances. This will celebrate the vibrant musical heritage of Kilfenora and the surrounding area, bringing its rich history of traditional music to life, featuring the music, stories, and vibrant spirit that have defined this hugely important music village for generations. The outcome of the project will include an online archive of music, photographs, and oral histories. Read more here.
Friday night is also when the Festival has it’s Singers Night – head to Vaughans Bar for that.
And on Sunday afternoon, by tradition we will stage the open-air céilí in the Square with the great Kilfenora Céilí Band, preceded by groups of young Clare musicians – altogether one of the finest events in the Irish traditional music calendar. Dancers can warm up the night before in Vaughan’s Barn with the Star of Munster Céilí Band.
The Riches of Clare free concert in Kilfenora Cathedral on Saturday at 1pm has an all-star cast headed by Siobhán Peoples, this year’s winner of Ireland’s top traditional music award. Read all about this event here. Before that (11.45 am), catch Anne Rynne and AnneMarie McCormack in recital with Anne Larkin in the Kilfenora Céilí Band museum located in the Burren Visitor Centre.
CD launches this year feature the renowned Clare fiddler Tara Breen and Tipperary’s Ailbie Grace & Liam Flanagan. There are also workshops for beginners and teens on Saturday and Sunday. Click these links for details of sessions throughout the weekend at Vaughans Bar and at Nagles Bar.
So come on down and join the fun.
