What's On

The Fureys have been entertaining audiences worldwide for 36 years, audiences that have included former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Former Irish President Mary McAleese and the late Pope John Paul while Tony Blair has publicly stated his favourite peace song of all time is the Fureys “Green Fields of France”. Recently Ireland President Michael D Higgins attended their concert in Dublin’s National Concert Hall.

The Fureys are responsible for some of the most stirring music ever to capture the public imagination. Their folk based music has received standing ovations in some of the biggest concert halls of the world and they credit their musical ability to their parents, Ted and Nora, who were well known musicians themselves. They encouraged their sons to play music from a very early age and there was live traditional music in their house almost nightly.

Their emotive songs stir many emotions….tears and laughter, sadness and joy.

A Fureys concert is always a night to remember.

Nolan & Lambe @ glór will be open on the evening and you can opt for a 2 course supper before the event for just €15.  This may be booked with box office directly on online here.

The idea behind the exhibition is that a selection of poems were given to the artists and the artists picked a poem which they liked and used it as the catalyst in the creation of their painting.  At the exhibition the poem which inspired the artist will be displayed next to the art work.  The title for the exhibition "To be or Naught To Be is Written in Sand" is an excerpt from a Patrick Stack poem called ROTA.

Altogether there are approximately 10 poets, three women poets and the rest are male.  All of these poets and artists live in Co. Clare.

Mike has already built up a huge following in his relatively short time on the Irish Circuit and has achieved 14 hit albums and 10 best selling DVDs.  His show is an excellent mix of Mike Denver Hits, Country Classics and middle of the road Hits.  With his excellent Band and a super stage show  this promises to be the Concert of the Year.

Special Guests include legendary Country singers Philomena Begley, Ray Lynam, John Hogan and former Eurovision Star Marc Roberts with some John Denver Hits.

Nolan & Lambe @ glór will be open on the evening and you can opt for a 2 course supper before the event for just €15.  This may be booked with box office directly on online here.

Come and enjoy a feast of fun, drama, singing, music and dance featuring children from 1st to 6th class.
A great night of family entertainment is guaranteed.

Early booking strongly advised.

Following its national and Parisian tour, this classic tale of Stephen Dedalus follows the young man during his formative years as he breaks away from the Irish Catholic conventions of his past to become an artist who will "encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race."   
Directed by Jimmy Fay. Produced by Anthony Fox. Adapted by Tony Chesterman.

'imaginative and graceful...Jimmy Fay's direction of this in-house production at the New Theatre in Dublin plays a great part in the success with its quirky and highly visual approach.' Emer O' Kelly, Sunday Independent

***** Aoife Ryan, entertainment.ie

'Wonderful...the production manages to become its own piece of art, drawing inspiration from Joyce but also finding its own feet too.' Kate O' Connor, Quality Waffle

'At times unsettling, always enthralling...there are powerful performances from the entire ensemble.' Gillian Greer, Meg.ie

'Another fine display from Jimmy Fay.' No More Workhouse

'What makes this production such a success is how director Fay allows the language to do the work, which Joyce uses like a musician as he entices us to hear his song.' Belfast Telegraph

Nolan & Lambe @ glór will be open on the evening and you can opt for a 2 course supper before the event for just €15.  This may be booked with box office directly on online here.

Star of Next Week’s News, Meet your Neighbours and Naked Camera, PJ Gallagher makes his highly anticipated return with a brand new show ‘Concussion’.

Recently PJ could be heard guest presenting Radio Nova’s Morning Glory show before heading off on the trip of a lifetime with the Route 66 Motorbike Challenge in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital.  PJ has played sold out shows throughout Ireland and at the biggest and best comedy festivals that the country has to offer including Kilkenny Cat Laughs and The Vodafone Comedy Carnival.  Gallagher’s encounters with the unsuspecting public are not only hilarious but also crackle with and edgy energy

"Clearly getting better all the time"  Irish Independent

"For a man who ambushes people as they go about their everyday business, makes them uncomfortable and mines their embarrassment for laughs, there is something strangely appropriate about PJ Gallagher’s route into comedy." The Sunday Times Culture Magazine

Nolan & Lambe @ glór will be open on the evening and you can opt for a 2 course supper before the event for just €15.  This may be booked with box office directly on online here.

The Poetry Collective (previously The Three Legged Stool Poets) are a collective of poets living and performing in Ireland’s Midwest based in and around Ennis. They have been writing, publishing, recording, filming and performing poetry for 15 years and have produced impressive first collections of poetry such as’ Spirit Store’ by Arthur Watson, ‘Image and Likeness’ by Brian Mooney, ‘Voices of Clare’ by a selection of Clare Poets, ’Reality the Graveyard of Dreams’ by Brendan O Byrne, ‘Parting’ by Patrick Stack as well as Poetry Broadsheets, Calendars and Pamphlets.

In a new and challenging development the poetz, friends and audience will be working together in a more dynamic manner, using structured and partially rehearsed improvisations to investigate and express some fundamental human experiences.  They like to call these events a MUXZ. Sounds sexy like fluxz, tastes like bixz, and looks like mixz! As Poetz we seem endlessly compelled to give things names (sonnet, villanelle, haiku, Limerick etc )so we thought we’d better give this ‘form’ a name for something nameless and essentially indefinable until you’ve participated soooo…Come and experienze it.

These performances will represent spontaneous, improvised poetic explorations of universal themes involving combinations of sound, movement, music, art, costume and the spoken word….a MUXZ.

All Welcome  |  www.clarepoets.com

Salvatore's mentor, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), has died. Salvatore hasn't been home for 30 years. Before returning for the funeral, he reminisces about his life and the effect Alfredo has had on it.  He also remembers the only woman he ever loved, Elena (Brigitte Fossey). 

"Cinema Paradiso is a wonderful film, completely faultless. Direction: perfect. Acting: perfect. Script, cinematography, editing, musical score: perfect. All the awards that it won - Cannes Grand Jury Prize, foreign language Oscar, five Baftas, and countless others - were richly deserved. Any that it didn't win must have been a fix. Cinema Paradiso is perfect…"
- Keith Dudhnath, Eye for Film

Duration: 118 mins  |  Cert: G  |  Language: Italian

Local chocolate makers Magic Mayan will be present on the evening and you can sample their wares and Stephen McDermott of Clare FM will provide an introduction to the film on the evening.

To view the menu, please click here.

Please note that there are limited tickets available for this event.

Scotland's most popular singer-songwriter Isla Grant makes a welcome return visit to Ireland for the now traditional annual tour.  Isla is now established in Ireland, Austraila, the UK and America as a singer-songwriter of the highest quality. In the last year she has completed hugely successful Tours of New Zealand, Australia and the UK and once again received a Gold Disc for CD sales.  Add this to six Platinum Discs already received in Ireland and you can see why this Scottish lass is so popular. Her highly entertaining concert show features all her wonderful hit songs.

Isla's interaction with her audience is second to none and the atmosphere at her live shows is a joy to behold and as always her genial husband Al will make his popular contribution to the show featuring some of the all time Jim Reeves hit songs.

Nolan & Lambe @ glór will be open on the evening and you can opt for a 2 course supper before the event for just €15.  This may be booked with box office directly on online here.

The American Wrestling Roadshow returns after a successful sell-out in Ennis last year. Don't miss out again this year when the goodies take on the baddies in an unforgettable evening for all the family!
The wrestling.ie superstars have travelled throughout the entire wrestling world and promise to bring the biggest and best action to town. Advanced booking is strongly recommended. All audiences are welcome especially children both young and old.
So what are you waiting for? Do we have to twist your arm! For more information please visit www.wrestling.ie

Please note that those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Please note that this event was originally scheduled for 23/01/15. If you hold tickets for the original date, these are valid for the new date.

Following his hugely popular nationwide tour of venues in Ireland in the autumn of 2013, Michael Harding, author, playwright and Irish Times columnist, is on his travels again in his unique one man show, talking with great honesty and wit about life, love and growing old. Coinciding with the publication of his latest book Hanging with the Elephant, he will once again enthral audiences with a night of storytelling, musings and readings from his very best work.

Hilarious yet poignant, homespun yet profound, down-to-earth yet prone to amazing flights of fancy, there's nothing quite like an evening with Michael Harding.

Nolan & Lambe @ glór will be open on the evening and you can opt for a 2 course supper before the event for just €15.  This may be booked with box office directly on online here.

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have an intriguing, thrilling, riotous and unmissable comedy. The show hurtles a notorious fugitive and a spellbound blonde from a London music hall North by Northwest to Scotland’s most remote highlands. Will they save Britain from a den of devious spies?

A cast of 4 plays over 50 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure. The 39 steps contains every single legendary scene from the award-winning movie — including the chase on the flying Scotsman, the escape on the Forth Bridge, the first theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the sensational death-defying finale in the London Palladium. Be prepared to laugh out loud!

Ennis Musical Society presents a run of six performances of the Musical Classic, The Wizard of Oz.  Presented by child and adult performers from Ennis and neighbouring parishes, the Wizard of Oz has delighted audiences worldwide for decades.  Featuring clever lyrics and infectious melodies, The Wizard of Oz presents a story of one girl (and her dog)’s quest to return to home from the magical land of Oz, and of the characters she meets, befriends and helps along the way. It is a story of courage, ingenuity and optimism in the face of adversity.  Best known for numbers such as, ’Somewhere over the Rainbow, and ‘We are off to see the Wizard’, this not-to-be-missed show is one for all the family. 

Presenting:

• The Wizard:  T.B.A.
• Dorothy:  Sinead Coughlan
• The Scarecrow:  Neil Haran
• The Lion:  Declan Honan
• The Tinman:  Adam Bluett
• Glinda:  Kate Corrigan
• The Wicked Witch:  Rachal Culligan
• Aunty Em:  Gillian Dumphy
• Uncle Henry:  Joe Moran
• Toto:  Bobby /  Roxie
• And many more!!

Director/Choreograher: Sarah Griffin
Musical Director: Shane Farrell

Beginners and experienced alike are all welcome.  The mornings will cover connecting with your higher self, relaxation & breathing techniques, Mindfulness, Personal Development, and finding the balance in mind, body and spirit. 

Led by Josephine Sweeney, a Certified Louise Hay Practitioner & Heal Your Life® Coach, the meditations will encompass elements from her work based on the philosophy of Louise Hay.  Come along to enjoy a peaceful and harmonious hour with like- minded individuals.

To enrol contact Josephine Sweeney:

Mobile:      087 6926715
Email:       info@serenitywithin.ie
Website:   www.serenitywithin.ie

Payment terms are available.

A moving story of four generations of women in one family in the midlands. Centred on the figure of The Mai, a forty-year-old woman, struggling to save her marriage and the happiness of herself and her children, the play explores how history repeats itself - no matter how tragic the results.

• Director: Paul Corey
• The Mai: Maeve Plunkett
• Mille: Sinead Finn
• Grandma Fraochlán : Rita Brady
• Robert: Jackie Scanlon
• Beck:  Saoirse Byrne
• Connie: Emer O’Flaherty
• Julie: Kathleen McMahon
• Agnes: Tara Manning

Ennis Players are an amateur theatre group based in Co. Clare who have been competing on both the 1-Act & Full Length festival circuits since the mid-1980s and won their first Confined All-Ireland in 1995, with Alan Ayckbourn’s Round and Round the Garden. In the 2001/2002 season Ennis Players had the distinction of being the holders of two All-Ireland trophies, for their productions of James McLure’s 1-Act play ‘Lone Star’ & Martin McDonagh’s full-length play ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’. Ennis has had a Theatre Group since the 1940s but the current Group has been in existence since the 1970s and have enjoyed considerable success with their productions at local, national and international level.

This specially commissioned touring project is the result of a six month writing collaboration that will be showcased in a highly anticipated concert series at 5 selected venues in Ireland.  Recipients of an Arts Council of Ireland and Northern Ireland Traditional Arts Touring Award, Pádraig Rynne's NOTIFY and Pauline Scanlon have been funded for their ambition to contribute to the development of new, young and urban audiences for Traditional Irish Music.

The collective features:
Pauline Scanlon - Vocals
Pádraig Rynne - Concertinas & Computers
Cillian King - Guitars
Eoin Walsh - Electric Bass
Shane O'Sullivan - Drums

Singer/songwriter John Spillane will also perform on the night.  John’s performances shimmer with the magic realism that permeates many of his songs as he effortlessly flits between beautiful poetry tinged with melancholy to roguish, irreverent Cork humour.

The Ennis Book Club Festival is a wonderful social and literary gathering bringing together book club members and readers from all over Ireland and beyond. The festival includes author readings, discussions, workshops and walking tours through the narrow streets and lanes of Ennis. See www.ennisbookclubfestival.com for further information and to view the programme.

FRIDAY 6th MARCH

• Billy O'Callaghan asks 'What makes Great Writing Great?'
  Temple Gate Hotel, 3.30pm - 4pm, Free event
   
• A reading by Ying Tai Chang
  Temple Gate Hotel, 4pm - 4.30pm, Free event
   
• Launch of Frank Golden thriller, The Night Game
  Temple Gate Hotel, 4.45pm, Free event

• Ennis Book Club Festival launch and exhibition opening by RTÉ presenter and author, Evelyn O'Rourke
  glór, 6.30pm, Free event
   
• Catalpa
  glór, 8pm, €16/€14 conc.

SATURDAY 7th MARCH

• Books 'n Buns – a literary quiz over a cuppa
  Rowan Tree Café, 9am - 11am,  €10/€8 conc.
   
• Denis Sampson - reads from A Migrant Heart
  Temple Gate Hotel, 10am - 11am, €10/€8 conc.
   
• 10 Books You Should Read with Joseph O Connor and Evelyn O'Rourke
  glór, 11.30am - 1pm, €12/€10 conc.
   
• Walking tour of Ennis
  Clare Museum, 11.30am,  €8

• John Grenham asks 'Whatever happened to family history?'
  Old Ground Hotel, 11.30am - 1pm,  €10/€8 conc.
   
• Literary Lunch in the company of three of Ireland's favourite poets, Peter Fallon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Michael Coady
  Temple Gate Hotel, 1.15pm - 2.45pm, €15
   
• Ones to Watch - Evelyn O'Rourke in conversation with Colin Barrett, Sara Baume and Nuala Ní Chonchúir
  glór, 3pm, €12/€10 conc.
   
• Michael Smith reads and discusses Shackleton – By Endurance We Conquer
  Old Ground Hotel, 3pm - 4.15pm, €12/€10 conc.
   
• Clare Youth Theatre present Waiting for Godot
  glór, 4pm - 4.30pm, €10/€8 conc.

• Niall Williams and Mary Costello read and discuss their work
  glór, 4.30pm - 5.30pm, €12/€10 conc.
   
• Blues & Books - browse an eclectic array of new and second-hand books accompanied by live music by Paulo Cerato and Trevor Hansbury.
  Tea & coffee served
  Scéal Eile Books, 6pm 'til late, Free event
   
• It's A Crime: Paul Carson and Val McDermid - readings and interview with Seán Rocks, Presenter of RTÉ Radio 1’s Arena
  glór, 8pm, €18/€15 conc.
   
• Festival Club
  Old Ground Hotel, 10.30pm, Free event

SUNDAY 8th MARCH

• Sunday Symposium: Politics and Pathology – life inside the political tent with former government minister and PD leader Des O'Malley, DCU’s Dr Gary Murphy, RTÉ's Katie Hannon and The Examiner's Mick Clifford chaired by Caimin Jones
  glór, 10am, €15
   
• Clare Voices - Readings by The Poetry Collective and Inis Creative Writer's Group
  Old Ground Hotel, 12.15pm, Free event
   
• Walking tour of Ennis with Jane O'Brien
  glór, 12.15pm, €8
   
• The Daughterhood - Literary Lunch
  Old Ground Hotel, 1.15pm, €18
   
• Scéal Eile Books together with award-winning bilingual poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa host a reading by the 10 Clare poets (aged 12-15 years) who were recently shortlisted in the Sceal Eile Books' Comortas Filiochta.
  The event will be streamed live online.
  Scéal Eile Books, 3pm, Free event

Evelyn O’Rourke is a broadcaster and journalist from Dublin.  After studying Drama and English at Trinity College, she joined RTÉ where she has presented and reported on a wide range of radio and tv programmes in both Irish and English.  Evelyn worked as Gerry Ryan’s reporter for eight years. She now works on Radio 1 as reporter and stand-in presenter of their daily arts programme, Arena. She also co-presented this year’s Irish Book Awards on RTÉ TV.  In 2014, Evelyn’s first book Dear Ross, detailing her treatment for breast cancer while pregnant with her second child, was published by Hachette Ireland.

A classic of modern Irish theatre, Catalpa is the story of the daring 1875 whaleship rescue of six Irish prisoners from Fremantle penal colony in Australia - all in a screenwriter’s head, the best movie never made! Catalpa is about heroes and visionaries, political intrigue and personal loyalty, with hot romance, mixed-up rebels and battles at sea. A subversive epic, a celebration of the power of live theatre.  Catalpa has toured the world to high acclaim, including New York, Chicago, Paris, Helsinki, Harare and Fringe First Edinburgh

“lyrical and passionate, satirical and very funny” Irish Times

“A soaring rip-roaring one-man adventure” 
Washington Post

An improbably beautiful show” Variety USA

Live music by Trevor Knight.

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes, The Salesman, Inishowen, Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls, as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction. He has also written film scripts and stage-plays including the award-winning Red Roses and Petrol. His novel Star of the Sea was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies and being published in 38 languages. It won France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Neilsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy / Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year. Ghost Light was published in June 2010 to rave reviews internationally and spent nine weeks as a number one Irish besteller. It was chosen as Dublin’s One City One Book novel for 2011. His latest novel is The Thrill of it All, published in May 2014 by Harvill Secker.

Evelyn O’Rourke is a broadcaster and journalist from Dublin.  After studying Drama and English at Trinity College, she joined RTÉ where she has presented and reported on a wide range of radio and tv programmes in both Irish and English. Evelyn worked as Gerry Ryan’s reporter for eight years. She now works on Radio 1 as reporter and stand-in presenter of their daily arts programme, Arena. She also co-presented this year’s Irish Book Awards on RTÉ TV. In 2014, Evelyn’s first book Dear Ross, detailing her treatment for breast cancer while pregnant with her second child, was published by Hachette Ireland.

Enjoy a Literary Lunch in the company of three of Ireland's favourite poets - Peter Fallon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Michael Coady.

Peter Fallon, is a prize-winning poet, and his books include The Georgics of Virgil (a PBS Recommended translation (Oxford World’s Classics), The Company of Horses and Strong, My Love (May 2014).
At the age of eighteen he founded The Gallery Press, Ireland’s leading literary publishing company, and he has edited and published five hundred books of poems and plays by the country's finest established and emerging authors.
A member of Aosdána, he held the Burns Chair at Boston College (2012-13). He lives in Loughcrew in County Meath where he farmed for many years.

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin was born in Cork City in 1942. She was educated in Cork and Oxford before spending her working life as an academic in Trinity College, Dublin where she is now a Fellow and  Professor of English (Emerita). Among prizes she has won are the Patrick Kavanagh Award, the O’Shaughnessy Award of the Irish-American Cultural Institute and the Griffin International Poetry Prize.
She is a member of Aosdána and is married to the poet Macdara Woods. 
Recent books include The Girl Who Married the Reindeer, Selected Poems  and The Sun-fish. The Boys of Bluehill was published in February 2015.

Michael Coady lives in the place of his birth, Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. His poetry and fiction have earned a number of literary prizes and distinctions, including the Patrick Kavanagh Award (1979) for poems in his first collection, Two for a Woman, Three for A Man (1980), and the O’Shaughnessy Poetry Award (2004).  Music and particularity of place are abiding elements in his work and his later collections explore an unusual integration of poetry, prose and illustration.
In 1998 he was elected to Aosdána, and in Spring 2005 held the Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at Villanova University.  The Gallery Press has also published Oven Lane, a Poetry Ireland Choice, All Souls, One Another, Going by Water and a revised Oven Lane and Other Poems (2014).

Evelyn O’Rourke is a broadcaster and journalist from Dublin.  After studying Drama and English at Trinity College, she joined RTÉ where she has presented and reported on a wide range of radio and tv programmes in both Irish and English.  Evelyn worked as Gerry Ryan’s reporter for eight years. She now works on Radio 1 as reporter and stand-in presenter of their daily arts programme, Arena. She also co-presented this year’s Irish Book Awards on RTÉ TV.  In 2014, Evelyn’s first book Dear Ross, detailing her treatment for breast cancer while pregnant with her second child, was published by Hachette Ireland.

Colin Barrett grew up in County Mayo. His debut collection of short stories, Young Skins, was originally published by the Stinging Fly Press in Ireland, and won the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize, The Guardian First Book Award, and the Rooney Prize for Literature. Colin's stories have been published in the Stinging Fly Magazine, Five Dials, A Public Space, and The New Yorker.

Sara Baume grew up in Co. Cork. She studied fine art at Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design before completing a Master’s in Creative Writing at Trinity College, Dublin. Her short fiction has been published in The Dublin Re- view, The Moth, The Penny Dreadful, The Stinging Fly and the Irish Independent as part of the Hennessy New Irish Writing series. In 2014 she won the prestigious Davy Byrnes Award – its previous winners were Anne Enright and Claire Kilroy Keegan – for her short story ‘Solesearcher1’. She lives in Cork with her two dogs.  In her stunning debut novel,Spill Simmer Falter Wither, she confirms the talent so emphatically acknowledged by the Davy Byrnes Award jury.

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is a novelist, short story writer and poet. Born in Dublin in 1970, she lives in East Galway. Her critically acclaimed second novel The Closet of Savage Mementos appeared April 2014 from New Island. Under the name Nuala O’Connor, Penguin USA, Penguin Canada and Sandstone (UK) will publish Nuala’s third novel, Miss Emily, about the poet Emily Dickins.

With wit and bowler hats, Clare Youth Theatre brings you extracts from Waiting For Godot.

Two teenagers don suits and hats, and bring you the stark Beckettian atmosphere that comes with Vladimir and Estragon’s trials and tribulations. Clare Youth Theatre  present this iconic piece of theatre, using scenes that fit together to bring you a fresh insight into the relationship between these two tramps.

Niall Williams studied English and French Literature at University College Dublin and graduated with a MA in Modern American Literature. He moved to New York in 1980 where he married Christine Breen. In 1985 they moved to the cottage in west Clare that Chris's grandfather had left eighty years before to find his life in America.  In History of The Rain, set on the banks of the river Shannon, in Faha, County Clare, "where everyone is a long story", 19-year-old Ruth Swain is confined to bed with an unidentified, debilitating blood disorder. No longer able to participate in the activities of the community, Ruth becomes its omniscient recorder, although the bulk of the tale she recounts is that of her own convoluted family history. 

Mary Costello grew up in Galway and now lives in Dublin. Her collection of stories, The China Factory, was nominated for the 2012 Guardian first book award. Her first novel, Academy Street, won the 2014 Eason’s Novel of the Year award and was shortlisted for the Costa first novel prize.

Paul Carson is a doctor and novelist. He has published 15 books including seven health books, two children's books and six bestselling thrillers.  His first novel, Scalpel was published in 1997 by Wm Heinemann and became an immediate Irish Times bestseller, spending 17 weeks at number one and a total of 33 weeks in the top five.  Cold Steel followed a year later and in 2000 Final Duty hit the bookshelves. Both were Irish Times number one bestsellers. He’s had a number of Irish Times best sellers in the meantime including Ambush (2003) and Betrayal (2005). His most recent novel, Inquest (2013), which he describes as his most challenging creation as it took him into a dark side of medicine (the Coroner's Court) he'd never explored before (and doesn't wish to explore again!).

Award-winning crime writer Val McDermid is a Number One bestseller, translated into more than 30 languages, with over two million copies sold in the UK and over 11 million worldwide. She has written 27 bestselling crime novels; The Skeleton Road –her 28th – was published by Little, Brown on 11 September 2014.  In the same year she also published a retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and an exploration of forensic science, Forensics: An Anatomy of Crime.  A regular broadcaster with BBC Radio, Val’s five-part Woman's Hour drama Village SOS was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and in 2011 Val also presented BBC Radio 4 serial The Chalet School, in which she talked about how the series of books inspired her education and career.  In 2012 she presented Pick of the Week on BBC Radio 4 and has fronted several features for BBC Two’s The Culture Show.  In July 2014 Val was voted the winner of the ‘Million for a Morgue’ campaign and Dundee University has since christened its new mortuary in her honour.

Seán Rocks presents ARENA, RTÉ Radio 1’s flagship arts, popular culture and entertainment programme. He has interviewed many major writers, actors, musicians and artists including Martin Sheen, Danny De Vito, Janis Ian, John Banville, Brendan Gleeson, Roddy Doyle, Steve Reich and Marina Carr.  Seán has been working with RTÉ Radio since 2000 and previously guest-presented The Arts Show and Spirit Moves (RTE’s ethical debate programme) and Rattlebag. He has also produced, written and presented several series for Radio 1. He previously worked with RTÉ Lyric Fm as presenter on several strand programmes including The Lyric Breakfast, Lunchtime Choice, The Lyric Pitch and CultureFile.  He regularly hosts concerts and events at major venues around the country (NCH, Áras an Uachtarán, Cork City Hall, University of Limerick) and was widely praised for his role as MC at the State Banquet in Dublin Castle during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in 2011.  Prior to broadcasting he worked extensively as an actor both at home and abroad.

With former government minister and PD leader Des O'Malley, DCU’s Dr Gary Murphy, RTE's Katie Hannon and The Examiner's Mick Clifford.
Chaired by Caimin Jones.

Des O’Malley’s career coincided with some of the most dramatic events in Irish political life. In his critically acclaimed memoir, Conduct Unbecoming, he offers fresh insights into the events that have shaped Ireland’s past and present – the Arms Crisis, the Troubles, the Haughey years, the Beef Tribunal and the foundation of the Progressive Democrats.  Exiting politics in 2002, O’Malley left an indelible mark on Irish public life. Remembered for his strongly held views, he has never been afraid to speak uncomfortable truths or ask awkward questions and similarly in this, his long awaited memoir, he does not hold back.

Gary Murphy is Professor of Politics at Dublin City University where he has worked for the past two decades. He is the author of five books including In Search of the Promised Land: the Politics of Post War Ireland. (Mercier Press, 2009) and The Lemass Era: Politics and Society in the Ireland of Sean Lemass (UCD Press, 2005). His latest book, a major reinterpretation of modern Ireland entitled The Politics of Triumph and Despair: Ireland since 1987 will be published by Manchester University Press later this year. He has begun work on a major biography of Charles J. Haughey. Originally from Cork city he is a prominent contributor to political debates in the print and broadcast media.

Katie Hannon is Prime Time’s Political Correspondent, having previously been Political Correspondent of the Evening Herald and the Irish Examiner and Political Editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday. She is the author of ‘The Naked Politician’, an account of the reality of life in the trenches of Irish politics, published in 2004. Since joining Prime Time as a reporter in 2004 she has covered a wide variety of issues including major investigations into the waste industry, banking, failures in child protection and vaccine trials in children’s homes. She has won the Irish Goods Council Young Journalist of the Year, the John Healy National Print Award as well as the ‘Story of the Year’ in the 2012 GSK Medical Media Awards.

Michael Clifford is the Special Correspondent of the Irish Examiner, where he also writes a weekly column. He has been working in journalism for over twenty years during which time he has covered politics, entertainment, legal and criminal justice matters.  He is the author of three non-fiction books, and two crime novels. He is also a regular contributor to current affairs radio and TV programmes.

Natasha Fennell and Róisín Ingle share the funny, poignant and occasionally heart-breaking story of The Daughterhood.

When Natasha Fennell’s mother was diagnosed with a progressive illness, her life came to a standstill. She wondered how she would cope when her mother was gone and whether she had been a good enough daughter.

After a call out to daughters in Róisín Ingle’s weekly Irish Times column, Natasha and Róisín quickly learned that other daughters had similar fears and had never spoken about them before. An impromptu, informal self-help club, The Daughterhood, was formed – albeit one that involved good food and wine – as once a month a group of women would come together to help each other navigate the most important and sometimes trickiest relationship of our lives.

Natasha is a Director at Stillwater Communications and a regular reviewer and contributor on RTE Radio 1’s flagship discussion programmes.

Róisín is Daily Features Editor and Broadcaster at The Irish Times. She writes a column in the paper’s Magazine every Saturday.

Expect musical fun and games incorporating all types of music, over 20 different Styles RnB, African, Latin, Classical, Abba, Elvis and lots more fun mixed with giggles!

Advance booking is required as capacity is strictly limited. 

For bookings and all enquiries, please contact Oonagh Minogue on 086 354 0253.
www.playandmusic.ie  /  www.facebook.com/gymboreeclare

Long hailed as one of Ireland's leading songwriters and performers, Kieran Goss’s music has won him fans across the globe. But if his songs have made him a star, his live shows have made him a legend – live on stage is where Kieran Goss really shines. It has been 10 years since Kieran Goss last toured in Ireland but a quick look at his website will explain why: almost 200 shows a year, every year, touring in six different countries.

This is a rare chance to see Kieran performing live. Don’t miss it!

'The sense of fun is tremendous, the playing first rate and the songs are sheer quality. The encores were genuine, but only because the man is too.' The Irish Times

'Kieran Goss is one of the most gifted performers around today. He has an amazing ability to reach out to his audience and connect with them in a very special way. This guy is the real deal, and that's what makes him the star he is.' Don Williams

www.kierangoss.com       www.facebook.com/kierangoss

An opportunity for 4-12 year olds to learn French through games, songs, rhymes, stories, role-plays and fun!
Classes start on Saturday 6th September and run for 8 weeks.

Please pre-book with Rhona Gomès at 086-8262500 as spaces are limited.

For more information about La Jolie Ronde please visit www.lajolieronde.ie

We are The Speks and we sing nursery rhymes and kids' songs set to Irish music because we love Irish music!

We live on an island in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Co. Clare, Ireland. It's called Glasses Island because everybody wears glasses here. Our names are Quince, Naymon, Tommo, Pete, Ed and Rafferty and we love to sing, dance and play Irish music for kids. In fact, we're just like big kids ourselves. We never really grew up...we just grew older.

Sing along and sing aloud!

www.thespeks.com

In their most dangerous show ever The Nualas break the mould they made previously with a deluge of new songs, higher harmonies, different keys and slightly shorter dresses, if that’s possible! And there’s more – expect new Nuala revelations, harder laughs, slicker riffs, and even tighter foundation wear, if that’s possible! 

When this show pre-viewed  in Dolan’s of Leitrim at least three Gardai and a relationship counsellor had to be called. As part of their ensuing community service (six weeks scooping out litter from the Shannon) the girls were obliged, as a warning, to call this sweltering new show: Lock Up Your Husbands.  You have been warned.

Mick Flannery’s songs usher us into a world which is by times emotional, romantic, dark, insightful and hopeful.  On foot of his latest album By The Rule, the Cork singer songwriter makes a much anticipated return to glór.

In 2013 Mick took a notion to go to Germany and Berlin and after a bitter cold winter he came home and then went back and settled in Berlin for seven months and went to work.  The result is his new album By The Rule.

“By the Rule”, then: the sound of Mick Flannery getting comfortable in his skin. The sound of a man at ease with his work. The sound of a master songwriter creating his best work to date.
“It’s never a chore”, Flannery says about the craft of songwriting “The creation is the nicest part, it’s something you always have and you can use it to work through stuff that’s in your head. You have to take it seriously if it’s going to be any good. It’s always my favourite thing, like putting Lego blocks together. You can make a lot of things with Lego.” “

His new album By the Rule is the work of a confident, assured songwriter, someone who knows how to turn a list of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs into graceful, minor-key pen-pictures and poetry which will resonate with the listener.

Mindfulness can help clarify every situation by focusing on the breath, allowing space and creativity to experience what is already present, bringing gentle kindness to yourself and others around you.

For booking or further information please contact Josephine Sweeney on 087 6926715 | info@serenitywithin.ie   |  www.serenitywithin.ie

Back by popular demand with new themes to be presented on the night, this fantastic bunch of young musicians will be bringing you the most memorable themes from TV, Movies and Video Games. It promises to be a very fun night!  Guitarchestra is a Youth based guitar orchestra that take popular themes from a variety of sources and combine them with a variety of musical influences.

Featuring:

• Game Of Thrones
• Back to the Future
• Star Wars
• Indiana Jones
• Batman
• and more

Yoga is about well-being.  Yoga helps you to manage yourself - the body, thoughts and emotions - through developing awareness and learning to let go of limitations. Suitable for beginners and people with experience of yoga, this session combines physical movements, breath work and a long relaxation.   Susie is fully qualified to teach in the Satyananda tradition of yoga (recognised by the Yoga Federation of Ireland and the British Wheel of Yoga).

Practical information:

• Wear loose comfortable clothing in layers. Shoes are not worn during the practice of yoga;
• Bring a blanket or sleeping bag with you for when you are lying on the floor. Mats are provided, though you are welcome to bring your own;
• Yoga is best practiced on an empty stomach, so try not to eat a large meal for 2 hours before the class;
• If you have any health problems it is advisable to check with your doctor whether s/he considers yoga to be appropriate for you.
   

For more information or to book, please contact Susie McNaughton 086 7354461.  If a Monday session is missed, it can be made up at other yoga classes during the week, or on other Mondays over a maximum of 8 weeks.

Ever wanted to send your favourite mini figure on a space adventure?

This 2 day Brick Flicks stop motion workshop will show you how to blast off in a rocket, charter unknown space, and explore alien planets. Participants will work in small groups to collaborate and create the set, storyboard and plan their stop motion movie and then to film and edit it.

The workshop is focused on hands-on learning and all participants will receive a certificate of participation and a copy of their movie.

All materials are supplied including our mobile film studio kit of iPads so all you need to bring is your favourite Lego character.

Meet Herman and Daisy. They want to make shoes for your feet. But they owe so much money they barely can eat.  Don’t worry though, because magic is always just around the corner. The Elves are here to help! And sometimes the answers are right above your head.

Fidget Feet’s The Elves & The Shoemaker is immersive storytelling with music and aerial circus for children aged between 4-8yrs and their families.

There is no stage, you will join them inside their workshop and actually help them to make the best pair of shoes ever made.  Herman, Daisy and the Elves need you!

“You are left utterly stunned. Excellent.”  - The Irish Times (on Fidget Feet)

Duration: 75 minutes

It’s been an incredible first year for Join Me In The Pines who unleashed four beautiful videos for tracks ‘Joy Is A Lion, ‘Golden Guilt’, ‘Should Not Roam’ and lastly ‘At First Light’ from their debut album  ‘INHERIT’ available to buy as a digital download, on CD and Vinyl. JMITP toured the length and breath of Ireland and are now delighted to announce a Theatre Tour which will kick off in February, 2015. 

JMITP’s front man is Bell X1’s David Geraghty who released his debut solo album ‘Kill Your Darlings’ in 2007, to critical and fan acclaim. The album was also nominated for a Choice Music Prize that year. 2009 saw David return with his second solo offering ‘The Victory Dance’. Both of these albums were written and recorded between stints in the hectic Bell X1 touring schedule.

It is a busy year for Mr. Geraghty as he has just completed the film score for “You’re Ugly Too” starring Aidan Gillen. The film is set to premier at the prestigious Berlin film festival in February 2015.

The irrepressible Pat Shortt is back on a nationwide tour with stories and gimmicks that only Pat Shortt could come up with.  His new show, Selfie, tells the tales of a singing undertaker Mossey Burke along with a host of new characters as he recounts his favourite funeral. A funeral that was nearly the death of him and changed his life forever!

While his unique, comedic but somewhat universal look at everyday Irish life has cemented his place in the public hearts, along with that his work on stage and screen over the last decade have proved him to be an enduring, versatile and award winning talent. His most recent theatre role of Johnnypateenmike in the West End production of ‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ alongside Sarah Greene and Daniel Radcliffe was a renowned success that subsequently transferred to Broadway in New York.

Pat’s new show is an entertaining throwback similar to that to the days of D’Unbelievables! In a quirky and humorous way Pat brings us on a journey with his new character Mossey Burke and the chaos that can happen around an Irish funeral that any and all can relate to.  Through laughs and punch-lines and hilarious one-liners Pat performs a myriad of truly Irish comedic scenarios that no matter what part of the country you are from you will have seen or heard of first hand!