RTÉ is once again partnering with Culture Night and the Arts Council, broadcasting live across radio, television and online from multiple regional venues between 7pm and 11pm on Friday 22nd September.
Oscar-nominated actress and singer Jessie Buckley has been added to the list of stellar musicians who will perform with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on the night.
Jessie will perform a special rendition of a Sinéad O'Connor song in tribute to the late artist.
Jessie commented: "I am very honoured to return to Culture Night 2023 to remember Sinéad O Connor with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Sinéad was such a huge influence on so many women in Ireland and across the world, her courage, her mind, her politics and her intense beauty and soul. She was a warrior to humanity. I remember hearing her for the first time and feeling her uncompromising need to connect and affect. Recognising what couldn’t be said and speaking it out loud. I am so grateful for all her fire and all her love. It is such a privilege to return to Ireland for RTÉ Culture Night in Donegal to sing a song of gratitude for Sinéad and her family and friends."
Other featured artists on the night include Ye Vagabonds, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Soulé, Chasing Abbey, The Murder Capital, Aby Coulibaly, Olesya Zdorovetska and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh & Nia Ní Bheirn.
RTÉ One will host a live spectacular broadcast from Dunlewey, Donegal, featuring specially commissioned performances with a few surprises along the way. An Arena: Culture Night Special on RTÉ Radio 1 will come live from Manorhamilton, Leitrim, while Wicklow's Mermaid Theatre in Bray stages RTÉ 2fm Rising as part of Culture Night Late, featuring live performances from their roster of incredible Irish acts.
In addition to the live broadcasts, RTÉ will live stream each programme on www.rte.ie.
CULTURE NIGHT ON RTÉ - THE HIGHLIGHTS
RTÉ One: Culture Night, Live at Dún Lúiche
The centerpiece of RTÉ's celebration of Culture Night 2023 will be a live music and arts TV programme broadcast on RTÉ One at 7pm. RTÉ will take the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and guests to Dún Lúiche (Dunlewey) at the foot of Mount Errigal and the edge of Loch Dhún Lúiche in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht.
Presented by musician and host of Radio One’s Folk On One, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, the programme will feature the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, with guest artists including Jessie Buckley, The Murder Capital, Aby Coulibaly and Olesya Zdorovetska.
Leaders of the current Irish folk revival, Ye Vagabonds, will perform from the amphitheatre on Oileán Árainn Mhór (Arranmore Island) with guests Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh + Nia Ní Bheirn. The show will also take a look at Culture Night events around the country.
RTÉ Arena: Culture Night Special on RTÉ Radio 1
From 7pm to 8pm on RTÉ Radio 1, Seán Rocks will present Arena LIVE from The Glens Centre in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim. The show will take place in front of a live audience, and will feature contributions from local artists, writers and musicians.
Included in the line-up are the poet Brian Leyden and the screenwriter and filmmaker Eamon Little, who wrote the screenplay for That They May Face The Rising Sun - the forthcoming feature adaptation of John McGahern's novel. Brian and Eamon will discuss McGahern's life and legacy, as well as his connection with Leitrim.
Also taking part in the show is local uillean piper John Tuohy who will be on hand to play some tunes and explore the tradition of piping in Leitrim. And Will Govan and Rebecca O'Connor of The Moth magazine will talk theatre and publishing with Seán.
RTÉ 2fm RISING on Culture Night
From 7pm to 11pm, RTÉ 2fm will broadcast live from The Mermaid in Bray, with support from Wicklow County Council. With live performances featuring four acts from the 2FM Rising roster, Soulé, Chasing Abbey, Still Blue and Aonair, the Mermaid event is RTÉ’s debut into the new 'Culture Night Late’ strand. 2FM's Graham Smyth will perform a DJ set mashing up the best of Irish music that the station has supported over the years, from global superstars to the current 2FM Rising roster for 2023! The event is free, but tickets must be booked in advance - information available on rte.ie/2fmrising
For those who can't make the live gig, the concert will be broadcast live on 2fm, hosted by Beta da Silva from 7-11pm.
RTÉ lyric fm: Lorcan Murray's Classic Drive
From 4pm to 7pm, Lorcan Murray will broadcast live from the Hunt Museum, Limerick, where overlooking the River Shannon he will explore the many wonders of the unique collection of artifacts from Ireland and abroad which are housed here. Classic Drive on Culture Night will bring a varied selection of musicians and artists involved in Limerick's rich cultural life.
Guests include Deirdre O'Mahony - a practicing visual artist whose practice is informed by a deep interest in rural sustainability, farming, food security and rural/urban relationships. Lorcan will speak with Deirdre and a selection of school children from Thomand Primary School, involved in this years' 40th EVA International Guest Programme Partnership, where Deirdre has created a permanent micro-forest on site with the school children. This involves a visual art collaboration with Berlin-based artists Slaves and Tatars.
Also joining Lorcan will be Óscar Mascarenas, a lecturer of music at UL and PHD student of ritual and chant. Originally from Mexico but now based in the Burren, Co. Clare, Óscar will discuss his life as a musician, sound artist and photographer, amongst other practices, typically engaging the unique landscape of the Burren in his art.
RTÉ lyric fm: Live with Paul Herriott
From 7pm to 10pm, Paul Herriott will chat to Irish Jazz trombonist, composer and conductor Robert Valentine Lamb ahead of a performance of the world premiere of his Conversations for Trombone, Violin and Orchestra performed by Mia Cooper (violin) and Michael Marshall (trombone) with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra under the direction of Gavin Maloney.
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta: Cuireadh chun Ceoil
From 7-9pm, Peadar Ó Riada from Cúil Aodha will present Cuireadh chun Ceoil live from Dún Lúiche (Dunlewey) in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht.
RTÉ Player
RTÉ Player will curate a Culture Night-specific rail of content, with titles including:
Untameable - A cinematic journey into Seamus Heaney's Bog Poems and Ireland's wild bog landscape, written by Colm Tóibín, narrated by Ciarán Hinds and featuring Michelle Fairley.
The Peculiar Sensation of Being Pat Ingoldsby - Seamus Murphy's curious camera roams the deep terrain of cult Irish writer Pat Ingoldsby's unique world and his relationship with his beloved Dublin.
Also included is Sinéad O'Connor Live At Vicar Street, Steps of Freedom: The Story of Irish Dance and much more.
Commenting on RTÉ's partnership with Culture Night, Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ’s Director General said: "In addition to support for Culture Night through the invaluable RTÉ Supporting the Arts scheme, this year’s content schedule is a significant step-up in our audience offering. With programming on RTÉ One, Radio 1, 2fm, lyric fm and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, as well as RTÉ Player and on RTÉ.ie,
RTÉ will be live in Donegal, Wicklow, Leitrim, Limerick and Dublin with a mix of live performances, interviews and features, across multiple genres, in English and Irish. It’s an ambitious slate of arts and cultural content, and testament to the enduring popularity of Culture Night, and support from The Arts Council, local authorities and cultural organisations across the island of Ireland"
Keep reading RTÉ Culture for more Culture Night on RTÉ updates, and find out more about Culture Night celebrations here.
