Culture | Books, Music, Theatre, Film & The Arts

Listen: Steve Cooney and Cormac Breatnach play for RTÉ Arena

Steve Cooney is instantly recognizable as one of the most influential guitarists in the traditional genre. He chatted to Kay Sheehy on RTÉ Arena about his first solo album, Ceol Ársa Cláirsí...

RTÉ Arena • 11 Feb 20

Jim Murray (guitar), Anxo Lorenzo (gaita/whistles), Dónal O'Connor (fiddle) and Jack Talty (concertina)

Common ground - Music Network reinvent the trad quartet

Galician piper Anxo Lorenzo, and three leading Irish musicians, Donal O'Connor, Jack Talty and Jim Murray, come together to explore common themes, to break new ground and to celebrate all that is robust and healthy in the world of traditional music.

Music • 16 Jan 20

Arty McGlynn remembered: Donal Lunny on a musical giant

With the very sad news of Arty McGlynn's passing, Donal Lunny pays tribute on RTÉ Arena and shares his own memories of the legendary musician.

RTÉ Arena • 19 Dec 19

Seán Ó hÉanaigh and Mairi Anna Nic Ualraig, presenters of Sruth na Maoile which celebrates 25 years on air with a gala concert in Glór, Ennis on Saturday 5 October.

The ties that bind - celebrating Sruth na Maoile @ 25

Audiences in the mid-west will have the rare pleasure of a live performance from outstanding Scottish songstress Karen Matheson, lead singer with Capercaillie, as part of the Sruth na Maoile @ 25 concert in glór in Ennis on Saturday 5th October...

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. • 04 Oct 19

Watch: Kilfenora Céilí Band performs Molly Bán for Culture Night

The legendary Kilfenora Céilí Band performs Molly Bán for RTÉ's Culture Night celebration at the National Museum at Collins Barracks.

Culture Night • 24 Sep 19

Michael O'Shea, pictured on the cover of his album 'No Journey's End'

Cult musician Michael O'Shea's journey - The Lyric Feature

Paul McDermott writes for Culture about his new RTÉ lyric fm radio documentary No Journey's End, celebrating the life and music of Michael O'Shea, a man described by Gavin Friday "as a sci-fi trad player, who happened to look like David Bowie..."

The Lyric Feature • 26 Aug 19

A festival in Leitrim celebrates legendary flute player John McKenna

John McKenna Traditional Music Weekend: a flute legend celebrated

Fiachra O Torna writes for Culture about a unique festival event celebrating one of the greats of traditional music, 'The Buck from the Mountain', Leitrim-born flute player John McKenna.

Music • 29 May 19

Presenter Aoife Nic Cormaic (far right) leads an all-star tribute to the late, great Séamus Ennis

Watch: The Rolling Wave celebrates Séamus Ennis at 100

The Rolling Wave on RTÉ Radio 1 has been marking the centenary of the birth of legendary musician, singer and folklore collector and broadcaster Séamus Ennis with a concert recorded at the Séamus Ennis Centre in Naul - watch some highlights.

RTÉ Radio 1 • 17 May 19

Ronan Browne (L) with Sorcha Ní Scolaí (R) with at the Seamus Ennis tribute

Watch: Amazing 12-year-old uilleann piper Sorcha Ní Scolaí

Watch amazing young piper Sorcha Ní Scolaí performing Jenny's Welcome to Charlie and Rakish Paddy for the Seamus Ennis centenary tribute RTÉ Radio 1's The Rolling Wave.

Music • 07 May 19

The Rolling Wave celebrates the legendary Seamus Ennis

When Séamus Ennis met Ivor Browne - an unlikely friendship

Ahead of a two-part Rolling Wave special on RTÉ Radio 1 celebrating the centenary of the birth of Séamus Ennis, Ronan Browne writes for Culture about the friendship between his father, renowned psychiatrist Ivor Browne, and legendary musician Seamus.

RTÉ Radio 1 • 07 May 19

Keelan McGrath from Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, the youngest musician ever to win the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal

Watch: Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition - fresh fiddle talent

A Waterford brother and sister, and three fiddlers who have flown in from America, will be amongst the competitors taking to the stage tonight in the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork for the final of the Seán Ó Riada Gold Medal competition - watch it live.

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. • 03 Feb 19

Danú feature in the Céilí House TradFest Gala spectacular

Watch: Céilí House presents a TradFest spectacular

Live from Dublin Castle, Céilí House presents a TradFest Gala spectacular featuring Danú, The Mike McGoldrick Trio and The Green Fields of America with Mick Moloney - watch it here.

Culture • 27 Jan 19

Zoe Conway and John McIntyre play this year's Temple Bar Tradfest

Temple Bar TradFest - a feast of trad music and beyond

Céilí House presenter Kieran Hanrahan previews this year's Temple Bar TradFest spectacular, which kicks off this week...

Music • 23 Jan 19

Dog In The Fog - two trad veterans go back to basics

The Dog In The Fog is the first ever album by fiddler Dezi Donnelly and flute player Mike McGoldrick (flute). Making an album of traditional tunes – which they describe as their 'bedrock' - they have chosen to do so without accompaniment.

Music • 08 Jan 19

Musical family Na Casaidigh will perform at this year's Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair winter school

Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair - Donegal's trad gathering at 25

This year, the Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair winter school will mark 25 years since its original inception as Scoil Gheimhridh Frankie Kennedy in 1994. It runs from 27 December to 1 January in northwest Donegal.

Music • 21 Dec 18

Mayo trad quartet take inspiration from 1930's New York

Boxing Banjo is a new traditional group from County Mayo, featuring Dara Healy (accordion), Mick Healy (banjo), Joseph McNulty (fiddle) and Sean O'Meara (guitar).

Music • 22 Nov 18

De Danann co-founder Alec Finn dies aged 74

The death has been announced of musician Alec Finn, co-founder of Galway-based folk group De Dannan.

Music • 16 Nov 18

Trad legend Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill on her new trio

National Treasure Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill writes for Culture about her latest project, which pairs her with two of Ireland's finest traditional musicians, button accordionist Máirtín O'Connor and guitarist Séamie O'Dowd, for a national tour.

Music • 06 Sep 18

Rolling Wave presenter Peter Browne (Pic: John Bates)

Peter Browne - waving goodbye to a radio legend

Deputy Head of 2FM Paul Russell pays tribute to the presenter of RTÉ Radio 1's trad showcase The Rolling Wave, who bid farewell to RTÉ last month after four decades producing and presenting for the station.

RTÉ Radio 1 • 07 Sep 18

Watch: Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann abú!

To celebrate this week's Fleadh Ceoil, Kathryn Thomas was joined in studio for a few tunes with FleadhTV hosts Ruth Smith and Doireann Glackin.

fleadh cheoil • 15 Aug 18

Séamus McGuire (fiddle) and John Lee (flute)

Stephen Grier's legacy - a trad music treasure trove

The Legacy of Stephen Grier is a landmark recording of carefully selected tunes from one of Ireland's treasured (but as yet unpublished) nineteenth-century collections.

Music • 20 Aug 18

Something For The Weekend: Zoë Conway's Cultural Picks

Choice cultural picks from the acclaimed fiddle player.

Something For The Weekend • 02 Aug 18

Tunes for Garech - paying tribute to a trad music visionary

Kieran Owens, Exhibition Curator, writes about a very special event taking place this weekend in Farmleigh Estate in honour of arts patron and co-founder of Claddagh records Garech de Brún, who passed away earlier this year.

Music • 13 Jul 18

Trad Matters: The Friel Sisters bring the sunshine

Via TradConnect: According to legendary Donegal fiddler Tommy Peoples, there is "great joy in the strength, beauty and variety of the Friel Sisters' approach to traditional Irish music.

Music • 03 Apr 18

The Armagh Pipers Club - rejuvenating trad music in the North

Eithne Vallely from Áras na bPíobairí, the headquarters of the Armagh Pipers Club, joined Damien O'Reilly on Countrywide bright and early to talk about the club and its history.

Music • 20 Mar 18