No matter what time of year you visit County Tipperary, you’re guaranteed to find some great events to enjoy. Galleries, museums and Castles host a variety of phenomenal exhibitions while the counties event spaces pack their programmes with top names from comedy, music, theatre, sport and more.
A community visual artwork based on an archive of audio tapes and images related to Thurles Sugar Factory. The recordings, made by Archivist and Artist Eddie Kenehan suggest the importance of the Factory to the town and region and the significant effect its closure, in the late 1980’s, had on the community. The assemblage of images reflect the input the Factory had in the social, cultural and economic life of the Town. Patrons Note: you have any images from your time at the Factory, you wish to share and include in the show, they can be brought to the exhibition during its run. Permission for use will be sought from you in relation to their inclusion.
Terry and his friends Josie, Rory and Ted spend their days as cobblers and their nights as The Cavalcaders, a barbershop quartet of local renown. But life has taken its toll on Terry and past betrayals cast long shadows. Source is delighted to present Druid’s production of Billy Roche’s classic memory play, a work which takes you on a journey back in time to the 1990s, to heartache, companionship and the redemptive power of song. ‘The Cavalcaders’ is a comic, wistful portrait of life in small town pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland and the men who lived there. Druid Ensemble member Aaron Monaghan directs an all – singing cast led by fellow Ensemble member Garrett Lombard. Cast: Breda: Amelia Crowley Rory: Naoise Dunbar Josie: Sean Kearns Terry: Garrett Lombard Nuala: Éilish McLaughlin Ted: Tiernan Messitt-Greene Illustration by Rob Torrans
The debut album from Soda Blonde may be called Small Talk, but if there’s one thing the Dubliners do not do, it’s mince words. The entirely self-produced album sees the group reflecting on their twenty-something experiences with refreshingly honest transparency. John Francis Flynn is a singer and multi-instrumentalist whose work centres around traditional and folk material from Ireland. He is a founding member of the band, Skipper’s Alley, with whom he has toured extensively throughout Europe and America. The Wood of O will open at Raheen House for this brand new festival experience. Set to release their debut album this year, The Wood of O is Breege Phelan and Will McLellan performing original innovate music and classic folk songs from the era of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell. Breege’s dynamic and soulful voice hits you right in the heart
Strange goings on at the empty supermarket… but it’s still hot property. Asylum Productions, Once Off Productions and Junction Festival invite the people of Clonmel to create an otherworldly ‘shopping’ experience in the old supermarket at Market Place. Part fantasy, part flash-mob, Everything Must GO! will be created over the month of June. This once-off immersive experience will offer audiences a rare opportunity to view some prime Surreal Estate. Written by Aideen Wylde and Donal Gallagher, with design by Medb Lambert, choreography by Cindy Cummings, composition and sound design by Dave Boyd, and lighting by Declan O’Sullivan. This event will take place in the former supermarket where there is limited capacity – book early to avoid disappointment.
The Papa Zitas are Ireland’s definitive Motown Big Band experience. This 10 piece outfit delivers incredible performances of all the 1960’s Detroit and Pilly classics we all know and love. Think Marvin, Diana, the Ronnettes, the Shirelles and we are generally in the ballpark where this band love to play. Headed by three amazing vocalists (The Mama Zitas!) and joined by an exuberant brass section and thundering rhythm section, this homage to 60s music is to dance for! The Papa Zitas are charged with dancefloor hits guaranteed to get the party started. Patrons Note: This is a standing gig with some seating in the balcony.
Breda, Cian and Deirdre have decided to stop climate change… with theatre! Specifically their very own version of the Irish Mythological Cycle. With dancing cows, grumpy trees, the powerful warrior with a huge bum, a public mating ritual (done tastefully) and mouth juggling (not done tastefully), how could anything go wrong? This is a very silly show made by very silly people about very important things. Lead performer, Cian Kinsella is a contemporary circus performer and clown working as both a solo artist and with the duo Lords of Strut who star in RTEjr’s Body Brothers. This is a family friendly event that will take place outdoors.
Opening When Next We Meet on Saturday, Vale is electronic producer and songwriter Eoin Hally, hailing from Clonmel. His Debut EP Aftertouch has just been released and it is expected that this is just to start of an exciting era in Hally’s musical career. Combining lush electronic production with pop sensibilities, his music evokes the sound of a time and place different to our own. Named a ‘vital Irish artist’ by Clash Magazine, producer and songwriter Elaine Mai is just getting started. Her hotly anticipated debut album released in October 2021 and was nominated for Choice Music Prize album of the year, with her collaborative dance track No Forever featuring MayKay on vocals getting the nomination for song of the year. The headlining act HousePlants is the exciting full-fledged creative vision of two of Ireland’s most respected artists – Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan and innovative atmospheric producer Daithí. For both artists, the project represents reclamation amidst a significantly difficult era for creative souls across Ireland and beyond.
Listen to music played live by a string quartet as musician Eamon O’Malley guides you through classical music’s greatest hits. The first concert looks at Baroque Masters Vivaldi, Bach and Handel, and the second brings Mozart, Haydn and more to life in Clonmel. Baroque Masters, Monday 4th July Classical Romance, Tuesday 5th July
A haunting one-woman play based on the true story of Tipperary woman Brigid Cleary, who was infamously burned by her husband, his excuse being that he thought her to be a changeling. A fascinating story about an equally fascinating woman set at the turn of the 20th Century, written and starring Eve O’Mahony. Eve O’Mahony is a Tipperary actress and playwright. She debuted this play at The Clonmel Junction in 2018. Her second play “The Deliciously Scandalous Life & Times of Miss Peg Plunkett” debuted in 2021.
Decadent Theatre Company present From A Low And Quiet Sea – Wednesday 6th July, 8pm, Tickets: €18.00 / €15.00 Running Time: 120mins (approx) including an interval Decadent Theatre Company and Galway Arts Centre present the world premiere of From a Low and Quiet Sea, adapted for the stage from Donal Ryan’s acclaimed, Booker Prize-nominated novel. Four souls. Each searching for something they have lost. Each trying to make sense of the road they have chosen. For Farouk, family is all. He has protected his wife and daughter from the war. If they stay, they will lose their freedom. If they flee, they will lose all they have known of home, for a faraway land across the merciless sea. Lampy is distracted. He’s with Eleanor, but she’s not Chloe. His granddad’s sniping jokes are getting on his wick. And on top of all that, he has a bus to drive; those old folks from the home can’t wait all day. For John, the game was always the lifeblood coursing through his veins. Manipulating people for enrichment, for enjoyment, for spite. But it was never enough. The lifeblood is slowing down, will God listen? Florence’s son is acting differently which forces her to look for answers, […]
A lyrical mother-daughter story set to a gently immersive score and told through glimpses of memorabilia and fragments of memory. In this nostalgic, funny and moving show writer-performer Michelle Read has collaborated with composer Brian Keegan to create a portrait of her mother in words, music and pictures. ‘…told without even a hint of sentimentality, slowly building a picture of a woman… who created a world for herself and her family from the most common items found in any house… who emerges as a formidable personality, able to make her own decisions about life.’ Show of the Week **** Michael Moffet, Irish Mail on Sunday Sometimes in a gesture or a turn of phrase, sometimes in a cherished object or glimpsed in an old photograph, a loved one reappears. On A House Like A Fire explores a relationship through the shifting repetitions of long term memory and explores the importance of all the places where memory resides. ‘In this beautifully crafted piece of writing and performance, set to music by co-director Brian Keegan, Read fills in the other gaps, flashes of memory that make up a person and a life’ Emer O’Kelly, Sunday Independent See also Michelle’s creative writing workshop linked to the […]
A lyrical mother-daughter story set to a gently immersive score and told through glimpses of memorabilia and fragments of memory. In this nostalgic, funny and moving show writer-performer Michelle Read has collaborated with composer Brian Keegan to create a portrait of her mother in words, music and pictures. ‘…told without even a hint of sentimentality, slowly building a picture of a woman… who created a world for herself and her family from the most common items found in any house… who emerges as a formidable personality, able to make her own decisions about life.’ Show of the Week **** Michael Moffet, Irish Mail on Sunday Sometimes in a gesture or a turn of phrase, sometimes in a cherished object or glimpsed in an old photograph, a loved one reappears. On A House Like A Fire explores a relationship through the shifting repetitions of long term memory and explores the importance of all the places where memory resides. ‘In this beautifully crafted piece of writing and performance, set to music by co-director Brian Keegan, Read fills in the other gaps, flashes of memory that make up a person and a life’ Emer O’Kelly, Sunday Independent See also Michelle’s creative writing workshop linked to the […]
Emma Langford & Friends – Saturday 23rd July, 8pm, Tickets: €15.00 Running Time: 90mins including an interval Emma Langford and friends bring the Birdsong Tour to Nenagh Arts Centre. Following the release of her acclaimed second album ‘Sowing Acorns’ in 2020, Emma Langford makes her highly anticipated return to live stages. Music lovers will be no stranger to Langford’s epic acapella folk anthem Birdsong, her gentle lament The Winding Way Down to Kells Bay, and soulful ballad Mariana, all of which received regular airtime on national TV and radio throughout the pandemic. You can expect to hear all these songs that got you through those lonely housebound days and lots more besides from Emma and friends. “As gentle and harmonious as it is in sound and mood, this second album is strong and bold in sentiment” – Journal of Music (IE) “an impressive, eclectic offering… arresting and defiant” – Irish Independent “compelling, charming and totally assertive” – The Irish Times Photo by Shane J Horan
The Irish Fireball Class, in tandem with Fireball International and Lough Derg Yacht Club are delighted to announce that the World Championships of the Class will be hosted at the Lough Derg venue in August 2022. Venue: Lough Derg Yacht Club, Dromineer, Co Tipperary, Ireland Dates: 18-19 August 2022, Irish Nationals 21-26 August 2022, World Championships
You’re going to love your neighbours at The Source Arts Centre. Each house has a tale to tell. The twitching curtains of the old couple in number 12…the layabout Lamberts of number 25, always looking for a quick buck…the dodgy auctioneer with an eye for the ladies and a foot in the mouth…your local traffic warden in number 17, who’s a gent on the streets and a beast in the sheets…the childless couple in 24 and their bolt from the blue…the perennial partiers of number 19, who like to party like it’s 1999… But NO ONE can escape the terror of the midnight masked vandals, with a penchant for eggs and flaming bags of dog doo. When you live in The Estate, paper thin walls can only hide so much. Everyone here will know your secrets! Whether you want them to or not…” ‘The Estate’ is an original play, devised and written by Amy Hill and James Whelan from Down The Rabbit Hole Theatre Group, based in Clonmel. Duration: 90 mins
Well by Pat Shortt & Faye Shortt – Saturday 24th September, 8pm, Tickets: €30.00 Running Time: 110mins including an interval Since collaborating, this comic Father and Daughter duo have written and performed two hilarious online shows ‘’ The Wellness hour with Paaah and Sile’’ and ‘’Pat Shortt’s Comedy Heads’’. Now the pair bring their madcap characters to the stage in ‘’Well”. The show follows the unfortunate demise of Dad and Daughter Country and Irish music duo as they attempt to ascend the heights of their local music scene by playing a gig in the town’s hotel. ‘’Well’’ showcases the extraordinary comedy talents of this funny pairing and their exceptional ability to bring humour to the most everyday situation with an array of superbly funny characters.
Both in their 50’s, in a relationship for several years, Dolly and Mick are having difficulties. Driving home in a Berlingo van – from a gig as a Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers tribute act – with Mick at the wheel, Dolly takes us into her confidence, recounting her story. And when she is dozing, Mick gives us his version of events. In truth, Mick has become obsessed with this tribute act which has given him real purpose again and although he did not intend it, it has become more important to him than Dolly. But as they drive through the countryside on this fateful night, Dolly is about to finally bite the bullet and give some unexpected news that will threaten to alter the course of their future forever. ‘A poignant, humorous heart-warming story with country songs to boot’ Writtern and acted by Seamus Moran (Fair City).