Programme

Click on highlighted links for more information and bookings.

Please note that physical tickets will not be issued – anyone who books in advance will have their name on a list at the door of their event(s). All events listed as “session” are free of charge.

Details of the Mark Donnelly Piping Academy are given on its own page.  

Thursday 16th

5:30pm: Festival launch: a reception at the Primate’s Palace, Armagh, hosted by the Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough, Alderman Margaret Tinsley. By invitation.

7:30pm: Welcome Concert: Áras na bPíobairí, 43 Scotch Street: Olle Gällmo (Sweden) & Matthias Branschke (Germany); Andy May (Northumberland); Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn & Brendan Murphy; José Manuel Tejedor (Asturias). £10 – limited capacity so advance booking recommended.

10:30pm: Session, Red Ned’s, Ogle Street.

Friday 17th

10am: Schools Concert, Armagh First Presbyterian Church, The Mall. Olle Gällmo (Sweden) & Matthias Branschke (Germany); Andy May (Northumberland); Seudan (Scotland); José Manuel Tejedor (Asturias); Maeve O’Donnell. £2 per pupil, staff free. Must be booked through a school or home-school group. NOW SOLD OUT

1:30pm: Session, Aonach Mhacha, Upper English Street, with Olle Gällmo & Matthias Branschke.

3pm: Reed Making Workshop, Áras na bPíobairí. Mainly for Mark Donnelly Piping Academy students, other pipers may attend subject to space. Free.

4:30pm: Session, Red Ned’s, with Angus MacKenzie & Calum MacCrimmon (Scotland), José Manuel Tejedor (Asturias), Olle Gällmo & Matthias Branschke.

5:30pm: Session, The Hole in the Wall, off Market Street, with Maeve O’Donnell, Cillian Vallely, Conor Lamb & Deirdre Galway.

6pm: The William Kennedy Lecture, in Áras na bPíobairí, 43 Scotch Street – NOT Armagh First Presbyterian Church as previously listed. Ceri Rhys Matthews, “To-ing and Fro-ing: The Swansea-Cork Connection – Investigating the movement of copper and tunes between two towns during the Napoleonic era”. Free. 

7:30pm: Friday Evening Concert: Armagh First Presbyterian Church, The Mall. Mná na Píob: Máire Ní Ghráda, Mary Mitchell-Ingoldsby & Rosaleen O’Leary; Seudan (Scotland); Gay McKeon, Paddy Glackin & Mary Corcoran; Maeve O’Donnell. £12.

10:30pm: Festival Club Session, Armagh City Hotel Fringe Lounge.

Saturday 18th

10am: Uilleann Pipes workshops, beginners/advanced, Áras na bPíobairí. £10.

10.30am: Junior Session (beginners), Áras na bPíobairí.

1pm: Lunchtime Concert, Primate’s Chapel. Andy May, Olle Gällmo & Matthias Branschke, Adar (Gascony) & Mick O’Brien. £10 – probably SOLD OUT but follow the link for further information.

1:30pm: Lunchtime Session, Aonach Mhacha, Upper English Street, with Mná na bPíob.

1:30pm: Junior Session (intermediate/advanced), Áras na bPíobairí.

1:30pm: Lunchtime Session, The Hole in the Wall, with Leonard Barry & Iain MacFarlane.

2pm: Session, Red Ned’s, with Fin Moore, Seonaidh MacIntyre & Angus Nicolson (Scotland).

4pm: Film screening, Aonach Mhacha: “Dark Horse on the Wind”, a documentary about legendary singer Liam Weldon; directed by Myles O’Reilly. Free.

5pm: Session, The Hole in the Wall, with Adar, Andy May & Loïc Bléjean.

5:30pm: Pipers and their Pipes, Armagh City Hotel: Brian Vallely in conversation with Mick O’Brien.

5:30pm: Session, Red Ned’s, with José Manuel Tejedor, Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn, Angus MacKenzie & Calum MacCrimmon.

5:30pm: Singing Session, Aonach Mhacha, with Niall Hanna.

7:30pm: Saturday Evening Concert, Armagh City Hotel. Réalta; “We’re a Case the Bunch of Us”: Allan MacDonald, Finlay MacDonald, Ali Hutton, Iain MacFarlane & Leonard Barry; Méabh, Annie & Aoife Smyth with Darren Culliney; Barry & Laura Kerr with Donogh Hennessy; José Manuel Tejedor; Adar. £15.

9:30am: Reed Making Workshop, Áras na bPíobairí. Mainly for Mark Donnelly Piping Academy students, other pipers may attend subject to space. Free.

3pm: Farewell Concert: Armagh City Hotel. Ceri Rhys Matthews & Rick Lines (Wales); Mná na bPíob; Cillian Vallely & Friends; Brendan Murphy, Christopher Russell & Martin Lavelle; Armagh Pipers Club selection, plus mystery guests. £10.

6pm: Final Session, Red Ned’s.

FESTIVAL PASS – admission to all five public concerts for £45 – saving £12

A full refund will be provided to anyone unable to attend because they have Covid symptoms or are isolating.