Event of the week

The Last Days of DalymountFrom Thursday, September 10th, until Sunday, September 13th, Dalymount Park, Dublin, various times and prices, ticketmaster.ie

Ahead of its redevelopment, Dalymount Park, the revered home of Bohemian FC since 1901, hosts four days of music events that mesh with the Phibsborough venue’s openness to human connection. Each day features a highlight: a DJ set from the Fontaines DC members Tom Coll, Conor Curley and Carlos O’Connell (Thursday, September 10th); DJ sets from Annie Mac, Mango and Sally Cinnamon (Friday, September 11th); performances from John Francis Flynn, Bricknasty, Brian Brannigan, Paul Page, Gemma Dunleavy and Róisín El Cherif (Saturday, September 12th); and Johnny Logan and the Eugene McCarthy Big Band (Sunday, September 13th). A special-guest music act for the Saturday will be announced closer to the day.

Gigs

The Waterboys: Fisherman’s Blues RevueSaturday, September 5th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €90.80/€63.95/€52, ticketmaster.ie

The release earlier this year of Atlantic Rain, a triple album of previously undiscovered music from The Waterboys’ Fisherman’s Blues sessions, which they recorded in Connemara in the mid-1980s, has inspired Mike Scott to revisit and reassemble the music from what he describes as a transcendent time. Special guest Steve Earle will be called on to add an extra Americana oomph to proceedings and to perform some of his own songs. The eight-piece band includes the in-full-flight fiddle player Steve Wickham.

Freya RidingsSunday, September 6th, Ulster Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £48.40/£45.10; Monday, September 7th, 3Olympia Theatre, 7pm, €52.15; Tuesday, September 8th, Cork Opera House, 7pm, €50.65/€47.65 (sold out); Thursday, September 10th, St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, 7pm, €50.65/€47.65 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

With her Irish family background, it’s no surprise that the London-born singer Freya Ridings would want to perform beyond the usual stopping-off points. Perhaps best known for rocket-fuelled ballads (Lost Without You, her breakthrough hit, from 2017, is nearing 500 million plays on Spotify), she’ll here be focusing on Mother of Pearl, her highly praised recent album.

Westlife

Thursday, September 10th, and Friday, September 11th, 3Arena, 6pm, €150/€130.50/€120.50, ticketmaster.ie

Can you be both a slick cruise-ship cabaret act and a record-breaking pop group? Apparently so. With 11 number-one albums, 16 number-one singles and 34 top-50 singles in Ireland and Britain, Westlife march on with their 25th-anniversary world tour, which includes a record-breaking 13 nights at 3Arena in Dublin and seven shows at the O2 Arena in Belfast. Also, same venue, September 12th, 15th-16th, 18th-20th, 22nd-26th; O2 Arena, Belfast, October 27th-31st and November 5th-6th.

Folk festival

Dún Laoghaire Folk FestivalWednesday-Sunday, September 9th-13th, Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, various times and prices, paviliontheatre.ie

After a three-year gap, Dún Laoghaire Folk Festival returns for its third edition, the mood board of which, says its organiser, Foggy Notions, “draws on psychic happenstance, gloom-folk, the authentic voice and the elemental energy of Dún Laoghaire itself”. The line-up is a superb blend of established folk voices (Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Andy Irvine) and younger performers (Brigid Mae Power, Ellie O’Neill and Rua Rí). A particular highlight is Bright Phoebus Revisited (Thursday, September 10th, 8pm, €36.50), which sees Lal and Mike Waterson’s cult folk album from 1972 reinterpreted by Lankum’s Daragh Lynch, Matt Deighton, Marry Waterson and her cousin Eliza Carthy.

Stage

Dublin Fringe FestivalFrom Saturday, September 5th, until Sunday, September 20th, various venues, times and prices, fringefest.com

Pushing boundaries and encouraging artistic gambles are two of the primary objectives of Dublin Fringe Festival , which for more than 30 years has set the creative agenda for new theatrical work in Ireland. With 70 productions, this year’s event has plenty of highlights, running the gamut of stage, comedy, visual art, installation, circus, music, dance, spoken word and cabaret. We’re intrigued by the sound of Thérèse (written by Louise Lewis, directed by Veronica Coburn), September 5th-12th, Project Arts Centre; Gaelmaxxing (with Síomha Hennessy), September 7th-12th, Bewley’s Cafe Theatre; Mam and Love and Woo (by Liam McCarthy), September 8th-13th, Smock Alley; and The Best Girl in the World (with Sophia Wren), September 15th-19th, Bewley’s Cafe Theatre.

Film

National Cinema Weekend 2026Saturday, September 5th, and Sunday, September 6th, cinemas nationwide, from €4, cinemaweekend.ie

Supported by Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann, what was once National Cinema Day is now National Cinema Weekend. The decision to extend the event is down to the huge uptake on the initiative in the past few years. With cinemas in every county in the Republic participating, audiences will have a choice to catch recent releases (including The Death of Robin Hood, The Dog Stars and The End of Oak Street), Irish titles (including The Young Offenders and An Cailín Ciúin) and re-releases (including The Lobster, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the Hunger Games saga).

Podcast

The Bishop Exchange PodcastSunday, September 6th (sold out), and Monday, September 7th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €51.40, ticketmaster.ie

Whatever the collective noun is for bishops – a bench, a bevy or a college, perhaps – there’s no doubt that we can apply it to the first live collaboration between the comedians Des Bishop and John Bishop, who bring their weekly Bishop Exchange podcast to Ireland. Topics covered in previous episodes include ancestry, Des’s experience on dating TV shows, the Fifa World Cup and the tonal differences between the Liverpudlian pronunciation of chicken versus the New Yorker pronunciation of coffee.

Still running

John Rainey: DeviationsUntil Sunday, September 27th, Galway Arts Centre, galwayartscentre.ie

Drawing from Slip Tank, Errors and Retrofits, three collections he has made since 2021, the sculptor John Rainey works in cast porcelain, metal and marble. This solo exhibition explores the distinctions between objects of illusion and reality, with figures that appear both recognisable and unusual, equally decorative and unnerving. The exhibition was part of this year’s Galway International Arts Festival.

Book it this week

Rosanne Cash, Knocknarea Arena, Sligo, October 25th, sligolive.ie

NewDad, Button Factory, Dublin, December 21st, buttonfactory.ie

Punch, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, April 6th-10th, ticketmaster.ie

Ania Magliano, Sugar Club, Dublin, May 4th, ticketmaster.ie