The stars align and all roads lead to Kilkenny Tradfest 2025

Only two weeks to go until Kilkenny Tradfest 2025! This year’s festival lineup is the most extensive and comprehensive yet.

With 13 headline concerts, nine free concerts, over 100 trad trail sessions and top class workshops and masterclasses. It’s time to secure your tickets and start planning your ultimate St Patrick’s Weekend in Kilkenny.

From March 14-17, the marble city will welcome Sharon Shannon, Aoife Scott, Pádraig Jack, The Bonny Men, The Half Room, Kíla, Séamus & Caoimhe Ó Fhlatharta and many more wonderfully talented musicians for its thirteenth annual celebration of Irish music, culture and heritage. This week we take a deeper dive into two featured artists with strong connections to Kilkenny and explore their musical heritage and background. 

Dublin powerhouse The Bonny Men have established themselves as one of the top contemporary trad bands in the country, and indeed the world. Their second album, ‘Moyne Road’ reached No 1 in the Irish music charts, and they have been nominated for numerous folk awards in recent times.

They have performed at festivals all over the world and appeared regularly on Television and Radio. They are - Moss Landman (flute & whistle), Turlough Chambers (fiddle), Maitiú Ó Casaide (uilleann pipes, whistle & vocals), Róisín Chambers (vocals), Natalie Ní Chasaide (piano & vocals), Barry Lyons (guitar), Conor Lyons (bodhrán & bouzouki), Adam Whelan (bouzouki). Having grown up playing music together in Dublin, their experimentation and fusion of regional styles is emblematic of the musical melting pot that is our capital city- a place where these styles have coalesced and even absorbed flavours from abroad through the centuries. 

Lead singer Róisín Chambers grew up steeped in the musical heritage of Dublin, but draws inspiration from the Connemara lineage of sean-nós singing. Siblings Maitiú and Natalie Uí Chasaide – both highly accomplished award-winning musicians in their own right – have an interesting musical heritage which spans provinces through generations and encapsulates the experimental spirit of the band.

The Cassidys grew up in the Gaoth Dobhair Gaeltacht to a Donegal father and a Kerry mother but have been Dublin-based for many years. And so, in one family you have the marriage of three distinct regional styles of traditional Irish Music; the vigorous reel-based style of Donegal, the Iveragh tradition; with its love of ornamentation and slow airs and of course the Dublin Tradition with its focus on the song. 

And it doesn’t end there! Kilkenny’s up and coming trad stars, Burnchurch, a band of four siblings, are first cousins to Maitiú and Natalie, and heirs to the same impressive musical lineage. Their father, Seathrún, is of course also a member of Na Casadaigh. 

The award-winning four-piece compose and arrange their own music which blends the best of trad with contemporary and pop. Their music has featured in Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ and they recently penned Katie Taylor’s Ringwalk, ‘Coming Home’. They are without a doubt one of the most exciting prospects in Irish music today. 

“Burnchurch and The Bonny Men are delighted to be so centrally involved in this year’s festival. Natalie and Maitiu who spearhead the Bonny Men are first cousins of Sadhbh, Siofra Eanna and Ruairi -of 'Burnchurch'. The renowned singer Sibéal, yet another cousin is now living in Kilkenny and working as a doctor in St Luke's Hospital. 

“No doubt all the cousins will enjoy the festival and spending time together.

Burnchurch have an affinity with the Kilkenny Festival. As they go from strength to strength and attract audiences outside Kilkenny, we remember their amazing contribution to the St Patrick's Virtual Festival in 2020 - their first gig outside the living room!

Natalie from The Bonny Men, along with Iarfhlaith Ó Domhnaill, has just won the RTÉ Folk Awards Track of the Year award and Maitiú is a previous TG4 Ceoltóir Óg na bliana.

To celebrate the occasion Burnchurch have released a new single to watch out for called (you guessed it ) St Patrick's Day!” says Seathrún Ó Casaide

And so the dots are joined, the stars aligned and all roads lead to Kilkenny Tradfest this St.Patrick’s weekend where you can catch both of these phenomenal bands live. 

The Bonny Men will perform at The Kilford Arms on Saturday, March 15  at 7pm. Tickets are just €20 and available now at www.kilkennytradfest.com

Burnchurch will perform at Sullivan’s Taproom on Sunday, March 16 at 8pm and you can also catch them at Smithwick’s Barrel Yard on Monday, March 17 at 5pm. Entry is free. 

Kilkenny Tradfest is made possible by our wonderful sponsors, partners, venues, artists, musicians, volunteers and staff; and supported by Kilkenny County Council. 

Be sure to plan your festival weekend now and secure tickets to your favourite acts while you still can at www.kilkennytradfest.com. 

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