News
Summer 2026 – Current goings on …
Love this time of the year. Wedding season kicks off around Valentine’s Day, so that’s been keeping me busy both as a violinist + vocalist on the ceremony side of things, and with covers outfits including the Matt Lennon band for the evening shenanigans, as well as regular trad sessions around the city – the Fourth Corner on Mondays and Hynes’s on Thursdays being 2 of my favourites.
Some creative, fun stuff:
The big news in my creative world is that I’m back in the studio recording a new album!! Live at Arad Studios in Dublin. An amazing line-up of musicians: Paddy Hopkins (drums), Pádraig Kilbride (keys), Paddy Joyce (bass) and Shane Holly (guitar). Shane is such a terrific player that I’ve made an exception to my rule of only employing musicians whose name is some variation of Patrick……….
Here’s a sneak preview of one of the tracks, recorded live at the Cat & Cage Folk Club on June 17th
Still on a bit of a high from that gig actually!
It’s one of my favourite arts nights in Dublin – a fortnightly series of gigs, showcasing the finest musical talent from Dublin & beyond. It’s curated by my trad colleague Graham Watson, audio-engineer, producer & founder of FloodPlain Studios, in conjunction with the lovely Bernie McGrattan & her amazing staff at the Cat & Cage, Drumcondra.
Before that, I had an absolute ball teaching at Dublin’s first traditional music Summer school, in Waltons New School of Music . We had a brilliant group of enthusiastic students from a wide range of backgrounds – some experienced trad players, some who were accomplished at their instruments but new to trad, and some complete novices. Especially thrilled to be teaching alongside Adam Agee, Eamonn Galldubh, Aisling Moroney & Harry Long, as well as our guest artist Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin,
Previous:
In May, I co-curated a Songwriter Salon – along with Ben Prevo + Marion McEvoy – as part of the Northside’s coolest arts festival, Phizzfest
We also had our first Back Room Dispatch of 2026, coincidentally at the Cat & Cage:
The Back Room Dispatch is Ireland’s premier songwriter salon, where emerging solo songwriters get to reimagine their songs with the backing of a house band comprised of professional session musicians, usually in the Back Room – hence the name! – at Dublin’s top grassroots venue, The Cobblestone. Confusingly, we relocated to the Cat & Cage, Drumcondra, for our February gig – but our faithful followers didn’t get lost on the way, thankfully. I’ve been curating the event since 2023 and I take pride in how it continues to go from strength to strength; this gig was no exception, with a full house held spellbound by songwriters Ann Harrington & Eoghan Burke, and our special guest The Bumbles. I’m taking a little break from Back Room duties this Summer while I record the aforementioned album……but be assured, we’ll be back in the winter!
Hi Cathy. Love your website. I don’t know where you get the time! I would love to have an arrangement for ‘Movin on up’ to do with a young music group in Galway that I’m helping. Do you have an SATB arrangement I could have please? I think they might like ‘Imagine’ too. I’d be very grateful. Also I see you have a music in mind session in Mullingar tomorrow but I don’t see where. I think my parents and a couple of their friends would be interested if they knew where it was. Thanks so much Cathy.
Lisa
Music facilitator,
Galway
Hi Lisa,
thanks for getting in touch…can you send me an email and I’ll see if I can help with the “moving on up’ arrangement? Thanks a mill!
Cathy