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Irish Examiner
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Mary Coughlan review: Ride On among the highlights of triumphant homecoming show in Galway
Mary Coughlan, Heineken Big Top, Galway International Arts Festival , ★★★★★ Mary Coughlan's return to her native Galway for the 40th anniversary of her debut album, Tired and Emotional, reminds us of why she is such an enduring national treasure. Her voice is rich, authentic, and very much her own, her charisma undeniable. She kicks off with Steve Bogard and Barbara Wyrick's Damn Your Eyes, a jazzy number she inhabits with ease, crooning 'I can do what I want/I'm in complete control.' What follows in a show co-presented by the festival and the Róisín Dubh venue is a wonderful set and a series of salty anecdotes about the times she has been barely in control, or out of control completely. She recalls her arrest for drunk driving in Galway, on the eve of her departure for Dublin in the first flush of her national fame. At the station, she sneaked out, reclaimed her impounded car and drove home to her going away party. Judge Garavan, who subsequently let her off with a six week suspension, is long departed, but receives a rousing cheer in the festival tent. Mary Coughlan on stage in the Heineken Big Top at Galway International Arts Festival. Coughlan pays tribute to Erik Visser, the Dutch musician who supported her early career, and is now laid low by Parkinson's disease. She also has warm words for the songwriters whose work she has covered so powerfully over. She recalls how she and Johnny Mulhern were doing a newspaper crossword one morning after a gig when they spotted an article about an ice-cream vendor who sold heroin on the side. That gave rise to one of his hardest hitting songs, The Ice Cream Man, and one of her finest performances of the night. She introduces Jimmy McCarthy's Ride On by recalling a conversation she once had with the writer, who admitted that the song is not really about horses, but Ireland, and a character 'with eyes wild and green' who joins the IRA. Another McCarthy composition she has made her own is Ancient Rain, on which Richie Buckley plays a majestic saxophone solo. Coughlan brings out two guests in the course of the evening; Jack L, with whom she duets on his own Rooftop Lullaby and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, and Ultan Conlan, with whom she performs his track, The Lumberjack. Jack L joins Mary Coughlan on stage in Galway. Photo: Andrew Downes, Xposure As befits a homecoming concert, the mood in the tent is warm and convivial. At one point, Coughlan asks the Galway West Independent TD Catherine Connolly to stand up and proclaims her 'the next President of Ireland.' The cheers Connolly is met with suggest her bid for the Áras will have massive support. There are songs one is delighted that Coughlan chose to include in her set, such as her 'first ex-husband' Fintan Coughlan's Double Cross, and those one wishes she had chosen to perform, such as Mulhern's Magdalen Laundry, or her take on Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit. But it is enough to see her in such fine fettle, aged 69 and seemingly able for anything.
Irish Examiner
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Gigs, drama, art, dance... 10 highlights of Galway Arts Festival
1 Theatre Druid, Riders to the Sea & MacBeth: The Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane July 10 - 26 Druid theatre company presents a double bill of JM Synge's Riders to the Sea and William Shakespeare's MacBeth. Both are directed by Druid founder Garry Hynes, feature actress Marie Mullen, and are staged in the theatre named for the late Mick Lally. It is 50 years since the three established Druid as the first Irish professional theatre company outside Dublin, a landmark anniversary that is also celebrated in an exhibition of photographs by Joe O'Shaughnessy, at the Kenny Gallery on Tuam Road, covering the broad sweep of the ensemble's achievements. 2 Kevin Barry, The Cave: Town Hall Theatre, Courthouse Square July 22 - 26 Kevin Barry is best known as the author of a series of inventive novels, including the International Dublin Literary Award-winning City of Bohane. Barry's adaptation of his short story collection, There Are Little Kingdoms, was produced to great acclaim by Meridian in Cork in 2008, and it seems extraordinary that it has taken so long to present his work on the stage once more. The Cave stars Aaron Monaghan and Tommy Tiernan as Bopper and Archie McRae, a pair of petty criminal brothers holed up in the mountains in Co Sligo, with Judith Roddy as their garda sister Helen. 3 Oh…: Galway Atlantaquaria, Salthill July 8 – 26 Mikel Murfi Mikel Murfi's unforgettable one-man theatre productions have included I Hear You and Rejoice and The Man in the Woman's Shoes. Murfi trained at L'École Internationale de Théatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, where the emphasis is on physical performance. Never one to shirk a challenge, he presents his new show - a reflection on new journeys, partings and the possibility of moving on - in the main tank of Galway Atlantaquaria. 4 Mogwai: Heineken Big Top July 24 Mogwai's eleventh album in 30 years, The Bad Fire, landed in January. The Scottish noise merchants' song titles are even better than Morrissey's – Fanzine Made of Flesh, Pale Vegan Hip Pain and If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others are just some of the beauties on The Bad Fire – and their politics are far more palatable. Most of their oeuvre is instrumental, but possessed of a grandeur that belies their origins in the indie scene in 1990s Glasgow. 5 Mary Coughlan: Heineken Big Top July 23 Since her first album, Tired and Emotional, in 1985, the Galway-born chanteuse Mary Coughlan has interpreted everything from smoky blues to jazz and trad, Jacques Brel and Leonard Cohen to Jimmy McCarthy and Johnny Mulhern. Her sometimes tumultuous life has been grist to the mill for the tabloids, but at 69, she remains a formidable and much-loved talent. Coughlan's 40th Anniversary Greatest Hits Show features her full band, along with a string and brass section. 6 David Mach, Burning Down the House: Festival Gallery, William St July 14 – 27 David Mach's Cheetah 1 The Scottish sculptor and installation artist David Mach presents his fourth major project at Galway Arts Festival, after Precious Light in 2012, Rock'n'Roll in 2018 and The Oligarch's Nightmare in 2023. Mach, a Turner Prize nominee in 1988, is known for his large-scale public art projects, such as Brick Train, assembled from 185,000 bricks, at Darlington, Co Durham. Burning Down the House is one of several exhibitions at GIAF that address climate change. Mach will give a talk at the gallery at 11am Tuesday July 15. 7 Eman Mohammed, What Lies Beneath the Rubble: Studio 2, O'Donoghue Centre July 14 – 27 Eman Mohammed Eman Mohammed was born in Tabouk, a small village in Saudi Arabia, in 1983 and educated in Gaza City, Palestine. She began her career in photojournalism at 19, and quickly cemented her reputation as the first woman war photojournalist in Gaza. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, and her memoir The Cracks in My Lens was published in 2022. Her photo essay, Layan's Steps, published in the Atavist Magazine in July 2024, helped reveal that Gaza is home to the world's largest concentration of child amputees, victims of Israeli attacks on the territory. 8 Aoife Dunne, Good Grief: Róisín Dubh, Dominick St July 24 & 25 Language teacher Aoife Dunne had amassed more than 100,000 followers for her humorous videos on Instagram before it ever occurred to her that she might be a comedian. And even then, it was only because she was invited to perform at the legendary Dead Rabbit club in New York. The Galway native is not shy about tackling contemporary issues such as toxic masculinity, and posted a memorable rebuke to Conor McGregor on social media after his appearance at the White House on Patrick's Day. Good Grief is billed as 'a unique blend of stand-up, storytelling and spoken word,' and deals with the death of Dunne's mother, the loss of her job and relationship during the Covid pandemic, and her efforts to rebuild her life thereafter. 9 Resistance to Trump: Bailey Allen Hall, University of Galway July 26 Journalist Fintan O'Toole interviews Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the Democratic Party politician who has represented Washington's 7th Congressional District, encompassing most of Seattle, since 2017. Born in Chennai, India, Jayapal emigrated to the US in 1982, aged 16, to attend college at Georgetown University. She is the first Indian-American woman to serve in the US House of Representatives. A vocal critic of Donald Trump's presidency, she has condemned his budget reconciliation bill of July 2025 as 'one big, beautiful betrayal.' 10 Planete Vapeur, Microcosmos: Les Insectes Fantasiques: Eyre Square 9.30pm Friday July 18 / 6pm and 9.30pm Saturday July 19 Planète Vapeur's Microcosmos French street theatre specialists Planete Vapeur present Microcosmos, featuring a twelve-metre grasshopper, a spinning spider and a swarm of mysterious stilt-walkers, musicians and acrobats. The hour-long spectacle begins at Eyre Square before proceeding to Lower Fairhill Road via Shop Street and Bridge Street. What could be more magical on a summer's evening in the City of the Tribes?
Irish Independent
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Galway International Arts Festival sees The Stunning return for hometown gig
An explosive night can be expected as Interplanetary Criminal, Shampain and Tommy Holohan light up the stage on July 25. Together, these three will deliver a night of pulsating rhythms, genre-blurring sounds, and serious party energy. The following night, July 26, will see a band known for their infectious energy, unforgettable melodies, and electric performances, return to their hometown. Formed in Galway in the late 1980s, The Stunning quickly rose to fame with a string of hits that quickly became Irish anthems, including Brewing Up a Storm, Heads Are Gonna Roll, and Half Past Two. The Stunning are renowned for delivering live shows that blend tight musicianship with raw, crowd-pleasing energy - making this show one not to be missed. 'This special Galway homecoming concert at the Heineken Big Top on Saturday, July 26, promises to be one of the most magical nights of the summer,' Galway International Arts Festival said. Acts already announced for the Heineken Big Top at Galway International Arts Festival 2025 include Block Rockin Beats, Amble, The Mary Wallopers, Picture This, Mogwai, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Natasha Bedingfield, and Kingfishr. Galway International Arts Festival is an annual celebration of the arts, featuring a diverse programme of events, including music, theatre, visual arts and more. It brings together local and international artists to showcase their talent, creating a vibrant cultural experience for audiences of all ages. This year, GIAF runs from July 14 to 27. Tickets for both shows go on sale at 10am on Friday, May 2 from or
