Castlebar band to launch single this weekend

Fri, Dec 09, 2011

Local band Social Welfare are launching their debut single ‘Home’ on Saturday December 10 in the Cafe Bar of the TF Royal.

The five members of the band are: Cathal McHale (vocal), Barry Jennings (lead guitar), Darren Moran (guitar), Micheal McDermott (bass guitar), and Cathal Ward (drums).

American country legend Don Williams coming to Mayo

Fri, Dec 09, 2011

American country legend Don Williams has confirmed an Irish tour to take place next April. The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee who has amassed 17 number one hits throughout his career will play the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, on Friday April 20, 2012.

The ultimate Garth Brooks experience returning to Castlebar

Fri, Dec 09, 2011

%Due to the phenomenal success of the previous show at the Royal Theatre Castlebar, Friends in Low Places, which has been wowing Garth Brooks fans across Ireland for over a year now, returns for a Christmas show stopper on Friday December 30.

Custom House Studios at Westport Quay

Fri, Dec 09, 2011

Custom House Studios at Westport Quay is hosting a group exhibition of arts works by those artists who worked at Custom House Studios during 2011. The exhibition will be formally opened by Councillor Margaret Adams, chairperson of Custom House Studios, on Thursday December 15 at 7.30pm.

Linenhall Arts Centre

Fri, Dec 09, 2011

Acclaimed singer Eimear Quinn returns for what promises to be another unforgettable intimate Christmas concert at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Wednesday December 14 at 8pm.

Ballina Golf Club to host Ice Festival in run up to Christmas

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

Lush fairways will give way to smooth ice, golf shoes will be replaced by ice skates and a unique Christmas atmosphere will hang over Mossgrove Park. Yes, the Ballina Ice Festival will get under way on December 8 and over the following two weeks a bumper programme of seasonally related activities will be on offer.

Ballina Golf Club has always been community based with a genuine social dimension, and on this occasion the club teams up with RNLI and Ballina Order of Malta to provide a very special experience, the town’s first Ice Festival and a unique lead in to the festive season.

John B Keane classic Big Maggie hits Castlebar next week

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

“When I’m finished with this role, I’ll definitely see changes in the way that I play the role between the first night and the last. That’s one of the great things about acting on the stage, in a great production like this,” said Aisling O’Sullivan, who is currently playing the lead role in The Druid’s production of John B Keane’s Big Maggie. The play is classic tale of money, land, secret sex and family life and she took some time out of her schedule this week to speak to the Mayo Advertiser ahead of the show’s stop off in The Royal Theatre next Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6 and 7.

This production of Big Maggie has met with a great response by the public and critics alike, but that’s not something that concerns O’Sullivan too much. “I try not to read too much into it, because in reality you’re never as good as people say or as bad as they might say. No production is ever 100 per cent perfect.” Taking on the title role, O’Sullivan has relished putting herself in the shoes of Maggie as she breaks free from the shackles of what was the norm for Irish women back in the 1960s. “It was a very different time, I was born around the time it was written so I have no recollection of what life was like back then. But through my research for the role, I learned quite a lot about what it was like for women back then. Once you were married you were essentially your husband’s property and this part shows how a woman takes control of her life following the death of her husband and moves on with her life in a number of different ways. How she deals with her new found freedom and what she does is what people will be talking about after they see the play. She has learned from the school of hard knocks and she’s preparing her own children for life being a similar way.”

Metal at the Clubhouse to bring the walls down tomorrow night

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

An evening of metal and doom will be descending on The Clubhouse in Castlebar Celtic tomorrow night Saturday, December 3. Next in a series of fundraisers for the 2012 Castlebar Music Festival is Metal at the Clubhouse and you will see some of the finest purveyors of heavy music in the west of Ireland descend on Castlebar for a night of metal-mayhem. For only €10, disciples of rock will be entertained by six bands, spanning various sub-genres of heavy metal.

Gerry Guthrie live in Newport next week

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

Singer and guitarist Gerry Guthrie was born and raised in Ballina, where he still resides. Aged 15, Gerry began playing with a local group called The New Blues on the local pub and cabaret circuit. He subsequently moved on to work with The Richmonds, a well-established group playing lounge bars, weddings, dinner dances, and private functions in Mayo and south Sligo. Since then he has played lead guitar with the likes of Sandy Kelly, Martin Cuff, Shawn Cuddy, Jimmy Buckley, Ray Lynam and Matt Leavy. It had long been a dream of his to front his own country band, and the past few years have seen Gerry do just that, he has gone on to become a mainstay of the circuit in Ireland and further afield. Gerry is coming back to Mayo before Christmas and he will be playing in Hotel Newport on Friday December 9 at 10.30pm. Admission is €15.

Seán Costello presents A Viennese Christmas

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

Seán Costello, the nationally acclaimed tenor and star of the Mario Lanza tribute The Loveliest Night Of The Year, returns this December with last year’s sell out Christmas favourite A Viennese Christmas.

Wow Oh Wow – Jedward are back for Valentine’s

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

S'up people! The hair raising duo are back in The Royal Theatre Castlebar on Tuesday February 14 as the demand for Jedward concerts shows no signs of slowing down. The quirky twins John and Edward - love them or hate them - have had an exceptional year in 2011, starting their own television series, becoming ambassadors for Childline, and the new faces of the 3 Mobile television adverts.

Events happening in December at the Museum of Country Life, Turlough:

Fri, Dec 02, 2011

Focus on Christmas customs: find out what life was like 100 years ago and learn about Christmas in the past. Suitable for all ages. Entrance fee is €2 per adult, free for children aged 16 years and under. Group tours at other times can be pre-booked through the museum’s booking office. On Friday December 2 from 11am to 1pm there is a drop-in knitting circle for adults and children aged seven plus.

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