September is the month that Lisdoonvarna takes on a life of its own. The small town in west Clare is once again ready to welcome the thousands who will flock here from all over for the festival.

The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival gets off to a cracking start this weekend when two of the biggest young names on the Irish circuit roll into town.

Derek Ryan, the young Carlow man and winner of the country music songwriter of the year award at the ICMA RTÉ Awards, opens the festival on Friday 2 September. It is going to be a mega night, with Derek and his band featuring a selection of his popular songs that have catapulted him into the top league. Support will be by popular group, Outadiesel.

ADVERTISEMENT

Meanwhile, Nathan Carter tops the bill on Saturday night as Lisdoonvarna becomes the music capital of Ireland on this special weekend. Wagon Wheels and Belles of Liverpool will be all the rage as Nathan and band take their show to the county.

“Nathan Carter is at the top of his game right now, with his own RTÉ series and on the verge of making it big in America. Getting someone of his calibre for our festival is a great boost for the town.

“As soon as we announced he was playing back in January, the phone started hopping. I have never seen anything like it,” says Marcus White, managing director of the White hotel Group.

“We have a great tradition of country music here in Lisdoonvarna. It is the music and the dancing that keeps people coming back to this festival year after year.”

Entertainment

The hugely popular Galway band, Blue Ridge, will play support to Nathan Carter on Saturday night.

The festival runs over five weeks from 2 September to 9 October, with music and dancing in many venues around town from 12 midday until the small hours of the morning. There are people who come back year after year and many spend a week or more in and around the town or return for a few weekends.

Lisdoonvarna regular Muriel O’Connor from Limerick will perform at the Royal Spa hotel every weekend in September, while Finbarr Dennehy, Tommy O’Flaherty and Francis Fahy (Celtic Swing), and Declan Aungier will top the bill at the Rathbaun hotel.

The popular tea dances at the historic Spa Wells will take place between noon and 2pm each day, with music by Clare man Larry McEvoy.

Soul singer Buck Taylor from Kentucky will be back at the Hydro Hotel on Saturday nights in September for his unique take on the soul classics.

Other entertainment at the Hydro includes music from Teddy and Cathal Barry and Michael Sexton and Pat Dowling in the main bar.

Outadiesel and Blue Ridge Country will play their regular venue, the Matchmaker Bar at the Imperial Hotel.

Third generation matchmaker

The bar is also the home to Ireland’s last traditional matchmaker, the famous Willie Daly who has his office there during the festival. The third generation matchmaker has already matched hundreds. Willie is an institution in the area and comes into his glory every September.

Local man PJ Murrihy is doing several shows in different venues in the town throughout September.

“There are people who are coming back to Lisdoon for 30 or 40 years or more and they never miss spending a few days in the town. We also get a good few Americans who come over and they always have a mighty time,” says PJ.

Sam O’Doherty from Bansha is doing a Monday to Thursday residency at the Hydro Hotel over the four weeks in September.

“A lot of the good dancers come early in the week. I’ve been playing here for many years now. Lisdoonvarna is an amazing place during September,” says the Tipperary man who is always a special favourite with the folks.

Peter Burke, Seán Brenan, and a host of others will also perform shows in the various hotels and bars around the town.

Closing the festival from 7-9 October will be the LGBT weekend. The headline act this year is top female band B-Witched.

The five-week-long Lisdoonvarna Festival is expected to attract over 50,000 to the town. Its special appeal lies in the cross-generational nature of the festival, with people from late teens up to 90 all mixing together in the friendly atmosphere that is at the very heart of the Clare welcome.

Christy Moore’s song words about Lisdoonvarna and September still holds true: “If it’s music you want, you should go to Clare.”