Duncairn Trad Irish Music Collective

Following the enormous success of our Creative Collective and with the support of Belfast City Council, the Duncairn has been working at on creating the Traditional Irish Music Collective formed by local young and emergent musicians on the Belfast trad scene. The Traditional Irish Music Collective has been put together to showcase and develop young and emerging local musicians. The project will provide these young artists with an opportunity to collaborate with one another, create new compositions and work with some of the island’s most established folk and traditional artists. Along with the creation of new work, the collective will perform five concerts between November and March in spaces all across Belfast City. Every concert will see the performance of 5 core members of the collective plus one renowned guest. These gigs will be completely free, so watch out for their announcement. These concerts will be performances will be free to the public, the first of them taking place at the next Super Sunday on the 13th of November at the Duncairn.

Confirmed members of the Collective are: Sinead McKenna, Brendan Loughran, Sorcha Stockman, Brendan Kerr, Mia O’Donnell, Lachlann McKibbin, Iona McKibbin, Jude Scott.

They will share the stage with: Alannah Thornbrugh, Joshua Burnside, Ryan Molloy, Duke Special, Clare Sands.

We hope this project will shine a light on the creativity of these musicians, while also bringing attention to the significance of their role in carrying on and contributing to the traditional music of this island. It is fundamental that a new generation of trad musicians is nurtured and guided, allowing it to grow the scene, especially after the detrimental effects of the Covid19 pandemic on the performing arts.

The Duncairn film crew is planning to record the performances as well as the “behind the scenes” work of the Trad Irish Collective. A documentary will be produced and available online for everyone to watch next year.