Event type: Festival

Did I Ever Tell Ya

Join award-winning Irish playwright and actor David Gilna for an unforgettable evening of storytelling as he delves into the laughter and heartbreak that shape our lives. Through themes of grief, nostalgia, and the enduring power of humour, David asks the ultimate question: why do we tell the stories we do? A deeply moving and wildly entertaining night that will leave you laughing, crying, and craving more.

So why do we tell stories? Why does David I tell stories? Maybe it’s to make sense of the madness we call planet earth. Maybe it’s to hold on to the people we’ve lost. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because stories are the only thing that last. The only thing that matters. Because we’re all in this mad, beautiful mess together.

After a string of sold-out shows at The Viking Theatre and The Civic Theatre, David’s thrilled to be bringing his new play to Liverpool’s Royal Court as part of #LIF2025 following his 2023 performance of Bolt From D’Blue. 

Written by award-winning Irish playwright David Gilna and directed by Frank Allen. 

“Some stories heal, some stories haunt, and some fill the room with laughter—this one does it all”, The Viking Theatre.

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Stamps and Stories

Join Green Curtain Theatre for a celebration of one hundred years of the Irish Passport. 

Settle into an evening of music, stories and sketches that shine a light on what the Irish passport means to people from all walks of life. It’s more than a travel document — it’s a lifeline, a laugh, a link to home. Through songs you know and tales that feel familiar, we’ll explore how a little book can carry hopes, memories and pride across borders and generations. It’s honest, it’s heartfelt, and it’s got good tunes. We’d love to see you there.

Ballydancehall

A one-act comedy about not getting to choose your family, growing up in rural Ireland, the cultural divide between north and south, and finding solace in art.

Cousins Annie and Mick are two young people in the Gaeltacht of County Donegal. They’re not particularly close; Mick works in the tax office, recently graduated from secondary school, and spends his evenings analysing data for his fantasy football team. Annie, four years his senior, is Doc Martin-clad and refuses to listen to anything other than The Smiths.

When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arises that will see one young person in the community train at a drama school in Dublin – the big smoke! – Annie and Mick go head-to-head to escape the drudgery of a normal life. As their dreams collide, they realise they aren’t so different after all, and a reluctant bond emerges between them in this true-to-life comedy.

Written and starring Mícheál Ó Fearraigh and Anna Ní Dhúill.

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Review at the Rathbone: Private view

A private view to open a new show: Review at the Rathbone. Visitors can speak to the artists and meet the makers.

In 2024 Liverpool Irish Festival recruited several artists to work with citizen groups across Merseyside to create art works responding to Liverpool Irish Famine Trail sites. The resulting work can be seen in our app, but this exhibit provides an opportunity to see the original art works close-up, with some works on show for the very first time.

The Rathbone family – William IV (b.1757-d.1809), William VI (b.1819-d.1902) and Eleanor (b.1872-d.1946) especially – were key figures in the abolition of slavery, nursing and Ireland’s land league, harking back to their Irish connections. Being in an eponymously named gallery feels fitting.

Read more in the exhibition listing.

Image credit: Tadhg Devlin (detail only).

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Celebrating Irish Craft

Having partnered with the Liverpool Irish Festival, over years, to celebrate and share the work of Irish makers Bluecoat Display Centre hosts a retrospective of those artisans, including more that are seen through their annual portfolio of creatives. With silver, ceramics, glass, paintings, textiles and more besides, there is something to suit every budding creative, interest and price point. Whether you’re just looking for the sheer fun of it or searching for a unique gift, this is an exceptional display of contemporary talent in one of the longest serving display centres in the country. 

A private view will be held at the Centre from 4.30pm-7.30pm on Thur 18 Sept 2025.

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In the Window: Corinne Price

As part of Liverpool Irish Festival 2025, the artist Corinne Price will display their incredible ceramics at Bluecoat Display Centre. A Northern Ireland based ceramicist, Corinne grew up under the ​open skies of the Dee Estuary in Northwest England. 

Using pigmented porcelain, Corinne creates colourful and sculptural vessels that trace the time and movement involved in their making. Integrating pigment into the clay body, rather than applying it afterwards as a decorative surface, allows Corinne to effectively build in colour. Inspired by the expression of movement in water and air, sunrises and sunsets and the flow of energy in and around bodies and objects, ripples of colours become suggestive of rock strata, waves flames, or wisps of smoke. Drawn to the versatility and sometimes unpredictability of clay, embracing imperfection, Corinne’s work endeavours to infuse spaces with joy and optimism through the presence of colourful forms. ❤️??

Review at the Rathbone

In 2024 Liverpool Irish Festival recruited several artists to work with citizen groups across Merseyside to create art works responding to Liverpool Irish Famine Trail sites. The resulting work can be seen in our app (accessible via liverpoolirishfaminetrail.com), but this exhibit provides an opportunity to see the original art works close-up, with some works on show for the very first time. 

Comprising films, embroidery, banners, cyanotypes, mixed media canvasses and rediscovered stories, the artworks help to connect people today with the legacy of The Great Hunger, considering its impact here on Merseyside. 

Just around the corner from the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail’s plaque on Price Street, the gallery sits in Birkenhead where many of the Irish Famine poor arrived for refuge, just south of where tragedy struck The Sea Nymph and The Rambler in the Mersey in 1846.

The Rathbone family – William IV (b.1757-d.1809), William VI (b.1819-d.1902) and Eleanor (b.1872-d.1946) especially – were key figures in the abolition of slavery, nursing and Ireland’s land league, reflecting their Irish connections. Being in an eponymously named gallery, therefore, feels fitting.

The work was funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is presented here in partnership with the Rathbone Ceramic Studio and Gallery. The Festival would like to thank Tadhg Devlin, Lydia O’Hara and Nicola McGovern for their efforts – over and above the call of their original commissions – and the many individuals that contributed to the art works on show, especially Jean Maskell and Richard Orritt who worked hard to get the exhibition on show. 

Visitors to the exhibit might also be interested in the Festival’s new book, which documents some of this work — Reveal — available from our online shop: www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/shop

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Ulysses: Shared reading

Often seen as dauntingly academic, James Joyce’s Ulysses is by contrast a book of life. 

Published in 1922, Ulysses is one of the most revered of novels; “the book to which we are all indebted” according to TS Eliot. It is Joyce’s reconstruction of Dublin, through memory, which has become a national Irish epic. Set over the course of a single day — 16 June 1904 — the day of Joyce’s first date with Nora Barnacle, Ulysses is a tribute to his lifelong partner.

Structured to mirror the episodes of Homer’s Odyssey, the novel contains all of life, from the quotidian (daily) to the sublime. Catholicism, bar room song, toilet habits, philosophy, horse racing, infidelity, advertising slogans, gossip, sex and death all appear between its covers. Some said it was ‘not fit to read’. “If that is so”, said Joyce, “life’s not fit to live”. 

Ulysses gives readers three major characters and — with its Modernist style — access to their inner worlds. In Stephen and Bloom Joyce gives us youth and experience, intellect and practicality in attempt to marry those opposites. And yes, Molly gives us the second most famous soliloquy in literature.

You are invited to read the novel, chapter by chapter, whether it be your first time or a re-reading. Led by Ulysses enthusiast Jim Stanton, readers will discuss each chapter as a group, in a comfortable setting. Together you will build a democratic understanding of a democratic novel, in the knowledge that the more you each put into your understanding, research and openness to the language, the more you’ll gain collectively. Though each may read in isolation, the group will gain from a collaborative reading of Joyce’s unsurpassable novel.

The group will meet monthly on the fourth Monday of the month, through until Oct 2026. New paperback copies of Ulysses can be bought on Amazon for £3.99.

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Knuck & Knuckle (13 mins)

Knuck & Knuckle is a short film born from Irish artist, Frank McCarthy’s collaboration with a group of Irish Traveller boys passionate about boxing but less drawn to visual arts. Frank introduced Paint Punch, a technique where participants strike paint onto boards to create abstract artworks, a process that quickly captured their engagement and motivation, which features in the film.

The film follows the story of Lee Reeves, an internationally acclaimed boxer from Southill, one of Limerick’s most disadvantaged areas. His journey, marked by resilience, grief, and mental health struggles, speaks directly to young men living on society’s margins. In conversation with music artist WILLZEE, Lee shares an honest exchange about growing up in a working-class estate, offering a rare insight into contemporary Irish life.

Directed by first-time filmmakers Ellie Marron and Sean Horgan, with cinematography by Marron, sound and score by Evan O’Malley, David Sheerin and McCarthy, plus vocals by teenage singer Rosie McCarthy. The film is produced by Frank McCarthy and Monica Spencer for The GAFF. Knuck & Knuckle was awarded Best Documentary Short at Limerick’s Catalyst International Film Festival in 2025.

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Brave Maeve’s Tir Na nÓg

 

Join the kids from the creche, with your young person, to hear Brave Maeve creator Stu Harrison talk through how he became an illustrator and tell the story of Brave Maeve. Photo opportunities with Brave Maeve cut-outs and free Tir Na nÓg map for all attendees.