Events

Join local Greystones musician and multi-award winning sean-nós singer and harpist Eibhlís Ní Ríordáin for a wonderful free afternoon concert of harpers’ songs, traditional Irish songs, music and poetry in Greystones Library on Saturday 11th October from 3.30-4.30pm. Following on from her very well-received concerts at Greystones library on Culture Night in 2023 and Harp Day in 2024, Eibhlís has been invited back again to the library to give a concert as part of Ireland's National Harp Day celebrations (Harp Day itself takes place on 18th October).

Eibhlís, whose performance has been described as “the purest of the pure drop”, will accompany her singing of some of the songs, including songs by Turlough O'Carolan and other harper - composers of the 17th and 18th centuries, on the cláirseach (early Irish brass-wire strung harp). She will also sing, unaccompanied, some of the beautiful, traditional Irish ‘sean-nós’ songs from Munster, from where she originally hails. The audience will be encouraged to sing along in many of the songs (song lyrics and translations will be provided in the programme notes). The songs will also be interspersed with some atmospheric poetry by Irish poets (English and Irish language).

About Eibhlís:
Eibhlís researches and sings the Déise (east Munster) sean-nós song repertory. Uniquely, she also researches, reconstructs and performs the much-neglected, and seminal, 17th- and 18th-century harpers’ song repertory to her own early Irish harp accompaniment, on her replica old Irish harp. Her harp, made for her this year by harp maker Kevin Harrington, is a beautiful copy of the early 18th century County Wicklow harp, the 'Hollybrook Harp', which is now held at the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks, Dublin.

Recent concerts by Eibhlís include: Scoil na gCláirseach solo concert ‘Tobar an Dúchais’ in July ’24; Scoil na gCláirseach Gala Concert ‘Masters of Irish Music’ at Kilkenny Castle in July ‘23; Harp Ireland’s National Harp Day Concert, Liberty Hall, Dublin in October 2022. She has also performed for the President at Áras on Uachtaráin on a number of occasions. Earlier this year Eibhlís sang in a performance of the renowned composer Benjamin Dwyer's 'SacrumProfanum' in the London Irish Centre. She also features on the RTE documentary 'Trinity's Treasures', airing later this year. Also a highly experienced music educator, Eibhlís (MA (Hons 1), B.Mus, LTCL), regularly tutors in harp and voice for the Historical Harp Society of Ireland, at Scoil na gCláirseach (Festival of Early Irish Harp) and Acadamh na gCláirseach (Academy of Early Irish Harp Online). She facilitates (early Irish) harp workshops and gives talks about the early Irish harp nationally, for the Historical Harp Society of Ireland and for Harp Ireland / Cruit Éireann. She also teaches classical piano at her home in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

Her sean-nós song and harp-song CD, 'An Buachaillín Bán', has been described as “one of the top trad albums of the last year”