Slow Sessions with Brendan McCreanor
Dates: 15th Mar - 30th Aug 2025
Time: 12.00pm
Cost: €5
For players of any instrument and at any level. A selection of easy and well known session tunes will all be played slowly so that people in the early stages of their playing or those coming back to playing music can have an opportunity to play together in a friendly, supportive and informal setting. More experienced players who wish to refine their techniques at a slower pace are also very welcome.
We also welcome listeners and singers.
More Info
Droichead Arts Centre | Stockwell Street | Drogheda | Co. Louth
Theatre Club Spring Summer / 2025
7 FEB - 28 JUN | 7 plays for €95 (+ €1.00 fees)
Website url: https://www.droichead.com/show-detail/?id=873668797
Droichead Arts Centre is thrilled to announce its Theatre Club for Spring/Summer 2025, showcasing seven incredible plays, including an off-site visit to the Abbey Theatre. Now in its 14th season, the club offers audiences a chance to connect and discuss each performance. Seven amazing plays for only €95!
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Night Moves 2025 | Oisin Leech with support from Dotts O’Connor
Date: 02/05/2025
Time: 22.00
Cost: €15.00 (+ €1.00 fees)
Night Moves at Droichead returns this May curated by SJ McArdle, with our first late-night club transforming every corner of Droichead Arts Centre into a captivating space. Audiences will enjoy ambient music in our gallery, experience a bespoke art installation by visual artist Vivienne Byrne and enjoy a music programme in our theatre featuring Oisin Leech with support from Dotts O' Connor, and ambient music in our gallery from DJ Emmie Lou.
After a decade and a half in duo The Lost Brothers Irish musician Oisin Leech announced himself in 2024 as a singer-songwriter of some distinction with his stunning solo debut album 'Cold Sea'. As crisp and clear as the North Atlantic Ocean beside which it was recorded, his album benefited from the subtle presence of some stellar musicians, namely Steve Gunn, M Ward, Dónal Lunny, Róisín McGrory, and Bob Dylan's bass player Tony Garnier but the acute sense of yearning was all Leech's own.
Oisin's songs map exile, love, loss, and healing via erudite guitar and judicious use of synth and strings. The wilds of Malin, in north Co. Donegal helped inspire this quiet gem of a record. The songs, which are steeped in folk nestle up and whisper in your ear- they are deliberately uncluttered, even sparse. Like Malin itself, space and air are everywhere and the pace is unhurried. Yet, paradoxically, there is emotional intensity aplenty. Since the album's launch Oisin has been invited to share the stage with Vashti Bunyan, Lisa O’Neill, M Ward, Tindersticks and Gaz Coombes, and we are delighted that he will share our stage in Droichead for Nights Moves this May. .
Support on the night will be provided by Dotts O’Connor, celebrated as the guitarist of RTE Choice-nominated band Come On Live Long and Dirty Dreamer, unveils a remarkable shift in his musical odyssey with the launch of his new solo project. Departing from the collaborative ethos of his former groups, O’Connor delves into uncharted territory, guided solely by his intuition and personal reflections. O’Connor embraces the nuances of his daily musings, shaping his songwriting process with unparalleled authenticity and vulnerability. Dotts has recently released his debut album 'Sorrow Won't Find Us' to critical acclaim.
Curated by SJ McArdle.
Festival Extra at Drogheda Arts Festival.
An innovative & dynamic programme designed to provide new & engaging night time cultural experiences across Drogheda & East Meath. Produced by Droichead Arts Centre, and delivered with a variety of curators promoters & alternative venues, funded by the Night-Time Economy Advisor in Drogheda, and the Arts Council. The programme encapsulates our vision of extending cultural offerings, fostering partnerships, & creating diverse opportunities for artists & audiences.
More Info
Between Worlds | Orlaith Cullinane, Patrick Dillon, Daria Ivanishchenko, Sallyanne Morgan
Date: 03/05/2025 – 21/06/2025
Time: All Day Event
Cost: N/A
Curated by our Visual Arts Curator in Residence Dorothy Smith.
Artists often challenge us to abandon fixed world views and enter with them into the spaces between, where boundaries blur, and certainties and binaries are questioned.
The artists in Between Worlds negotiate these liminal the spaces.
Orlaith Cullinane’s high energy bronze figures transcend animal - human boundaries; Daria Ivanishchenko’s paintings and video tell of experiencing the reality of living between two places that are both ‘home’; Sallyanne Morgan’s women don a delicate external armour that speaks to unpredictable currents of change, survival, and adaptation; Pat Dillon’s paintings explore television as a persistent presence in our lives and as a portal to and from another world.
The work in Between Worlds rejects perceived certainties and accepted positions, and asks us to join in this exploration; to reconsider our own preconceptions.
Opening at 3.30pm, on Sat 3 May. All welcome. Festival Extra at Drogheda Arts Festival.
Bealtaine Festival 2025 | Silver Screen - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Date: 13/05/2025
Time: 14.00
Cost: Free, booking essential
Dir: Hettie Macdonald, UK, 2023, 102 mins
We are delighted to announce that the Bealtaine May Film Tour, organised by access>CINEMA and the Irish Film Institute to coincide with the Bealtaine Festival celebrating the Arts & Creativity as we age has this year been curated by Film Club members from around the country, including Droichead.
THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY tells the story of a man who leaves his seaside town in South Devon to deliver a message to an old friend. Harold Fry was never meant to be a hero. He’s an unremarkable man who has failed at all the important things: being a husband, a father and a friend. Now, well into his 60s, he is content to fade quietly into the background of life. But when Harold learns his friend Queenie is dying, he is moved to act. He leaves home, walking to the post box to send her a letter, until he realises a letter is not enough.
In that moment Harold decides to keep walking, all the way to her hospice, some 500miles away in Berwick-upon-Tweed: as long as he walks, Queenie must live. Surprising himself as much as his wife Maureen, Harold embarks on a walk of hope, determined to travel the length of England to save his friend.
Tickets: Free, booking essential
A Rare Journey | written and performed by Paula Greevy-Lee, directed by Gerard Lee
Date: 16/05/2025
Time: 20.00
Cost: €18/16 (+€1.00fees)
Celebrating the life of a truly remarkable Irish woman Nora Joyce, in a highly entertaining roller-coaster 75-minute play, filled with the music and song the Joyces knew, and Nora’s quick and often razor-sharp wit. The play separates Nora from her famous literary alter ego Molly Bloom, and dispels the lazy myths that have often cast Nora as an inconsequential appendage of her famous husband.
“Paula Greevy-Lee gives a flawless performance as the often put-upon but always resilient Nora”- Jack Gilligan, Dublin City FM.
Bealtaine Festival 2025 | Silver Screen - Cinema Paradiso
Date: 17/05/2025
Time: 16.00
Cost: Free, booking essential
Dir: Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy, 1988, 118 mins
We are delighted to announce that the Bealtaine May Film Tour, organised by access>CINEMA and the Irish Film Institute to coincide with the Bealtaine Festival celebrating the Arts & Creativity as we age has this year been curated by Film Club members from around the country, including Droichead.
Young Salvatore Di Vita (Salvatore Cascio) discovers the perfect escape from life in his war-torn Sicilian village: the Cinema Paradiso movie house, where projectionist Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) instills in the boy a deep love of films. When Salvatore grows up, falls in love with a beautiful local girl (Agnese Nano) and takes over as the Paradiso's projectionist, Alfredo must convince Salvatore to leave his small town and pursue his passion for filmmaking.
Tickets: Free, booking essential
The Story and Music of Janis Joplin
Date: 24/05/2025
Time: 20.00
Cost: €18.00(+ €1.00 fees)
Performed by Arlene Bailey.
Janis Joplin is synonymous with the Woodstock generation and in her short 27 years firmly secured her place in American music history. This one-woman show will combine Joplin’s iconic music with archival footage and images, promising an immersive celebration of the late rock legend. With a career spanning over two decades across Ireland, the UK, and beyond Arlene Bailey, aims to connect with audiences on a personal level through this tribute to the icon.
The Children’s Carnival Collective | Cruinniú na nÓg 2025
Date: 07/06/2025
Time: 11.00
Cost: Free, booking essential
An afternoon of engaging creativity-celebrating all things “ Carnival”. Through music, costume, dance, and decoration, participants will not only have the opportunity to be part of a min carnival parade…. but also be part of the one they have created themselves.
For one afternoon only, join the Droichead Arts Centre’s Artist Collective (Kieran Gallagher, Vivienne Byrne, Breda Marron, Yvonne Dowd, and Darrin Finnegan) and devise, engage, and participate in a series of hands-on workshops exploring what’s involved in creating a mini carnival.
There will be rapid drumming, prop preparation, costume creation and choreography sessions. Everybody will experience all aspects of carnival creation through a series of swap-overs.
But it’s not finished there!!
Upon completion, all will come together with their newly acquired moves, grooves, and visually creative skills and take to the streets for a mini carnival parade.
The day will begin at 11 am, and we will be ready to take to the streets from 1 –1.30 pm.
Limited to 40 participants. Venue: Drogheda Civic Offices, Fair St. Produced by Droichead Arts Centre.
Cruinniú na nÓg, an annual day of free creativity for young people.
Night Moves presents The Stowaway Sessions: PORT by SJ McArdle
Date: 07/06/2025
Time: 20.30
Cost: €20 (+€1.00 fees)
Join us under the shadow of the viaduct as The Stowaway Sessions return as part of Night Moves in association with Drogheda Port.
One more opportunity to see SJ McArdle’s critically-acclaimed song cycle PORT, right on the Port itself! A song cycle born of a year-long research and writing project around the history and stories of Drogheda’s ancient Port, conducted during SJ’s tenure as Artist in Association at Droichead Arts Centre in 2019.
Along with its accompanying critically acclaimed RTÉ Radio 1 Album of the Week, Old Ghosts In The Water, PORT includes Carol Keogh (Plague Monkeys), Graham Henderson (Moving Hearts, Sinead O’Connor), vocalist John Ruddy and fiddle player Róisín Ward Morrow. SJ was previously the songwriter and singer in the award-winning Irish folk band Kern from 2013 to 2020, and he is also known for his career as a singer-songwriter in Nashville and Germany, which produced 2014’s critically acclaimed Blood and Bones album (featuring Rodney Crowell). SJ’s songs and performances have featured on radio, film, and television, and he has toured and recorded extensively in Ireland, Europe, and North America, gathering a loyal following and critical accolades along the way.
“An impressive song cycle .. the songs are intriguing and evocative; they are rooted in folk but coloured by expansive and imaginative arrangements.” – The Irish Times.
"What a great collection of songs this is from SJ McArdle. I urge you to go out and get it." – Fiachna Ó Braonáin” (The Hothouse Flowers, RTÉ)
“All the ingredients of great folk songs” – Lynette Fay (BBC)
The Stowaways Sessions will take place in a warehouse (covered in) on the port by the viaduct and is a seated event. These events will go ahead rain or shine, so please do consider the weather and cool Irish evenings when dressing for the event.
NIGHT MOVES SUMMER SEASON 2025
An innovative & dynamic programme designed to provide new & engaging night time cultural experiences across Drogheda & East Meath returns this summer. Produced by Droichead Arts Centre, delivered with curators, promoters & alternative venues, and funded by the Night-Time Economy Advisor in Drogheda, and the Arts Council. This programme encapsulates our vision of extending cultural offerings, fostering partnerships, and creating diverse opportunities for artists & audiences alike.
More Info
Night Tones | Night Moves 2025
Date: 23/05/2025 & 27/06/2025
Time: 20.30 & 21.45
Cost: Yoga and Meditation Ticket Offer €20.00(+ €1.00 fees)
Full Price - €12.00(+ €1.00 fees)
Our Night Moves Programme continues this May and June with Night Tones, at the slightly earlier times of 8.30pm and 9.45pm. Providing an alternative night-time experience, with two immersive ambient music events featuring a live set from local musician and electronic virtuoso Ógy Collins, combined with a yoga session and guided meditation facilitated by professional teacher Elaine Tobin. Presented in the round in the Droichead gallery space.
Taking inspiration from artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Four Tet and Tim Hecker, Ógy will accompany the yoga and guided meditation sessions with a semi-improvised set performed on live electronic instruments which will provide opportunities for deep listening and sonic immersion.
The first is a yoga session (8.30pm), a slow gentle flow.
The second (9.45:pm) is a guided meditation session, less movement, and more stillness.
We are also doing a double ticket deal, for €20, you can attend both sessions on the one evening. Or you can purchase a ticket to each event.
Participants are asked to bring a yoga mat for session one and a mat or something similar to lie on for session two, and they can also bring pillow or cushion and a warm blanket to enjoy the sound experience.
Night Moves is an innovative & dynamic programme designed to provide new & engaging night-time cultural experiences across Drogheda & East Meath. Produced by Droichead Arts Centre, and delivered with a variety of curators promoters & alternative venues, supported and funded by the Night-Time Economy Advisor in Drogheda, and the Arts Council. The programme encapsulates our vision of extending cultural offerings, fostering partnerships, & creating diverse opportunities for artists & audiences.
DRAWDA | Drogheda Urban Art and Audio Trail
1st Jan 2025 - 31st Dec 2025
Drogheda Urban Art Trail – Embracing our mythological past
DRAWDA - a curated multidisciplinary public arts programme, launched in Drogheda between November 2021, and April 2022, culminating in an Urban Art Trail throughout Drogheda that focuses on key figures and moments from our mythological past.
Seven murals that focus on key figures and moments from mythology, with an Audio
Trail! Pick up your printed map from Droichead Arts Centre, Love Drogheda BIDS or local business’ or view it digitally online below. Then, take a stroll throughout Drogheda following the trail, and use your smart device to scan the code and listen to the mythological stories behind the murals!
Film Club Spring/Summer 2025
14 JAN – 20 MAY | 8pm | 8 films for €48 | Droichead Arts Centre
Website
Film Club is back for Spring 2025. Droichead Arts Centre in partnership with Access Cinema, are delighted to welcome back our Film Club members, with a season of eight engaging and beautiful films from around the world, once again curated by Sinead Brassil and Niall O'Brien of LMFM's film review segment 'Reel Reviews'. Each film is introduced by the curators and followed by a short post screening discussion.
Once again you can expect the wild and wonderful, the best and most breath taking independent cinema from around the world with 8 amazing films for only €48!
And we are again delighted to partner with the film makers of DKiT to present one short film by the graduating class before four of the screenings.
TOUCH (2024) | Dir Baltasar Kormákur | Romance/Drama | Iceland | Tue 28 Jan
KATHLEEN IS HERE (2024) | Dir Eva Birthistle | Drama | Ireland | Tue 18 Feb
IT’S RAINING MEN (2023) | Dir Caroline Vignal | Comedy | France | Tue 4 Mar
BIRD (2024) | Dir Andrea Arnold | Drama | UK | Tue 29 Apr
ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL (2024) | Dir Rungano Nyoni | Comedy/Drama | Ireland, UK, Zambia | Tue 13 May
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (2024) | Dir Payal Kapadia | Drama | France | Tue 20 May
Stockwell Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth.
