Greetings from Third Castle
Dublin Fringe Festival fills the week with new work, including Saoirse at the Abbey's Peacock Stage and a run of shows in Smock Alley's Black Box.
Death Cab for Cutie play two nights at the 3Olympia Theatre, Wu Lyf reunite at Button Factory after more than a decade away, and Culture Night opens venues across the city on Friday evening.
Talbot Street closes out the week with a two-day festival of food, music and family activities.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Saoirse
Wednesday 16 – Saturday 19 September · 20:00 · Abbey Theatre – Peacock Stage
An Taibhdhearc stages this new Irish-language musical for Dublin Fringe, following three young characters through first love, identity and the pressures facing Gaeltacht communities, including rising rents and second-home ownership. The show runs in Irish with English translation available through the Sibrwd app; Thursday and Saturday performances add a 14:30 matinee, and the closing show on 19 September is sign-language interpreted.
Death Cab for Cutie
Wednesday 16 - 17 September · 20:00 · 3Olympia Theatre
Death Cab for Cutie headline two nights at the 3Olympia in support of their eleventh studio album, I Built You A Tower, with Pool Kids opening the second show. Expect a set pulling from three decades of the band's catalogue alongside the new material.
Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir Dublin
Friday 18 September · From 16:00 · Multiple venues across Dublin city centre
Dublin's programme for the nationwide Culture Night fills venues across the city centre with after-hours tours, concerts, workshops and street performance, including Wood Quay, Meeting House Square and City Hall, with some events running into the evening for the night's 21st edition.
Wu Lyf
Tuesday 15 September · 19:00 · Button Factory
The Manchester post-punk band reunite after a twelve-year hiatus, describing their comeback as an attempt to find new forms unchained from what came before.
Foggy Notions Presents: Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band
Tuesday 15 September · 20:00 · The Grand Social
Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band headline the night after a guest slot with Kurt Vile & the Violators at Vicar Street the evening before.
Olivia Belli
Wednesday 16 September · 20:00 · The Sugar Club
Pianist and composer Olivia Belli performs an intimate set with piano trio accompaniment, drawn from her catalogue of contemporary work.
GMT Jazz Club
Thursday 17 September · 19:00 · Glass Mask Theatre
The Dawson Street theatre turns into a jazz room for the night, part of a Thursday series running from September through December, with the space styled after 1970s New York.
The Amniotics
Thursday 17 September · 20:00 · Whelan's Upstairs
The Dublin four-piece draw on influences from Pavement and Patti Smith to Courtney Barnett and Wet Leg, ahead of a forthcoming EP that includes the tracks Recovering Catholic and Safety.
Chasing Abbey
Thursday 17 September · 20:00 · Vicar Street
The Tullamore trio headline their biggest Dublin show to date, blending electronic production with Celtic influences across recent releases including T.A.L and Arís is Arís.
NCH Landmarks: Hothouse Flowers
Thursday 17 September · 20:00 · National Concert Hall
Hothouse Flowers revisit their 1990 album Home in full alongside career favourites, part of the NCH's Landmarks series mixing traditional Irish music with soul, gospel and rock.
The Lemon Heads
Friday 18 September · 19:30 · The Grand Social
The American alternative-rock band play an intimate headline show, bringing their long-running indie catalogue to Dublin.
Baliza
Friday 18 September · 20:00 · Whelan's (Main)
The Barcelona-Galicia duo of Gon Massey and Anxo Silveira met busking on the streets of Dublin in 2023. Their live shows, known as Balizadas, lean into connection and community, with a DJ set to follow.
Culture Night Party
Friday 18 September · 20:00 · The Sugar Club
Three rooms run through the night: jazz fusion, samba and neo-soul from Lavery, funk-driven grooves from Avenue 68 and traditional Irish harp from Alannah Thornburgh, followed by DJ sets from Platinumray, Pablo Santo and Louis Scully.
Amy Winehouse Experience
Saturday 19 September · 20:00 · The Helix
Caroline Lowe fronts this tribute show, backed by a full band recreating the jazz, soul and pop of Amy Winehouse's catalogue.
I Love Reggaeton: Dublin's Biggest Reggaeton Party
Saturday 19 September · 23:00 · The Button Factory
This old school versus new school edition returns after the summer break, with guest DJs Juankii from Spain and Khriz from London.
Paddy Casey
Saturday 19 September · The Lark Concert Hall
Paddy Casey has been a fixture of Irish music since his multi-platinum debut Amen (So Be It), touring with acts including R.E.M. and The Pretenders.
Playlunch
Monday 21 September · 20:00 · Whelan's (Main)
The Australian seven-piece call their sound Bogan Funk, a mix of retro dance music and suburban nostalgia born in a Melbourne house studio during COVID-19 lockdown. The show has moved to Whelan's main room to meet demand.
Saint Etienne – The Long Goodbye
Tuesday 22 September · 19:00 · 3Olympia Theatre
Saint Etienne wrap up a three-decade run of seventeen UK top 40 singles and thirteen albums with this farewell Dublin date. Their final studio album, International, was released last September.
Across The Fence
Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 September · Boys' School, Smock Alley
Jimmy, a Traveller man, and Aoife, a young settled girl, meet across a divide in this Dublin Fringe two-hander about prejudice, trust and the small conversations that challenge them both.
Creativity on Tap: An Evening With Emma Doran
Tuesday 15 September · 19:00 · Guinness Open Gate Brewery
Emma Doran headlines this Dublin Fringe comedy night at the working brewery venue, joined by Shane Clifford and Rachel Galvo.
Fishman, Butts and Steel
Wednesday 16 September · 18:00 · The International Bar – Upstairs Space
Foil Arms and Hog go by this alter-ego name for an hour of sketch comedy that pokes at its own craft: how jokes are born, why they die, and whether they can be resuscitated.
Gretel
Wednesday 16 September · 18:45 · Smock Alley Theatre – Black Box
Saturday 19 September · 13:30 · Smock Alley Theatre – Black Box
A solo performer reimagines Hansel and Gretel for the city, using live DJing, bass and rhythmic spoken word to follow two young people navigating survival and unstable ideas of home.
Creativity on Tap: An Evening with Aoife Dunne
Wednesday 16 September · 19:00 · Guinness Open Gate Brewery
Aoife Dunne performs her show Good Grief, billed as darkly funny storytelling about grief, family and identity, with support from Erin McGathy and Stephen Colfer.
The FAR Away SUN
Wednesday 16 September · 21:15 · Project Arts Centre – Cube
Told through headphones and binaural sound, this psychological thriller follows Ralph, who retreats to an isolated cottage after a trauma only to find something following him through the forest. It was developed with neuroscientists at South East Technological University.
Emma Doran
Friday 18- 19 September · 19:30 · Vicar Street
Her new stand-up show Emmaculate lays bare the trials of a blended family, with sharp observations and on-stage antics promised throughout.
Irish Baroque Orchestra presents Handel's Band Off Duty
Sunday 20 September · 19:30 · Whyte Recital Hall, RIAM
Curated by violinist Marja Gaynor with uilleann piper David Power, nine musicians imagine what Handel's own band might have played off the clock: Baroque works alongside the Irish traditional music circulating in 1740s Dublin.
Discover Talbot Street
Saturday 19 – Sunday 20 September · From 12:00 · Talbot Street
Global food, live music, workshops, dancing, family activities and creative installations spread through Talbot Street for the weekend, with a Gaeltacht experience among the stalls.
Family Screening with Nsoi: The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child
Sunday 20 September · 15:00 · National Concert Hall
The National Symphony Orchestra Ireland accompanies both Gruffalo films live, conducted by Terry Davies with guitarist Huw Davies, following the mouse's forest encounters and then his daughter's search for the mouse her father fears.
Mindful Drawing
Tuesday 15 September – Tuesday 13 October · 18:45 · Segotia
Nick Cruz Velleman leads this five-week course using drawing as an alternative to meditation, building from simple sketching exercises toward longer stretches of focus, with a curated playlist for each session.
Street Piano Series
Thursday 17 September · 13:00 · Parliament Street
Saturday 19 September · 13:00 · St Patrick's Park
Dublin City Council and the Dublin International Piano Competition set up street pianos for young performers to play baroque, classical, romantic and contemporary pieces in the open air, the second and third outings in a series that began at Wood Quay in August.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Dublin City check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
Thanks for reading The Third Castle
If you enjoy the newsletter or you find it useful here are some ways you can help us:
💌 Forward it to a friend, neighbour, or your local WhatsApp group
📝 If you were sent this and want in on the action, sign up here.
💛 Consider supporting the newsletter with a monthly subscription (coming soon)
See you next week 👋
P.S. Not feeling it anymore? No hard feelings. You can unsubscribe from the email footer below