Greetings from Third Castle
Dublin's autumn festival season gets underway this week.
Dublin Theatre Festival opens on Thursday alongside the IFI Documentary Festival, and MusicTown turns its whole 2026 programme over to Phil Lynott on the fortieth anniversary of his death.
Saint Etienne stop at 3Olympia Theatre on their farewell tour, and Vicar Street has one of its busier weeks of the year with Keywest, Russell Howard and Ella Mai all playing across four nights.
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
Saint Etienne
Tuesday 22 September · 19:00 · 3Olympia Theatre
Saint Etienne's farewell tour reaches Dublin as the band close out thirty-five years together, seventeen UK top 40 singles and thirteen studio albums, with a set drawn from across their catalogue. Their most recent studio album, International, came out in September 2025.
Dublin Theatre Festival 2026
Thursday 24 September to Sunday 11 October · Various Dublin venues
Dublin's theatre festival returns for eighteen days of Irish and international work staged across the city, from the Abbey and the Gaiety to smaller venues in between.
MusicTown 2026: A Celebration of Philip Lynott
Monday 28 September to Sunday 4 October · Various Dublin venues
Forty years after Phil Lynott's death, MusicTown dedicates its whole 2026 programme to the Thin Lizzy frontman, with a four-day exhibition on his life, a National Concert Hall concert of his solo and Thin Lizzy material, and panel discussions on his years growing up in 1960s Dublin. The Irish Film Institute closes the week with a screening of the documentary Philip Lynott: Songs For While I'm Away.
Overhead, The Albatross
Thursday 24 September · 19:00 · Button Factory
Touring their second album, I Leave You This, the post-rock band pair sweeping strings and electronic textures with raw guitar and drums as part of Button Factory's thirtieth-anniversary series. Hot Press has called them "one of Ireland's most essential bands."
Smithereens
Thursday 24 September · 20:00 · The Grand Social
Cork band Smithereens headline The Grand Social, presented by MCD, for a Thursday-night show in Dublin city centre.
Keywest
Friday 25 September · 19:30 · Vicar Street
Keywest started out busking on Grafton Street before their 2012 debut, The Message, went triple-platinum in Ireland. The follow-up, Joyland, reached number one three years later, and the band has released music independently since stepping away from their label deal in 2022.
Max Cooper
Saturday 26 September · 23:00 to 03:00 · Button Factory
Max Cooper trained as a computational biologist before turning to electronic composition, and closes Button Factory's thirtieth-anniversary series with the immersive audiovisual show behind his album On Being.
The Legend of Luke Kelly
Saturday 26 September · 19:00 to 22:00 · Lost Lane
A tribute to the Dubliners' Luke Kelly, led by Chris Kavanagh, who has toured the show internationally for fifteen years.
Curiosity Shop
Sunday 27 September · 20:00 · Whelan's Upstairs
The Scottish five-piece blend singer-songwriter influences with folk, jazz and traditional elements, built around warm vocal harmonies, acoustic guitar, double bass and accordion.
Ella Mai
Tuesday 29 September · 19:30 · Vicar Street
Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Ella Mai plays Vicar Street on her Do You Still Love Me? tour.
Leviticus
Tuesday 22 September · 21:00 · Irish Film Institute
Adrian Chiarella's feature debut follows two teenage boys in a conservative Australian town whose religious conversion ceremony awakens a supernatural entity taking the form of the person they desire most, mixing queer coming-of-age drama with psychological horror.
IFI Documentary Festival
Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 September · Irish Film Institute
Now in its twenty-fifth year, the festival opens on the Wednesday with the Irish premiere of Bucks Harbor, Pete Muller's study of a generation of fishermen on the Maine coast, followed by a Q&A with the director. The programme runs to thirteen features and two shorts programmes over the five days, including Alex Gibney's Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie.
Animals
Thursday 24 September · 19:30 · Abbey Theatre
Blindboyboatclub's surreal short stories become the basis for this world-premiere production, adapted and directed by Dan Colley as part of Dublin Theatre Festival. Expect Erskine Fogarty's journey to Limerick with his fridge-freezer, a vengeful Pamela Furlong turning into a dogman, and a poitín maker haunted by a cormorant.
Dublin By Dusk: Kildare Street After-hours
Thursday 24 September · 17:00 to 20:30 · National Library of Ireland
The National Library opens its historic Kildare Street Reading Room without needing a Reader's Ticket, with exhibitions staying open late and a programme of Twilight Talks running alongside.
Meredith
Friday 25 September to Sunday 1 November · Gate Theatre
Written by Erica Murray and directed by Annabelle Comyn, Meredith unfolds over one Sunday afternoon in County Meath as a family held together by secrets and shared history comes apart.
Dublin Festival of History
Saturday 26 September to Sunday 11 October · Various Dublin venues
Now in its fourteenth year, the festival brings Irish and international historians to Dublin for a season of talks and debates, organised by Dublin City Libraries in partnership with Dublin City Council Culture Company.
Wonder Walls Graffiti Workshop
Sunday 4 October · 13:00 to 15:00 · National Print Museum
A three-part graffiti workshop for teenagers, marking Ireland's EU Presidency by teaching the basics of colour and lettering with experienced artists. The sessions run outdoors across all three Sundays.
Yoga and meditation at the Gallery
Monday 28 September · 13:15 to 14:15 · Millennium Wing Studio, National Gallery of Ireland
Gallery guide and certified yoga teacher Mary Dowling leads an hour of relaxation and mindfulness practice, open to all experience levels.
Bright Nights, Big City: The Future of Culture, Music and the Night-Time Economy
Tuesday 22 September · 09:00 · The Studio, National Concert Hall
A one-day conference on Dublin's night-time economy, organised by AIM Ireland with the Dublin's Night-Time Economy Office. Panels cover the city's pubs and grassroots venues, safety and inclusion after dark, and how major events such as EURO 2028 could shape the capital's nightlife.
Russell Howard
Saturday 26 & 27 September · 20:00 · Vicar Street
Russell Howard plays two nights at Vicar Street on his Don't Tell The Algorithm tour, with early and late shows across both evenings.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Dublin City check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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