Third Castle: What's On in Dublin City Centre, 9

Greetings from Third Castle

Dublin City Centre has a full week of events with three headline shows fighting for your Friday night. Imelda May is taking Vicar Street for two evenings at the start of the week, and there's enough theatre to keep you busy every night in between.

Something Happens are at the National Concert Hall, playing two full albums to open the NCH Landmarks series. Moonlight returns to Thomas Street with Eric Bell, the original Thin Lizzy guitarist. The Kerryman closes out its run at Glass Mask on Friday, and we have plenty of options for your Saturday night .

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

Imelda May

Tuesday 9 June, 18:30 + Wednesday 10 June, 18:30 · Vicar Street

Her "Raised on Songs & Stories" tour is built around a stripped-back pull from her discography, woven with the poetry and storytelling she's been developing alongside the music for years. It sits somewhere between a concert and a reading, and that's not a criticism. Two nights at Vicar Street in front of a home crowd is the kind of run a Dublin artist earns. Bars from 6:30pm; the show itself starts later.

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NCH Landmarks: Something Happens

Friday 12 June, 20:00 · National Concert Hall

Tom Dunne, Ray Harman, Alan Byrne and Eamonn Ryan are playing Been There, Seen That, Done That and Stuck Together With God's Glue in full, opening the NCH Landmarks series. Two albums that shaped Dublin's indie scene in the late eighties and early nineties, given the room and occasion they deserve. If you were there at the time, this one is going to sting in the best way.

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Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma

Friday 12 June · Vicar Street

The production returns to Vicar Street on Thomas Street, which is the right address for it. Peter M. Smith plays Lynott, Padraic O'Loingsigh plays Brendan Behan, Brian Kennedy plays Oscar Wilde, and Eric Bell, who co-founded Thin Lizzy and played on the original recordings, plays himself. That last piece of casting lifts this above tribute territory into something worth seeing on its own terms. All the Thin Lizzy hits are in there, alongside new original music from the live band.

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Alex Ubago

Tuesday 9 June, 20:00 · Button Factory

Spanish singer-songwriter with a fiercely devoted following. He built his reputation on early-2000s romantic pop ballads and has been quietly selling out rooms across Europe ever since. An intimate Dublin date in a small venue. If you know the songs, you'll know exactly why people are travelling for this.

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Cicada Live at The Grand Social

Thursday 11 June, 20:00 · The Grand Social

Electronic project combining synths, live instrumentation and immersive visuals, leaning into layered, club-influenced electronica. The Grand Social is a good fit for this kind of sound.

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What's Love Got To Do With It? A Tribute to Tina Turner

Friday 12 June, 19:00 · 3Olympia Theatre

A big-production Tina Turner tribute at the Olympia. Friday night, a large room, a back catalogue that was built for exactly this kind of occasion.

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The Devout: Depeche Mode Tribute

Friday 12 June, 19:30 · Opium Live

Depeche Mode tribute act on Wexford Street. A Friday option if the NCH and Vicar Street are already sold out.

Opium Live

Hang Massive (sold out)

Saturday 13 June, 19:00 · Button Factory

Handpan duo whose live sets run on tribal rhythms, layered loops and the kind of immersive atmosphere that either completely works or doesn't land at all. This one has sold out, which tells you where the audience stands.

Jazz Jam

Sunday 14 June, 15:30 · The International Bar

Regular Sunday session on the corner of Wicklow Street. A useful Sunday afternoon option if you find yourself in the area.

More info

The Kerryman

Running Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 June, 19:30 · Glass Mask Theatre

Eva O'Connor's new play closes out its run this week. Cait, a sometimes-barista and sometimes-artist recently back from Berlin, and Eoin, a finance worker who'd rather be farming in Kerry. Rex Ryan directs, it runs 70 minutes, and the reviews suggest it earns every one of its laughs. Final five nights.

Book here

CYCLOPS

Daily through Tuesday 16 June, 12:50 · Bewley's Café Theatre

The Volta Theatre Company's Bloomsday Festival adaptation of the CYCLOPS chapter of Ulysses has been turning people away since it opened. Liam Hourican adapts and directs, with live period music from Feilimidh Nunan on keyboard and violin and Conor Shiels on oboe. No tickets left, but listed here in case a cancellation comes up. €10–15 if you get lucky.

Bewley's Café Theatre

Drag of Colour Variety Show

Friday 12 June, 20:00 · Project Arts Centre

Drag variety show at Temple Bar's Project Arts Centre. A Friday night option if you want something different from the tribute acts on Thomas Street.

Project Arts Centre

Diary of a Dublin Drag Diva

Saturday 13 June, 20:00 · Smock Alley Theatre

Davina Devine's one-woman show, part of the Fringe Festival programme, running in Smock Alley's main space. Glitter, wit, and decades of stories from one of Dublin's most committed performers. A better Saturday night option than it might sound on paper.

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Rory's Stories (Comedy)

Sunday 14 June, 19:30 · Whelan's Upstairs

Rory O'Connor's storytelling and comedy show upstairs at Whelan's. Sunday night stand-up in a room that knows how to use the room.

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Soundscapes

Wednesday 10 June, 11:00 · National Concert Hall

A joyful musical experience designed specifically for young neurodivergent audiences, with the format and sensory environment built around them rather than adapted after the fact. A morning programme worth knowing about if it applies to your family.

More info