Tumbling Paddies and Highstool Prophets coming to town for Thomas Davis’ Iúr Music Fest

​The three-day event will take place on the late May bank holiday, with some superb acts sure to get the crowd on their feet.

Friday will be headlined by The Tumbling Paddies, who are supported by Colin Graham. The Highstool Prophets headline Saturday’s show, and they are supported by Screelin’ and Caitlin Mackin. Finally, Sunday will be headlined by Ruaile Buaile and they are supported by Sean Magee and Odhran Murphy.

We spoke to one of the event’s chief organisers Tiarnan Hanna, who says that he brought the idea of doing a music festival to the committee having seen it pulled off in other GAA clubs.

“Inniskeen GAA hosted an event like this last May and I was looking around thinking ‘this is great craic’. “With the amount of people who attended I thought ‘this must be a great job for the club’ and I had a look into it to see whether we could do something similar at my own club Thomas Davis.

“Liatroim host a similar event which is really well run, and I was chatting to people up there and credit to them – they gave us all the tips and tricks.

“We said ‘let’s make this happen’ and after six months of work, I presented it to the club’s committee and they gave it a unanimous ‘yes’ vote to go ahead with it.

“It’s not just me who can take all the credit for it. We have a Festival Committee: Leah King, Sarah Jane Hughes, David O’Brien, Karl Kimmins, Jonathan Kennedy, Adam Loughran, Steven Trainor, Tony Finnegan and Cathy Toal.

“We looked about and we said ‘there is nobody else doing this here. People are crying out that nothing ever happens in Newry. So, rather than putting on a small event why not put on a big one? If it’s a success we would like it to be an annual event.”

Thomas Davis are appealing to all local businesses for sponsorship for the event.

Tickets go on general sale November 29.