The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book, and the ones to catch before they end

Event of the week

Christy Moore

Friday, December 29th, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

Ah, look, the man is a national treasure yet still he is reluctant to acknowledge that he’s anything more than an ordinary man who writes songs and sings them to whoever will listen. Moore’s status as Ireland’s leading troubadour will always outweigh his modesty. Whatever about the lack of ego, there is no denying his pulling power. Here’s a question for you, though: at 78 years of age, is Moore the oldest Irish performer to consistently sell out venues every time one of his gigs is announced? As if by answer, he plays five nights at the same venue in January (2nd, 7th, 11th, 16th and 19th). And, yes, all shows are sold out.

Gigs

The Divine Comedy

Friday, December 29th, National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin, 7pm, €39.90, ticketmaster.ie

Saying goodbye to the old and hello the new is getting earlier and earlier these years, but when you have a songwriter as skilled as the Divine Comedy (aka Neil Hannon), we shouldn’t mind too much. Hannon headlines on the main stage, but there are two more stages here that will accommodate all manner of pre-NYE shenanigans from The High Kings, Amble, All Tvvins, Lucy McWilliams, Big Sleep and Aonair. If that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, then make room for DJs Kelly-Anne Byrne, Ed Smith and Sally Cinnamon. The concert is part of New Year’s Festival Dublin celebrations.

Analog Rhythms

Saturday, December 23rd, Racket Space, Bernard Shaw, Phibsborough, Dublin, 7.30pm, €5, eventbrite.ie

Analog Rhythms is an online archive and exhibition series taken under the wing of the award-winning music website 909originals.com; this festive event sees AR’s exhibition of Dublin club culture return for another outing. The evening will start with a panel discussion, says 909originals.com editor Steve Wynne-Jones, on the “significant cultural changes in Ireland” during the 1990s and “how Dublin’s nightclub industry epitomised” the spirit of the times. A club night starts at about 9pm, with sets from DJs Liam Dollard, Warren K and Francois. Those attending are asked to bring with them any flyers, photos or other memorabilia from Dublin’s clubbing history.

Junior Brother

Saturday, December 23rd, Whelan’s, Dublin, 7.30pm, €25, whelanslive.com; Thursday, December 27th, DeBarras, Clonakilty, Co Cork, 7.30pm, €20, debarra.ie

There is a reason why Kerry’s Junior Brother has been keeping a lowish profile over the past year or so: new material in the shape of an album is being worked on, and these two shows (as well as a rake of gigs in the UK in 2024) are ideal opportunities to hear what direction the songwriter is taking his work in. One thing is for certain: it won’t be down the middle of the road.

X Club/Shampain

Thursday, December 28th, Cork City Hall, 7pm, €27.27, eventbrite.ie

Cork City Hall operates occasionally as a music venue (notably during Guinness Cork Jazz Festival), but for a place that was once a foundation block of the city’s invigorating club culture it has been sorely underused. Bringing it back to life for a DJ back-to-back bash are the Galway DJ and label owner Shampain (aka Cóilí Collins), Australia’s X Club (the duo Ben Clarke and Jesse Morath) and Cork’s own Charlotte Walsh. Anyone for a post-Christmas/pre-New Year sweatfest?

Visual art

Kate Cooper

Until Saturday, February 10th, Gallery, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, projectartscentre.ie

Liverpool artist Kate Cooper presents her debut solo exhibition in Ireland with two works. The first is a previously commissioned piece, Untitled (After Sensory Primer), which presents the visual language of X-rays depicting the continuous repetition of bodily pieces in uninterrupted motion. The second is a new work that makes its debut at Project Arts Centre, using the gallery space to map her young daughter’s first drawings with sound and light. The work, notes the artist, “is a reflection on discovery, building forms of knowledge, and calls to ways in which machines also learn through constant repetition and practice”.

Hughie O’Donoghue: Territory

Until Sunday, March 10th, Glucksman, Cork, free (suggested donation €5), glucksman.org

“History and particularly personal history has become an engine of identity, a way of understanding the world, the how and why of things, a way of connecting‚” says Manchester-born artist Hughie O’Donoghue. He is now based between London and Mayo, and in this career-spanning exhibition he investigates “loss, remembrance and placemaking” through recent large paintings (Michael Gaughan’s House, Reaper, Ocean Diagram, Longboat) and earlier significant works, such as Knocknalower (from the UCC art collection) and A Distant Thunder.

Comedy

Xmas Comedy Karlnival

Thursday, December 28th, Róisín Dubh, Galway, 8pm, €15, roisindubh.net

The comedian and MC Karl Spain presides over a post-Crimbo comedy evening featuring Al Porter (on the road to a comeback splash in 2024), Sinéad Culbert (a semi-finalist on Channel 4′s So You Think You’re Funny) and Tony Kelly (who wrote, directed and starred in this year’s comedy movie The Hurler: A Campion’s Tale – “a much needed addition of a mockumentary-style film to Irish cinema”, according to Film Ireland). Reinventions of the Christmas cracker await.

Still running

Olly Polly and the Magic Lamp

Until Sunday, January 7th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7.30pm, €22.50, ticketmaster.ie

Aladdin is given a bit of a makeover here, although in this instance he is replaced by the duo of Olly (Ryan Andrews) and Polly (Maclean Burke). An often very amusing script by Al Porter and Ryan Andrews keeps the festivities ticking along nicely.

Book it this week

Daniel Sloss, Vicar Street, Dublin, February 1st, ticketmaster.ie

The Jesus and Mary Chain, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, March 25th, ticketmaster.ie

Twelve Angry Men, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, April 16th-20th, ticketmaster.ie

The Saw Doctors, Heineken Big Top, Galway, July 27th, ticketmaster.ie