Michael Dwyer Festival returns to the West Cork town this June for its 26th year.
The Michael Dwyer Festival takes place in Allihies on the Beara Peninsula, Co. Cork from Friday June 6th to Sunday June 8th.
Now in its 26th year, the festival celebrates the musical legacy of the Dwyer family from Ardgroom – Michael, Richard, John and Finbarr – through concerts, sessions, workshops, dance displays, competitions and an art exhibition. Over 30 events across the weekend.
Headliners this year are concertina player Cormac Begley, Dublin-based trad-fusion collective Ispíní na hÉireann, and the pairing of fiddle player Matt Cranitch and box player Jackie Daly.
Ispíní na hÉireann – the Cobblestone Bar-formed collective who have been one of the most talked-about acts in Irish trad over the past couple of years – make their festival debut on Saturday night. The broader lineup includes Mary Conroy, Anne Conroy Burke, Éire agus Cú Chulainn, FADA, The Byrne Brothers and The Arcáin Collective.
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This year’s festival carries particular weight. Richard Dwyer, the 2004 Gradam Ceoil Composer of the Year and one of the festival’s most beloved annual performers, passed away in March 2026. He had planned to join this year’s programme. His brother John, who performed at the festival every year until his passing in 2020, will also be remembered. The festival will include the official Irish launch of John’s previously unheard tunes – a significant moment for the Beara community and for Irish traditional music.
The Dwyer brothers were extraordinary musicians by any measure. Michael was a national tin whistle and fiddle champion in both England and Ireland, whose playing was captured on Na Daoine Atá Imithe. Finbarr began playing accordion at three years old and composing at nine, winning the All-England accordion title in 1969 and composing beloved session tunes including The Bere Island Reel and Farewell to Kilroe. Richard’s book and CD In a Creative Mood is full of local references – Bere Island Lassies, The Cailroe Ramblers, Once Upon a Time in Beara – and his songs album With a Song in My Life stands as its own distinct legacy.
Allihies itself is worth the trip – a small village on the Wild Atlantic Way with some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in Ireland, a copper mining town and one known for its multi-coloured village houses.
Michael Dwyer Festival – Allihies, Beara Peninsula, Co. Cork. Friday June 6th to Sunday June 8th 2026. Tickets at Eventbrite and on the door. Full details at @michaeldwyerfestival.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
