In one of the most loved RTÉ shows of the year, Mary Kennedy brings Christmas magic into every home with a special evening of festive music, old and new, from the magnificently decked halls of Dublin Castle.
This year’s show features musicians and singers of every age and from every corner of Ireland, who will have you singing along, loud and proud, from the comfort of your sitting room.
Mary Kennedy and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra are joined by legendary folk singer, Ralph McTell, teenage Centenary sensation, Síbeal Ní Chasaide, Irish Country’s band of brothers, The Three Amigos, and many more, all under the baton of conductor, David Brophy.
Derry’s vocal folk duo, Saint Sister, formed at the end of 2014, but their rise became meteoric after acclaimed appearances at Glastonbury, SXSW and Longitude. They perform a magical version of ‘In the Bleak Mid Winter’ in the Chapel Royal.
One of Ireland’s most treasured singers, Rita Connolly, and her internationally renowned composer husband, Shaun Davey, return to St Patrick’s Hall, where, in 2011, Rita saluted the new President, Michael D. Higgins with Shaun’s haunting song, The Deer’s Cry. Tonight, they are joined by trad. friends, Eoin O Beaglaoich and Gerry O’Beirne, to perform Davey’s carols, The Joys of Mary and The Moon Shines Bright with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
May Kay, former lead singer with Fight Like Apes, offers her own special take on the Joni Mitchell Christmas classic River, before wrapping up warm to join The Line Up Choir outside in the Castle’s main Upper Courtyard to wish you a White Christmas.
And well known West Kerry singer and musician, Seamus O Beaglaoich, accompanied by Donagh Hennessy, celebrates Ireland’s tradition of putting a candle in the window to welcome the baby Jesus, with a carol he learned from his Máistir Scoile in Primary school, Tá Coinnle an Linbh Íosa. It’s a tradition that Mary Robinson revived in Áras an Uachtaráin during her term and there will be many a candle burning bright on Irish window sills this Christmas, too.