Arts and Culture

Beginner’s pluck: Charity administrator Caragh Maxwell
Beginner’s pluck: Charity administrator Caragh Maxwell
 'I loved 'Sugartown' for its rawness, its assured writing, and its empathetic characters. Caragh Maxwell is a writer to watch'

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

Book review: Facing the music of the past
Book review: Facing the music of the past
'Hot Wax' is an electrifying triumph of a novel with a raw, emotional core, finely crafted by the talented M. L. Rio. 

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

Book review: A true story of courage and betrayal of those who fought Hitler’s villainy
Book review: A true story of courage and betrayal of those who fought Hitler’s villainy
Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning columnist with The Guardian, has given the world a timely notice of the consequences of totalitarianism and tyranny in 'The Traitors Circle'

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

France Protests
Book review: A glimpse into far-right ideologies
The far right is a mainstream and respectable movement in French politics. It was in the 1860s, the 1930s, and the 1950s – it is again now

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025

Book extract: A British officer killed and an Irish city destroyed in a act of vengeance
Book extract: A British officer killed and an Irish city destroyed in a act of vengeance
Hugh Tudor was appointed by Churchill to lead the Royal Irish Constabulary, including the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries, but he met civil strife and rebellion with indiscriminate state-sanctioned murder, changing the course of Irish history

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Book extract: Revelling in the marvels and secrets of Ireland’s creatures
Book extract: Revelling in the marvels and secrets of Ireland’s creatures
Anja Murray has been writing 'Nature File' for RTÉ Lyric FM since 2017 and wants readers to indulge their own biophilia with this selection

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Patricia Routledge death
It’s Bouquet! Comedy star Patricia Routledge captured hearts as TV’s Hyacinth Bucket
Routledge quickly established herself as a major character actress

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Film reviews: The Rock is cooking as a tortured grappler in The Smashing Machine
Film reviews: The Rock is cooking as a tortured grappler in The Smashing Machine
Plus: Urchin is a reflection on the precarity of life with addiction and mental illness

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Graham Norton Show - London
Taylor Swift tells Graham Norton about ‘fun’ task of planning wedding to Travis Kelce
The 35-year-old musician spoke about her engagement during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour - Dublin
Taylor Swift sings about Travis Kelce romance on The Life Of A Showgirl
The Life Of A Showgirl is Swift’s first record since she announced her engagement to NFL star Kelce

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025

Five For Your Radar: Cork folk fest, Alan Partridge returns, Gilla Band...  
Five For Your Radar: Cork folk fest, Alan Partridge returns, Gilla Band...  
There are plenty options to fill your evenings over the coming week 

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

Myrid Carten: Turning the lens on her mother's struggles with addiction and illness  
Myrid Carten: Turning the lens on her mother's struggles with addiction and illness  
The Co Donegal filmmaker has made an impressive documentary about a very personal family story, writes Esther McCarthy

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

Theatre review: The Quiet Man returns to original tale of rural life 
Theatre review: The Quiet Man returns to original tale of rural life 
John Breen and Mikel Murfi reclaim the story from the famed John Ford film 

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

Tom Dunne: Take a break from this world with the wonderful music of John Prine
Tom Dunne: Take a break from this world with the wonderful music of John Prine
I missed Lost Dogs And Mixed Blessings when it was released in the 1990s. What a joy to discover it on its 30th birthday 

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

Peaky Blinders to return with two new series focusing on a ‘new generation’
Peaky Blinders to return with two new series focusing on a ‘new generation’
The historical crime drama will follow a new “generation of Shelbys”

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

10 live events for October: Cork jazz, Patti Smith, Macbeth...
10 live events for October: Cork jazz, Patti Smith, Macbeth...
It's a busy month for gigs and other live events 

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

10 books for October: Marie Cassidy, Andy Farrell, Colm O'Regan...
10 books for October: Marie Cassidy, Andy Farrell, Colm O'Regan...
There are plenty of interesting new titles on the shelves for the month ahead 

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

Live at the Marquee announces band's anniversary tour coming to Cork next summer
Live at the Marquee announces band's anniversary tour coming to Cork next summer
"Before anyone else, it was at home where we felt the love so it feels right to announce our exciting anniversary plans for Ireland first"

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

Glastonbury Festival 2025
Irish singer CMAT postpones UK tour because of infected wisdom tooth
The musician was scheduled to start the shows in October following the release of her critically acclaimed third album, Euro‑Country.

Thu, 02 Oct, 2025

10 TV and streaming highlights for October: Faithless, Victoria Beckham, The Iris Affair...
10 TV and streaming highlights for October: Faithless, Victoria Beckham, The Iris Affair...
It's a bumper month ahead for new shows 

Wed, 01 Oct, 2025

I visited Marian Keyes for tea and biscuits — here’s everything we spoke about
I visited Marian Keyes for tea and biscuits — here’s everything we spoke about
As her novels are adapted for a new RTÉ series, Manon Gilbart visits Marian Keyes. Over tea and biscuits they discuss everything from friendship to feminism

Wed, 01 Oct, 2025

Revealed: New Dancing With The Stars judge confirmed following Loraine Barry's exit
Revealed: New Dancing With The Stars judge confirmed following Loraine Barry's exit
The new judge was revealed by RTÉ on Wednesday following the news that Loraine Barry would not be returning as head judge in January 

Wed, 01 Oct, 2025

10 things to see at Cork Folk Festival 2025, from walking tours to 'bog jazz'
10 things to see at Cork Folk Festival 2025, from walking tours to 'bog jazz'
There are plenty of highlights at this year’s event. Pop along and check some out, writes Breda Graham

Tue, 30 Sep, 2025

Kilmeen Drama Group stages The Weir at The Everyman Theatre in Cork
Kilmeen Drama Group stages The Weir at The Everyman Theatre in Cork
Founded in 1970 and winner of four All-Ireland awards, Kilmeen Drama Group is set to stage McPherson’s ‘The Weir’ at The Everyman

Tue, 30 Sep, 2025

Boyzone in concert - Belfast
Boyzone to reunite for one-off stadium show
It will be the band’s first performance together since 2019

Tue, 30 Sep, 2025

Re-Creation review: A compelling true crime dramatisation of the Ian Bailey trial that never was
Re-Creation review: A compelling true crime dramatisation of the Ian Bailey trial that never was
Re-Creation sets out to imagine how Ian Bailey’s trial might have played out had he been tried in Ireland

Tue, 30 Sep, 2025

Podcast Corner: Simpsons Declassified needs to find its voice
Podcast Corner: Simpsons Declassified needs to find its voice
"While many of us might have checked out on the series itself, the lore of the Simpsons is like catnip; we can never get enough about the Monorail, the Stonecutters, Mr Plow... I could go on."

Tue, 30 Sep, 2025

FĂ©ile na Laoch 2025 (Festival of Heroes) which took place in CĂșil Aodha, Co. Cork
Voice of women to be heard as FĂ©ile na Laoch festival looks to future
Artificial intelligence, climate change, and employment are among discussion topics at the gathering in CĂșil Aodha, writes Pet O'Connell  

Mon, 29 Sep, 2025

Gilbert Shelton: Countercultural cartooning with a touch of rock ’n’ roll
Gilbert Shelton: Countercultural cartooning with a touch of rock ’n’ roll
Underground comix hero and creator of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Gilbert Shelton is set to visit Galway Cartoon Festival

Mon, 29 Sep, 2025

The MET Gala 2024 - New York
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny to headline next year’s Super Bowl half-time show
The singer is one of the most popular musical artists in the world, having topped Spotify’s most-streamed artist list three times in the last five years.

Mon, 29 Sep, 2025

Kilkenny collective flies the flag for inclusivity at RHA exhibition 
Kilkenny collective flies the flag for inclusivity at RHA exhibition 
Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent was established  to provide an inclusive environment for artists with or without intellectual disabilities 

Mon, 29 Sep, 2025

I visited Marian Keyes for tea and biscuits — here’s everything we spoke about
TV review: The Walsh Sisters is a Sunday night hug
A funny and relatable slice of Irish middle-class life — exactly what we’ve come to expect from Marian Keyes

Sun, 28 Sep, 2025

Culture That Made Me: William 'Hammy' Hammond of Cork Folk Festival 
Culture That Made Me: William 'Hammy' Hammond of Cork Folk Festival 
William Hammond includes Timmy the Brit, Paddy Galvin and the Leenane Trilogy among his touchstones

Sun, 28 Sep, 2025

‘Magic happens when you put on a red nose’: Why these Irish women decided to become clowns
‘Magic happens when you put on a red nose’: Why these Irish women decided to become clowns
We associate clowning with men but its potential to transform and empower has made it increasingly popular with women. Kate Demolder looks at the ongoing rise of female clowning

Sun, 28 Sep, 2025

Books are my business: Illustrator, designer, and director Mel Carroll
Books are my business: Illustrator, designer, and director Mel Carroll
Mr Carroll acts as an agent in UsFolk, managing the commissions for all the other artists — and sometimes himself — 'so I have my business head and then my creative head'

Sat, 27 Sep, 2025

Book review: No ignoring of the questions raised
Book review: No ignoring of the questions raised
'Living with Men' may be the kind of book about which one never reaches a settled view, simply because the subject matter itself will never fully settle in the mind

Sat, 27 Sep, 2025

Beginner’s pluck: Television producer/director Frank Shouldice
Beginner’s pluck: Television producer/director Frank Shouldice
'Beneath the Cedar Tree' is a poignant, wise, and ultimately uplifting portrait of a troubled marriage

Sat, 27 Sep, 2025

Book review: Beautifully crafted, relatable stories that bring our capital city to life
Book review: Beautifully crafted, relatable stories that bring our capital city to life
Many of Dave Tynan's characters are bruised by stagnation: struggling in poorly-paid jobs, torpedoed by the housing crisis, and unmoored from their peers who are reaching the milestones of adulthood

Sat, 27 Sep, 2025

Book review: A funny but disorientating experience
Book review: A funny but disorientating experience
Kevin Smith, whose humorous third novel takes us back to post-Brexit suburban Belfast, is an undoubtedly gifted stylist

Sat, 27 Sep, 2025

Book review: Varadkar’s overview of his time in politics carefully avoids his failings
Book review: Varadkar’s overview of his time in politics carefully avoids his failings
'Speaking My Mind' is a fluid account of Leo Varadkar's life and work and it is an engaging read that touches on politics and public life

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

Library, white shelves, multi colored books
Karl Whitney: Difficult decisions you have to face when the books pile up
Many books, on reflection, are entertaining but nothing more: You hold them in front of you and read, but once you’re done, you’re done writes Karl Whitney

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

Dublin Theatre Festival: Pride, defiance and rap in this irresistible staging of Hamlet 
Dublin Theatre Festival: Pride, defiance and rap in this irresistible staging of Hamlet 
Peruvian company Teatro La Plaza has a freewheeling, playful, deconstruction of the Shakespeare classic — it's on at the O'Reilly Theatre in Dublin

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

Roy Keane row gets the big-screen treatment as Saipan to open Cork International Film Festival
Roy Keane row gets the big-screen treatment as Saipan to open Cork International Film Festival
Ireland’s longest-running film festival celebrates its platinum anniversary with two gala Irish premieres and over 200 screenings across Cork

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

Swan Lake at Cork Opera House in November
Swan Lake at Cork Opera House in November
And there's a twist in the ending of this version...

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

Film reviews: One Battle After Another has its moments, but drags
Film reviews: One Battle After Another has its moments, but drags
Plus: Sunphlowers speaks to new starts; The Librarians sees battle-lines drawn in Trump's America

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

TV review: The House of Guinness is all pour, no pint
TV review: The House of Guinness is all pour, no pint
'If it’s pitched as a cross between Succession and Peaky Blinders, then it lacks the comedy of the former and the jeopardy of the latter'

Fri, 26 Sep, 2025

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Music, film art, culture, books and more from Munster and beyond.......curated weekly by the Irish Examiner Arts Editor.

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