Lisa O'Neill review: Cavan singer closes the year with superb gig at Vicar Street 

Audience members at the Lisa O'Neill gig included David Simon of The Wire 

Lisa O'Neill on stage with Spider Stacy at Vicar Street, Dublin. 

 Lisa O’Neill, Vicar St, Dublin ★★★★★

 Lisa O’Neill had the audience in the palm of her hands on a memorable night at Vicar Street for her final concert of the year. There wasn’t room to roll a gobstopper in your mouth, to borrow a border counties expression, at the sold-out gig. People stood in a cordon around the balcony area swinging in ecstasy as the Cavan folk singer rolled through numbers from her back catalogue, which included a goosebumps rendition of Old Note, a homage to the late Co Clare button accordionist Tony MacMahon and the glory of the slow air.

Few can tell a story in song like O’Neill. She sang some of her protest songs – Mother Jones, inspired by the activism of Mary Harris, the 19th-century Cork-born union organiser (and “the most dangerous woman in America”) got an airing as did one of her new tracks, The Wind Doesn’t Blow This Far Right.

Neither are there as many performers with such easy charm – she brought the house down with a hilarious preamble to Pothole in the Sky, and the story about how she unwittingly ended up doing a skydive for charity over Co Longford. Batting away intrusions from a benign heckler while tuning her banjo, she explained: “I’m not one of those people who can tune my instrument while engaging in conversation at the same time.”

 Lisa O'Neill.

 And when the time came to perform her cover of the Bob Dylan song All the Tired Horses, made famous by its inclusion in Peaky Blinders, she joked: “Bob Dylan was in Dublin recently and he didn’t sing the song... or maybe he did but we didn’t realise it.” 

It was a night of fine company. Her support act, Kerry singer-songwriter Junior Brother, joined her on stage for some songs, as did the Pogues’ Spider Stacy, singing along with O’Neill in a memorable version of the American folk song Oh Shenandoah. And, towards the night’s climax, there was a scene-stealing set dancer who tapped out a hypnotic rhythm on stage during O’Neill’s performance of The Wren, The Wren.

She closed out proceedings with Lullaby, a jest (“I promise next year I’m going to try and write some less miserable songs”) and a standing ovation. It was an unbeatable formula: the peerless Lisa O’Neill; one of the great music halls; the winter solstice; and Christmas in the air. 

The happy revellers, who included The Wire creator David Simon and O’Neill’s father, Bud O’Neill, a one-time showband drummer who was celebrating his 75th birthday, left hoping it will be the start of an annual tradition.