Liam Ó Maonlaí review: Barefoot, bilingual and brilliant, singer brings giggles and grief to Skibbereen
Liam Ó Maonlaí performing live at The Tanyard for the 2026 Skibbereen Blues, Soul & Roots Festival
★★★★☆
Barefoot, bilingual and deeply brilliant, Liam Ó Maonlaí got the 2026 Skibbereen Blues, Soul & Roots Festival off to an at-once mellow yet powerful start.
His voice as fresh as ever and his virtuosity on the piano deeply inspiring, Ó Maonlaí’s intimate show at The Tanyard serves to remind us just why the Hothouse Flowers frontman is revered both by his fans and by his musical peers. And he clearly loves them just as much.
“I have never done this one before,” says Ó Maonlaí, introducing his cover of by Fergus O’Farrell of Interference, and recalling a busy gigging year he spent touring in a bus with a band of friends, led by Glen Hansard.
That band of buddies tour was in 2009, the year after Hansard and Markéta Irglová had won an Oscar for their song from the film the soundtrack of which also featured O’Farrell’s
“The tour was all about friendship. When Fergus passed away, we all went down to Schull for the funeral. At last week’s funeral [Glen Hansard’s], my son was wearing a green jacket that Glen had given me.”
Ó Maonlaí also sings a few lines from by Mic Christopher, another member of that band of buddies, and who was 32 when he passed away.
It is perhaps not too surprising that this night’s setlist is dominated by sean-nós trad tunes, lilting laments sung ‘as gaeilge’ with a melancholy no doubt in harmony with Ó Maonlaí’s grieving state this past week.
He sings five or six sean-nós songs, notably the beautiful and (The Music/Tune of the Fairies/Ghosts). He also plays tin whistle beautifully. He uses the harp for just one song, while the bodhrán sits beside him, untouched for the night.
You get a sense that he’s free to freewheel and make his choices on the fly. Ó Maonlaí is musical from his age-defying curly mop down to his tint-free toenails; he sings for nearly two hours, mostly with his eyes closed and no sign of a lyric sheet anywhere we could see. He arrives onstage at 8.30pm sharp as per the bill, a total pro.
A tough week for him. You could see that Bono, Eddie Vedder, Hozier and Imelda May were in awe of Ó Maonlaí at Glen Hansard’s funeral in St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. He and Vedder were the most-viewed clips online.
Tonight, in Skibbereen, this audience is completely in his hands. He raises a finger for and we dutifully sing the chorus. Likewise on the 1987 number one hit for Hothouse Flowers and that year’s lead Eurovision interval act.
Ó Maonlaí tells us that was written for his friend Eamon, who suffered fatal injuries in a motorbike accident, dying a year later in hospital. Again, tonight’s audience joins in the chorus.
On the same day that he wrote Ó Maonlaí also wrote again in tribute to his friend Eamon. This time, introducing the song, he asks the audience to observe a silence at the end rather than applauding. We respectfully obey.
There are, of course, quite a few giggles in this show. We learn that he plays barefoot not for some crusty spiritual connection with the earth, but rather a laundry-reducing decision made at the outset of his career anticipating 40 years of stage-smudged socks.
Overall though, sadness dominates this show. He is in mourning, along with all those touched by Glen Hansard’s passing. No doubt out of respect, Ó Maonlaí never actually refers to Hansard by name. He doesn’t need to.
This audience can see and feel intuitively what’s going on here. It may not be too cheerful, but the emotions are raw and real, and maybe even restorative for many of us. Is this entertainment? God only knows. It is certainly spiritual, cathartic and ultimately uplifting.
Ó Maonlaí has set the bar very high for this weekend’s 22 top-class gigs spread across nine local venues participating in the Skibbereen Blues, Soul & Roots Festival, running through to Monday night.
Tonight sees The Kates in concert at Abbeystrewry Church, Skibbereen from 8pm. Then all of the other shows are free. Take your pick from The Dizzy Blues Band, The Stonecold Hobo, The Mafia Cats, Fiona Kennedy Band, Fenton & The Phantoms and The Ricky Lynch Duo and many more.
