Bantry is all set for Masters of Tradition music festival

The 2026 Masters of Tradition is to run from Wednesday, August 19, to Sunday, August 23, with concerts at West Cork venues including Bantry House, Marino Church, Whiddy Island, and Future Forests.

Curated by renowned fiddle player Martin Hayes, a highlight of the five-day festival will be a late-night, candle-lit performance in Bantry House by singer and composer Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, who will present music from her forthcoming album, Sweet Sorrow.

Other highlights will include performances from Ciarán Ó Gealbháin and Louise Mulcahy, Portuguese musician Tiago Matias, cellist Clíodhna Ní Aodáin, and fiddle virtuoso Ryan Young. The world premiere of Irish Rhapsody, by Selena O’Neill (b.1893), a pianist active in Chicago’s Irish music community in the first half of the 20th century, will also be performed.

She had not been recognised as a composer until her work was unearthed by music historian Richie Piggott.

• Full festival programme can be found at www.westcorkmusic.ie