Other Voices and OPW present new live music series – ‘Anam - Songs for Hearts & Minds’

ONE OF Ireland’s longest running and most prestigious music events makes its Limerick debut this week.

Other Voices that has launched emerging talent and showcased international stars alike from its Dingle base for over 20 years is to broadcast it next Concert, in its series from historic locations, this Thursday 11 May from Newcastle West’s Desmond Castle.

The line-up on the night will include rapper God Knows, emerging Limerick folk rockers Kingfishr and teen pop sensation Nell Mescal.

*Please note that you need to accept cookies in order for the video to work

For the heritage site in Newcastle West run by the Office of Public Works (OPW), it represents a return to a centuries-old tradition of entertainment.

Thanks to meticulous restoration by the OPW, Desmond Castle has the finest existing banqueting hall in any Irish castle.

In its heyday the banqueting hall was the venue for raucous feasts hosted by the Earls of Desmond, the FitzGeralds, who ruled much of Munster in the centuries following the Norman invasion.

Desmond Castle, dating from the 13th century, was one of the FitzGerald’s main bastions and was renowned as a site of revelry. In those times, musicians provided entertainment for the guests from the oak gallery overlooking the hall below.

Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan, said:

>“We are delighted to be partnering with Other Voices in showcasing such brilliant contemporary musical talent in the majestic Banqueting Hall of Desmond Castle. It is a magnificent space here in Limerick that I hope will play host to many more events like this, where people can come together in these medieval surroundings and enjoy the best of Irish arts and music today.”

Philip King from Other Voices said:

>“It’s a real delight to partner with the OPW and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to bring live music from a diversity of Ireland's most wonderful artists into these magnificent buildings and these beautiful rooms, and to make them audible and visible the world over. The sound and the feeling of what it is to be Irish right now is manifest in the songs and tunes of these creative artists, who are informed and enriched by the traditions of past times…traditions born and nurtured in these halls and galleries over decades and centuries.”

Other Voices, which bills itself as “part festival, part TV show, part fairytale” has been drawing Glastonbury headliners, Grammy-winners and New York Times cover stars to West Kerry since 2001.

Dingle’s Church of St James has witnessed performances by Amy Winehouse, Sam Fender, Arlo Parks, The National, For Those I Love, Sigrid, Young Fathers, Little Simz and many more.

Public tickets for this series of concerts will only be available for these exclusive performances via competitions with more details on how to win available.

The series will be livestreamed globally each Thursday in May at 8pm from 4 May onwards, via YouTube and Facebook. If you missed last week’s performance by Mieke & Ezra Williams from Castletown House, it can be viewed for a limited time.

Two more Other Voices concerts will be performed at OPW Heritage sites around the country in the coming weeks, at Cahir Castle and the Blasket Island Visitor Centre.

Anam Livestream Schedule

8pm Thursday 4 May | Castletown House, Kildare

Featuring Anna Mieke & Ezra Williams

8pm Thursday 11 May | Desmond Castle, Limerick

Featuring Nell Mescal, God Knows & Kingfishr

8pm Thursday 18 May | Cahir Castle, Tipperary

Featuring Lisa Hannigan, Gemma Hayes & Paul Noonan

8pm Thursday 25 May | Blasket Centre - Ionad an Bhlascaoid

Ye Vagabonds, Sam Amidon, Cormac Begley, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh,

Billy Mag Fhloinn & Gerry O'Beirne