Jessie Buckley to join the RTÉ Concert Orchestra along with special guests The Murder Capital, Ye Vagabonds, Aby Coulibaly, Olesya Zdorovetska, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Nia Ní Bheirn 

Friday 22nd September, 7pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player 

This Culture Night, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh will present an hour-long live music and arts programme from Dún Lúiche in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht at 7pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.

In the shadow of Mount Errigal, at a stunning lakeside setting in Dún Lúiche, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and a host of guest performers from the worlds of post-punk, R&B and indie rock will present a unique feast of music.

Actress and singer Jessie Buckley has been added to the list of stellar musicians who will perform with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on the night. Jessie will perform a special rendition of a Sinéad O’Connor song in tribute to the late artist.

Jessie commented: “I am very honoured to return to Culture Night 2023 to remember Sinéad O Connor with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Sinéad was such a huge influence on so many women in Ireland and across the world, her courage, her mind, her politics and her intense beauty and soul. She was a warrior to humanity. I remember hearing her for the first time and feeling her uncompromising need to connect and affect. Recognising what couldn’t be said and speaking it out loud. I am so grateful for all her fire and all her love. It is such a privilege to return to Ireland for RTÉ Culture Night in Donegal to sing a song of gratitude for Sinéad and her family and friends.” 

Other artists performing with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra include The Murder Capital, R&B singer and 2FM Rising star Aby Coulibaly and Irish-based Ukrainian musician Olesya Zdorovetska.

Over the waves on Oileán Árainn Mhór off the Donegal coast, leaders of the Irish folk revival Ye Vagabonds will perform on the shorefront amphitheatre, where they will be joined by performers including Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, and Nia Ní Bheirn. While choreographer, former Riverdance lead and Gaoth Dobhair native Breandán de Gallaí with his dance company Ériu performs a commissioned dance filmed on the island.

The show will also feature a range of events happening around the country for Culture Night from the worlds of spoken word, music, dance and street theatre. These include The Lighthouse Project, a spoken word & music event at Hook Head in County Wexford; Fidget Feet aerial performance at Robert Byrne Park in Limerick, Smokehouse at IMMA, a Dublin event at the Irish Museum of Modern Art celebrating food heritage and community as part of Earth Rising and Súil le Muir, an event on Bolus Head on the Iveragh Peninsula in South Kerry.

This Culture Night celebration is presented by RTÉ in association with the Arts Council, supported by Donegal County Council.