Listen.... you could hear a pin drop. Such was the reaction when Ryan Tubridy invited Eimear to sing 'O Holy Night' on his radio show in the run up to Christmas. Eimear's version of this ever-popular carol has since become synonymous with the season.

In this intimate a spiritual night, Eimear will bring her own special rendition of Christmas songs and carols to Iontas for a memorable musical experience where her ethereal voice will blend beautifully with String Quartet & Guitar. Allow yourself to sit back and let the hustle and bustle fade away. The Christmas season begins right here, so let your spirit be moved!

A beautiful woman with a cherub’s voice that floats in an ethereal cloud of it’s own making - The Sunday Independent

Tickets: €22 / 20

HEY!
NATIONAL TOUR 2019

Pat Shortt brings his brand new live comedy stage show called ‘Hey!’ to The Íontas Theatre. Following the sell-out successes of ‘The Hall’, ‘Selfie’ and ‘How’s Tings?’ and fresh from starring roles in the hit play ‘A Skull In Connemara’ and the film ‘The Belly of The Whale’, Ireland’s best loved comedian takes to the road with his latest quirky look at Irish life. Featuring all brand new material and sketches, this new show is a rogue’s gallery of odd ball characters, bizarre situations and even a song or two!  "Hey!" delivers a peculiar take on modern life that only the unique imagination of Pat Shortt could conjure up. A show not to be missed. "Hey!" You have been warned!

ADM €29

Friday 4th January, 8pm

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ OH YES IT IS!

We follow the lovable Jack through a giant adventure of beanstalks and enormously funny characters. Be sure to make a date with our Jack and pals this January for some Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN and a whole lot of happily ever after.

These shows will run over 6 days, so don’t delay buy your tickets today!

Gen Admission: €16 / 13 (under 18’s & over 65’s)
Schools: €8, Teachers Free (ltd to 1 teacher per 10 children)

Please contact Íontas Arts office on 042 9753401 for school and group bookings.

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ OH YES IT IS!

We follow the lovable Jack through a giant adventure of beanstalks and enormously funny characters. Be sure to make a date with our Jack and pals this January for some Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN and a whole lot of happily ever after.

These shows will run over 6 days, so don’t delay buy your tickets today!

Gen Admission: €16 / 13 (under 18’s & over 65’s)
Schools: €8, Teachers Free (ltd to 1 teacher per 10 children)

Please contact Íontas Arts office on 042 9753401 for school and group bookings.

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ OH YES IT IS!

We follow the lovable Jack through a giant adventure of beanstalks and enormously funny characters. Be sure to make a date with our Jack and pals this January for some Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN and a whole lot of happily ever after.

These shows will run over 6 days, so don’t delay buy your tickets today!

Gen Admission: €16 / 13 (under 18’s & over 65’s)
Schools: €8, Teachers Free (ltd to 1 teacher per 10 children)

Please contact Íontas Arts office on 042 9753401 for school and group bookings.

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ OH YES IT IS!

We follow the lovable Jack through a giant adventure of beanstalks and enormously funny characters. Be sure to make a date with our Jack and pals this January for some Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN and a whole lot of happily ever after.

These shows will run over 6 days, so don’t delay buy your tickets today!

Gen Admission: €16 / 13 (under 18’s & over 65’s)
Schools: €8, Teachers Free (ltd to 1 teacher per 10 children)

Please contact Íontas Arts office on 042 9753401 for school and group bookings.

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ OH YES IT IS!

We follow the lovable Jack through a giant adventure of beanstalks and enormously funny characters. Be sure to make a date with our Jack and pals this January for some Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN and a whole lot of happily ever after.

These shows will run over 6 days, so don’t delay buy your tickets today!

Gen Admission: €16 / 13 (under 18’s & over 65’s)
Schools: €8, Teachers Free (ltd to 1 teacher per 10 children)

Please contact Íontas Arts office on 042 9753401 for school and group bookings.

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’ OH YES IT IS!

We follow the lovable Jack through a giant adventure of beanstalks and enormously funny characters. Be sure to make a date with our Jack and pals this January for some Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN and a whole lot of happily ever after.

These shows will run over 6 days, so don’t delay buy your tickets today!

Gen Admission: €16 / 13 (under 18’s & over 65’s)
Schools: €8, Teachers Free (ltd to 1 teacher per 10 children)

Please contact Íontas Arts office on 042 9753401 for school and group bookings.

Derek Ryan continues to maintain his position at the top table of Irish Country Music’s elite with his brand of original material and country classics. His album, ‘The Fire’ spawned the hits ‘Heaven Tonight’, ‘Homeland’ and “Down On Your Uppers’ which will be featured along with his many classics ‘Hold On To Your Hat’, ‘God’s Plan’ and ‘Life Is A River’ during this concert tour.

The Carlow man, who is a many times recipient of awards for his performances and song writing, Including the Sunday World accolade for ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Songwriter of the Year’ in 2018.

The highlight of the show is considered the moment the band and performance is stripped back, when Derek is left alone with his guitar on stage. This, to Derek, is a chance for his audience to get to know him better, and know more about the music.

Sunday 13th Jan, 8pm

Tickets €31

And a Red Flag Flying……..

Black Pig’s Dyke Theatre Company present a new play by Aidan McQuillan and Brian Kenny which tells the story of the 1919 Monaghan Asylum Workers Strike when the Attendants staged an ‘Occupation’ of the Asylum. The Attendants along with Union Organiser a young Peader O’Donnell took over the running of the Asylum for a week in January 1919 in order to obtain their demands of better pay, working conditions and equal pay for the female Attendants.

They set up a ‘Soviet’ and hoisted a Red Flag over the Asylum……..

A great story that makes great Theatre a new play set in Monaghan Town.

Not to be missed

Thurs 17th - Sat 19th January
Adm €15 / 13

This production is supported by funding from Monaghan County Council and The Creative Ireland Program.

And a Red Flag Flying……..

Black Pig’s Dyke Theatre Company present a new play by Aidan McQuillan and Brian Kenny which tells the story of the 1919 Monaghan Asylum Workers Strike when the Attendants staged an ‘Occupation’ of the Asylum. The Attendants along with Union Organiser a young Peader O’Donnell took over the running of the Asylum for a week in January 1919 in order to obtain their demands of better pay, working conditions and equal pay for the female Attendants.

They set up a ‘Soviet’ and hoisted a Red Flag over the Asylum……..

A great story that makes great Theatre a new play set in Monaghan Town.

Not to be missed

Thurs 17th - Sat 19th January
Adm €15 / 13

This production is supported by funding from Monaghan County Council and The Creative Ireland Program.

And a Red Flag Flying……..

Black Pig’s Dyke Theatre Company present a new play by Aidan McQuillan and Brian Kenny which tells the story of the 1919 Monaghan Asylum Workers Strike when the Attendants staged an ‘Occupation’ of the Asylum. The Attendants along with Union Organiser a young Peader O’Donnell took over the running of the Asylum for a week in January 1919 in order to obtain their demands of better pay, working conditions and equal pay for the female Attendants.

They set up a ‘Soviet’ and hoisted a Red Flag over the Asylum……..

A great story that makes great Theatre a new play set in Monaghan Town.

Not to be missed

Thurs 17th - Sat 19th January
Adm €15 / 13

This production is supported by funding from Monaghan County Council and The Creative Ireland Program.

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

And thank you...

Written and performed by Seamus O’Rourke & Directed by Charles McGuinness

Seamus O’Rourke joins forces with director Charles McGuinness – The team who brought us ‘Padraig Potts’ Guide to Walking’ ...

And thank you... is a play about an ordinary man living in rural Ireland who gets saved... Saved from a life of pub talk and prophesising... King John O’Sullivan used to be able to drink fifteen pints without having to piddle, now, it’s every nine... Going to the Gents so often can wear a man out.

The story is told by the Reverend Thaddaeus Clancy and O’Sullivan’s two sons, Larry and Martin. The sons run the family shop while Daddy, the king of McKenna’s bar makes up the rules.

It’s a story of hard work and success and dangling... There’s bad driving and ice hockey and there’s falling down. When the ‘Divel’ starts to gnaw, the kingdom will fall...

And thank you...

THE MATCHMAKER based on the novella “Letters of a County Matchmaker” by JOHN B. KEANE one of Ireland’s most celebrated writers, will play at Íontas Theatre, Castleblayney. 

The production stars television favorite Mary McEvoy known for her roles as Biddie in the long running RTE series GLENROE.  Irish Actor and comedian JON KENNY who was part of the Irish comic duo d’Unbelievables with Pat Shortt joins Mary to complete the cast. Kenny is also best known outside Ireland for appearing in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted.   Together they play a myriad of characters in this hilarious and earthy dramatic comedy.

The play follows the efforts of Dicky Mick Dicky O Connor to make matches for the lonely and lovelorn.  Keane, an avid observer of people and the cultures that bind and create their view of the world uses “The Matchmaker” as an exploration of rural loneliness. Aware that generations of people became masters of their own destinies late in life, and only then began to look for companionship and love, once their duties as minder of aging parents were concluded or they had finally inherited, or were the left over brother or sister. 

Using his inimitable way with words and his one sense of “devilment” and wit, Keane delves into the longings, hungers, fears and foibles of this collection of lonely county people and creates a marvelously colorful world, taking us back to a simpler time, when phones were few and far between and the only web was one left behind by spiders.

The show is directed by Michael Scott

Adm €21 / 19

Let the Two Five Ones whisk you back in time to the golden age of American jazz and blues at this Valentine’s cabaret evening. This local duo consists of Dara MacGabhann, vocals and Andy Hogg, guitar & vocals, both of whom have enjoyed successful musical careers prior to their partnership.   Having released their debut album ‘Sentimental Journey’ last October the duo has been hitting the airwaves both nationally and locally ever since.  The Two Five Ones’ shows are packed with jazz and blues classics from the 1920s through to the 1950s and beyond, and also feature some original compositions in the same genre. With classics from such artists as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bonnie Raitt and the Ink Spots, The Two Five Ones bring a laid-back ambience of elegant sophistication. Special guests including Charlie McGettigan will join the duo on stage, on and off throughout the evening.

Sentimental Journey - Album of the Week Shannonside Northern Sound ‘Arts Hour’

‘Dara has that unique voice which if anything can be compared to Billie Holiday……Andy’s wonderful playing is exactly what’s needed’

- Charlie McGettigan Arts Hour Shannonside Northern Sound

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD & THE SILLY BILLY WOLF
This colourful, fast-paced all singing and dancing show is a fun and gentle re-telling of the classic fairy-tale of Little Red Riding Hood.  Little Red Riding Hood is adventuring through the woods to visit her Granny, but somewhere along the way the Silly Billy Wolf is waiting.

Children with have great fun joining in on the action, singing songs and playing games and meeting some amazing characters in this original show. & find out why Granny is the coolest Granny in the world! 

With beautiful costumes, stunning stage sets and hilarious characters, this a fun-packed show not to be missed!

Sunday 10^th February, 2.30pm, Tickets: €12

Beidh oíche cheoil, dramaíocht agsu damhsa againn ag comóradh 10 mbliana ar an bhfód. D'oscail Gaelscoil Lorgan i 2008. Beidh páistí, tuismitheoirí agus foireann na scoile ag freastal ar an cheolchoirm speisialta seo chun an chloch-mhíle suntasach a cheiliúradh.

Gaelscoil Lorgan are celebrating their 10th Anniversary with a night of Music, Dance and Drama. The school has grown steadily since it first opened in 2008 and pupils, parents and staff will attend this concert to mark the growth and development of Irish-medium education in Castleblayney. 

Wed 13th Feb, 7pm
Tickets €15

Irish comedy fans can enjoy a double dose of laughs over the coming months with top Irish stand-ups Bernard O’Shea and Karl Spain in their show, Fat Chancers.
Commenting on the tour, Karl Spain said "Don’t expect massive weight loss or body transformations or Bernard being funny”.

The juke box musical is produced by Castleblayney Musical Society and features music and lyrics from the hugely popular ska band Madness including "Baggy Trousers", "Driving in my Car", "It must be Love" and many more favourites. The story follows Joe Casey in a "Sliding Doors" style plot, where we see two life-paths stemming from one decision. It's a punter friendly, high energy show with fantastic choreography, a witty script and spectacularly fast quick changes. It won several Oliver awards in 2003, including "Best Musical"!

Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd February, 8pm, €15/13  

The juke box musical is produced by Castleblayney Musical Society and features music and lyrics from the hugely popular ska band Madness including "Baggy Trousers", "Driving in my Car", "It must be Love" and many more favourites. The story follows Joe Casey in a "Sliding Doors" style plot, where we see two life-paths stemming from one decision. It's a punter friendly, high energy show with fantastic choreography, a witty script and spectacularly fast quick changes. It won several Oliver awards in 2003, including "Best Musical"!

Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd February, 8pm, €15/13  

Grainne Hunt is a contemporary folk singer and songwriter from Carrickmacross. With consistently on-point, captivating vocals and well-honed, insightful songs, Grainne has shared stages with Glen Hansard and Mark Geary. Touring in support of her new record, This Secret, recorded in Nashville, she is playing across Ireland and Europe. This is a cabaret style show. 

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE TOUR

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 14th SEPT FROM 10am

Blindboy's increased notability away from his band Rubberbandits, has allowed for him to explore wider avenues and create perhaps outrageously mind-altering brainchildren which can only be described as courageous, yet bonkers.

With a number one selling book under his belt and a podcast that has reached interest not only in Ireland but internationally, the satirist could possibly single-handedly change people's mind set on mental health and the deafening stigma it surrounds.

Outspoken, informed and empathetic, Blindboy engages his audience with an unusual touch of realism. There is a very authentic feeling of "freedom" he exhumes which allows his listeners and participants to openly speak their mind without judgement and no topic off limits - certainly an air of belonging encircling the space you find yourself in when listening or in company of Blindboy.

His latest innovative creation, The Blindboy podcast espouses mental health issues but reaches further into an eclectic spectrum of current topics from gun laws to feminism, racism or a bit of history. Blindboy has it covered.

His uncanny ability to articulate what nearly everyone is thinking is unparalleled and something that is sorely needed in Irish society. - The Daily Edge

8pm (Doors 7.30pm)
Adm: €26 (includes €1 Booking Admin fee)

Join Bernie Jones on her crazy “Dirty Dancing” themed hen party and get ready to meet her madcap family and friends while you have “The Time Of Your Life!”

 

Bernie is a single mother to her stroppy teenage daughter and from her living room runs an ironing service called “Let’s Get Steaming.”

 

When Bernie’s long-suffering driving instructor pops the question she reluctantly agrees and sets the date!

 

Will she make it down the aisle or will she discover her real-life Johnny Castle?

 

This high energy, hilariously funny comedy show features 90’s disco classics and some iconic songs from Dirty Dancing!

 

If you’re crazy for Swayze and fancy a bit of salsa in your Karaoke, then join Bernie Jones for a wild night of fun and laughter and let’s get this party started!

Join Bernie Jones on her crazy “Dirty Dancing” themed hen party and get ready to meet her madcap family and friends while you have “The Time Of Your Life!”

 

Bernie is a single mother to her stroppy teenage daughter and from her living room runs an ironing service called “Let’s Get Steaming.”

 

When Bernie’s long-suffering driving instructor pops the question she reluctantly agrees and sets the date!

 

Will she make it down the aisle or will she discover her real-life Johnny Castle?

 

This high energy, hilariously funny comedy show features 90’s disco classics and some iconic songs from Dirty Dancing!

 

If you’re crazy for Swayze and fancy a bit of salsa in your Karaoke, then join Bernie Jones for a wild night of fun and laughter and let’s get this party started!

Jon Kenny is touring with a new play CROWMAN and will be performing it at a theatre near you shortly. The play received standing ovations every night during a run in Cork Midsummer festival at the Granary. 
In it Jon plays numerous characters but the primary one is Dan, a man in his 50s who is living alone. He is a loner and feels himself an outsider looking in on the community but he discovers during the play that he is not as much an outsider as he thinks. 
When he hears about the passing of a dear friend, he is forced to look back on his own troubled youth and face up to his demons. The play is at times poignant and tragic but also has a warmth and humour as Jon slips seamlessly in and out of the many uproariously funny characters. 
The people he depicts are surreal and humorous but tinged with tragedy and Jon plays each with his amazing ability of character acting and hilarious humour.

 

Review of 'Crowman' by Colette Sheridan 
Irish Examiner 23 Jun 2018 

Set in a sparsely decorated kitchen, this intimate one-man show starring Jon Kenny (D'Unbelievables) feels like a window into the soul of a lonely bachelor, Dan. A crow-hating man who noisily tries to shoo the blighted birds away, Dan measures out his life by the amount of funerals he has to attend every week. They are social occasions with the added bonus of refreshments. 
Dan, who vacillates between high comedy by mimicking TV celebrity chefs; and pathetic admissions, including attending Mass just to connect with another human by shaking hands, is a master at distraction, But one day, hearing a death announcement on the radio. his world is shattered. 
Kenny is brilliant in the role, conveying the gamut of emotions. Katie Holly's script is strong, conjuring up a life of quiet desperation.