Starling Blue are Patrice Doherty, Hannah O Brien, Liebe Kelly and Louise Steele. Their unique accapella vocal sound along with an array of instruments has gained them much attention over the last number of years. Their concerts bring you on a rollercoaster of emotions as they harmonise their way through many eras of music. Listeners are treated to stunning solos, rich ingenious harmonies and banter throughout.
 
After their summer concert in Íontas, Starling Blue are delighted to return with their successful Christmas show "A Starling Blue Christmas" this December.
 
The girls are looking forward to performing a festive programme along with bringing back a few firm favourites from previous concerts. To kickstart their concert the girls will have their festive mulled wine and mince pie reception to get everyone into the XMAS spirit.
 
Mon 16th & Tue 17th Dec, 8pm
Tickets €20

Starling Blue are Patrice Doherty, Hannah O Brien, Liebe Kelly and Louise Steele. Their unique accapella vocal sound along with an array of instruments has gained them much attention over the last number of years. Their concerts bring you on a rollercoaster of emotions as they harmonise their way through many eras of music. Listeners are treated to stunning solos, rich ingenious harmonies and banter throughout.
 
After their summer concert in Íontas, Starling Blue are delighted to return with their successful Christmas show "A Starling Blue Christmas" this December.
 
The girls are looking forward to performing a festive programme along with bringing back a few firm favourites from previous concerts. To kickstart their concert the girls will have their festive mulled wine and mince pie reception to get everyone into the XMAS spirit.
 
Mon 16th & Tue 17th Dec, 8pm
Tickets €20

Starling Blue are Patrice Doherty, Hannah O Brien, Liebe Kelly and Louise Steele. Their unique accapella vocal sound along with an array of instruments has gained them much attention over the last number of years. Their concerts bring you on a rollercoaster of emotions as they harmonise their way through many eras of music. Listeners are treated to stunning solos, rich ingenious harmonies and banter throughout.
 
After their summer concert in Íontas, Starling Blue are delighted to return with their successful Christmas show "A Starling Blue Christmas" this December.
 
The girls are looking forward to performing a festive programme along with bringing back a few firm favourites from previous concerts. To kickstart their concert the girls will have their festive mulled wine and mince pie reception to get everyone into the XMAS spirit.
 
Mon 16th & Tue 17th Dec, 8pm
Tickets €20

THE SMASH HIT SHOW “ABBA FOREVER”

The Christmas Show Is Coming to Íontas!

“ABBA FOREVER” The Christmas Show, return to Iontas, Castleblayney on Wednesday 18 December. Tickets are now on sale at the box office 042 975 3400 and online at www.iontascastleblayney.ie

It is one of the years’ most popular shows around Ireland and we keep getting requests for it, so here goes!

After sell out tours of this Spanish based Abba show, around Ireland for the past 11 years, Abba fans have been asking for it!

SO “ MAMMA MIA here we go, MY MY how can we resist them” Europe’s very top ABBA show, ABBA FOREVER!

Tickets are on sale NOW !

It’s always party time when ABBA comes to town but when it’s the Christmas Show, then that’s a real excuse to let your hair down! This happy sing-a-long event is pure escapism. It celebrates ABBA’S MUSIC with a loud and proud production and terrific audio visuals of ABBA’S seminal moments on the GIANT screen!

It’s the perfect way to start your Christmas celebrations! Bring your special Christmas Party along (Small or Large) and you will have a ball!!

-----------------------

Their music is the most played on radio stations around the world and the musical based on their life is still packing Theatres from Waterloo (Pardon the pun!) to Timbuktu

MAMMA MIA WAS A HUGH CINEMA HIT AND ABBA STILL ROLLS ON!

It has played to full houses all over Ireland during tours here!

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Abba Forever was formed and is lead by Dennis Scally, a London born musician who has been at the top of the music game for many years.

For 15 years, while based in Los Angles, he was the musical director for The Supremes and toured the world with them. He moved back to Europe 14 years ago and formed ABBA FOREVER.

A virtuoso keyboard player, he really shines at all the great ABBA keyboard parts.

Lead Guitar is Rae Daniel, also from London. Rae has played with various bands and shows down through the years including the London “Mamma Mia” Show.

A feature of the ABBA FOREVER show is Dennis and Rae swapping lightning fast, guitar and keyboard licks, live on stage.

On lead vocals are Lucinda O’Connell and Marie O’Hara. Both girls came through their school and teenage lives starring in Musicals. Lucinda starred in “Jesus Christ Superstar” as Mary Magdalene and Marie appeared in touring productions of “Grease” “Phantom of the Opera” and lots more.

You will not hear better ABBA Voice anywhere. Both girls have Irish family connections and love touring here to catch up with relatives!

From “Waterloo (Again)” to “Dancing Queen” Expect a dazzling, fantastic performance including the most iconic hits, Mamma Mia, S.O.S, Money, Money Money, The Winner Takes All, Gimme Gimme, Gimme, Dancin Queen and MANY MANY more!

Every favourite is here. Not to be missed.

The finest ABBA voices you will ever hear!

Get your glad rags on, brush up on the lyrics, don the dancing boots and come to the best party in town!

You’ll be rockin’ in the isles!!!

HEY!
NATIONAL TOUR 2020

Pat Shortt brings his acclaimed 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 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!

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘SNOW WHITE’ - OH YES IT IS!

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

Tickets: €16

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘SNOW WHITE’ - OH YES IT IS!

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

Tickets: €16

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘SNOW WHITE’ - OH YES IT IS!

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

Tickets: €16

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘SNOW WHITE’ - OH YES IT IS!

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

Tickets: €16

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘SNOW WHITE’ - OH YES IT IS!

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

Tickets: €16

This coming January, Íontas Theatre teams up with Born2Perform Stage School to bring you timeless classic ‘SNOW WHITE’ - OH YES IT IS!

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

Tickets: €16

The students of Castleblayney College presents the hit musical Grease. The story centres Sandy and greaser Danny, who fall for each other during a carefree Summer fling, and unexpectedly discover they are now in the same high school. Danny is torn between his feelings for good-girl Sandy and his status with the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. It’s automatic, it’s systematic, it’s hydromatic in a performance not to be missed! 

The students of Castleblayney College presents the hit musical Grease. The story centres Sandy and greaser Danny, who fall for each other during a carefree Summer fling, and unexpectedly discover they are now in the same high school. Danny is torn between his feelings for good-girl Sandy and his status with the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. It’s automatic, it’s systematic, it’s hydromatic in a performance not to be missed! 

Legends of Irish music & song The FUREYS, renowned for their hit songs ‘I will love you’, ‘When you were sweet 16’, ‘The Green fields of France’, ‘The old man’, ‘Red rose café’, ‘From Clare to here’, ‘Her father didn’t like me anyway’, ‘Leaving Nancy’, ‘Steal away’ etc return on Saturday 18^th January 2020.
                                   
The FUREYS have been entertaining audiences worldwide for 42 years, audiences that have included former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Former Irish President Mary McAleese and the late Pope John Paul while Tony Blair has publicly stated his favourite peace song of all time is the FUREYS “Green Fields of France” and President Michael D Higgins attended their last concert in National Concert Hall.
 
The oldest of the brothers, Eddie Furey left home in 1966 and travelled to Scotland at the time of the great folk revival where he shared accommodation with then unknown folk singers Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty and Alex Campbell. In 1969 with his brother Finbar, he was the special guest for the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem throughout the USA and Canada. In 1971 he moved to mainland Europe where he toured for seven years. Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics has credited Eddie with teaching him his first chords on guitar when they met up in the North East of England while Dave was still a teenager.

Tickets on sale from Friday 7th June, 10am

Tickets €31

Praised worldwide when it came out in 2014, The Lunchbox by Ritesh Batra, despite being set in Mumbai, is a universal romance. Bollywood star Irrfan Khan plays a widowed office worker who is delivered the wrong lunchbox at work, an error that triggers an unusual relationship with the neglected housewife who prepared the meal. Thus, they learn that unintended actions can sometimes bring unexpected prospects. The way two lonely souls may connect in a very large and busy city, is represented here with subtle charm.

A Blayney Film @ Íontas Presentation

Wed 22nd January, 7.30pm

Season Ticket €25  (Call Box Office 045 9753401)
Standard Ticket €7

'The Nashville Calling` is the title of upcoming 9<sup>th</sup> studio album by Irish artist Ben Reel due to be released early 2020. Produced by Will Kimbrough and Tommy Womack and featuring Garry W Tallent on bass from the legendary E Street Band. The album contains 11 new tracks all written by Ben Reel which was recorded at Skinny Elephant studio in Nashville. It was all done and dusted in just 3 days with all live takes. Following the critically acclaimed experimental slow burner `Land of Escape' from 2018, this new record has a more Americana, Rock, live band feel.

 

Since his debut album `This Is The Movie' back in 1999, Ben has reinvented himself from album to album, influenced by different styles of music over the years. As one critic saying,  " He's not afraid to throw in some in folk, soul, reggae vibes, which in turn call to mind John Hiatt at his best". Another describing it as somewhere in the middle ground between rock and jazz or a sound that is sometimes reminiscent of Dylan and the Band.

In a solo career which now spans over 20 years Ben has received  worldwide critical acclaim with numerous high profile TV/Radio appearances like BBC, RTE and Dutch NPO radio. Supporting names like Jools Holland, Alabama 3 & The Cranberries and has collaborated musically with such names as Hal Ketchum & The Blockheads. He has co written and performed live with his fellow countryman Tony McLoughlin and some of Nashville's finest like David Olney & Irene Kelley.

In the past Ben was selected to play an official showcase at Folk alliance in Memphis TN and has toured as double bill with Tommy Womack (Nashville) in the U.S & UK and also with legendary American folk singer/songwriter Eric Andersen in the UK & NL. While in Nashville he has been invited to play the famous Bluebird cafe on a number of occasions, most recently Sept 2018.

Over the last 10 years Ben has enjoyed successful tours in Ireland, UK, Europe & U.S.A, receiving rave reviews and attracting a growing loyal fan base. He has graced big festivals such as Jamming@Hippie Jacks (USA), Musiktan festival in Bilbao, (ESP). Haarlem Jazz & Huntenpop (NL), Robin Hood folk festival (UK), Kilkenny rhythm & roots, Cork jazz & Electric Picnic (EIRE). 

In this new play, Johnny Johnston and Mick Garrett are two veteran musicians whose long musical careers look set to end playing in small pubs in the local area where they get little attention and even less adulation. Then out of the blue comes a chance to play a big gig which fires their enthusiasm right up. But as they start rehearsing, a rariety, we begin to get an insight into their relationship and motivation for performing to disinterested punters.

In this comedy where Buddy Holly looms large, where they attempt to make a funeral singer a star and where a sceptical drummer keeps them in check, these two long time friends, with the help of Johnny’s wife Mary, discover their need for recognition in whatever guise it comes.   

Supported by the Creative Ireland Programme and Monaghan County Council

30th, 31st January & 1st Feb, 8pm each night

Tickets €15 /13

Irish country sensation Derek Ryan’s road to stardom is set to continue with his biggest concert tour yet. Following on from the phenomenal success of his recent TEN tour, Derek Ryan returns with a brand new concert show for 2020. 
 
Derek and his fantastic band (now rated as Ireland’s leading country band) are back on the road to perform many of Derek’s classic hits from ‘Hold On To Your Hat’ ‘Down On Your Uppers’ and ‘God’s Plan’.
 
Continuing to propel to new heights, Derek Ryan has firmly cemented his position at the top table of Irish Country’s elite with his brand of original, self-penned material and country classics.
 
The Carlow man is a multi-recipient of awards for his performances and songwriting including the Sunday World accolade for ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Songwriter of the Year’. But Derek, being at the forefront of this new wave of young Irish country stars, continues to remain ever loyal to his worldwide army of fans.
 
Show time: 8pm

Tickets €31

MIA MAMMA 

I am often asked “where do you get your material from?” The truth is really that I try to see the funny in everything. My mother died in March 2019 and of course it was sad and grief can be tough sometimes but I saw a lot of funny in that too. Since death comes to us all and grief is something most of us will experience I thought there must be plenty of people who would like that funny to be shared. Also I did a show about my Dad being sick back in 2010 and I couldn’t face my mother in the afterlife because I know her first question would be “your Father got a show, how come I didn’t get one?”

I think it’s tougher to lose your mum. My Dad was best supporting actor. My mother was the actress in a leading role. You are never ready when the star of the show dies. So this is a show about My mother. It’s a show about motherhood and sacrifice, anxiety and grief, the mistakes you make as a mother and a son and the hard road to forgiveness and finally it’s about loss, grief and the chaos that surrounds it.

Where do I get my material from?

Life and death!

This is the classic of our season. The 1974 New German Cinema drama, directed by Werner Herzog, follows the real story of foundling Kaspar who lived the first 17 years of his life in a cellar, without any human contact except for a man who feeds him, and who one day leaves him in the town of Nuremberg where he becomes a subject of curiosity to the locals, before being rescued by an elderly, kind professor who does his best to help him develop. But having grown up away from the norms and conventions of “civilized” behaviour, Kaspar will find it difficult to fit in.

A Blayney Film @ Íontas Presentation

Wed 12th February, 7.30pm

Season Ticket €25  (Call Box Office 042 9753401)
Standard Ticket €7

In June 1989 Sharon was rehearsing and demoing tracks for her first album, when she was whisked away to Glastonbury festival with The Waterboys. In the 30 years that has elapsed since then, Sharon has recorded 10 studio albums; 5 Live albums, 4 Best of compilations and 3 live Concert DVDs. She has received many awards including  being the youngest ever recipient of the Meteor Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2009. 

In Anne Fontaine’s comedy, Martin is a baker who has a deep appreciation of one of France’s most celebrated novels, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, in which a young woman’s romantic ideals fail to match the realities of her country life, leading her into two affairs and eventually suicide. One day, Martin meets English newly-weds moving into the house next to his. Their names, Gemma and Charles Bovery, echo the characters of Flaubert’s novel. Bit by bit, he becomes obsessed with the idea that Gemma's behaviour replicates that of her fictional near-namesake, and that she is headed for the same tragic finale. His attempts to intervene prove hilariously disastrous.

A Blayney Film @ Íontas Presentation

Wed 11th March, 7.30pm
 
Season Ticket €25  (Call Box Office 042 9753401)
Standard Ticket €7

END OF WATCH
 
Fresh from a sell-out tour, star of BBC’s the Blame Game, Fighting Talk and the Newsquiz Neil Delamere returns to Iontas Arts Centre with a brand new show.
Time waits for no man, especially one trying to buy a watch. Things always get complicated.
 
“You’ll be hard pressed to find a more gifted comic at the Fringe. *****” The Scotsman
 
“One lean, mean, comedy, killing machine. *****.” The Herald

Saturday 21st March, 8pm
€25

A grumpy builder, (Seamus O’Rourke) and his young enthusiastic labourer (Charlie McGuinness) arrive on Mogue’s Island to dig a grave in the depts of winter. It’s cold and eerie and full of myth. The more they dig, the more they realise that this was not such a good idea. Has Barney Bellew and Hector Hoctor really got something in common? – Well, it just might be that they are both entangled in and ancient curse

An Ogeous Brose is scary and funny in equal measure where you can expect the unexpected... A great night out!

From the fellas that brough you ‘The Quare Land’, ‘Danger Money’ and ‘The Cavan Curse’. 

Thursday 26th March, 8pm
Tickets €16

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 only 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

Robert Mizzell has made Ireland his home for over 20 years. He served his apprenticeship in Country Music since he first arrived here. The father and husband is now one of the top Country Music Artists in Ireland, enjoying huge success all around the country. He has released 13 solo studio albums and 2 full length DVD’s
 to date and is constantly touring Ireland and the UK with his band. Robert was voted ‘Ireland’s Favourite Country Music Singer’ in a poll conducted by RSVP magazine.
 
‘Kick Ass Country’ was Robert’s first major hit, but it was the song ‘Say You Love Me’ that made him a household name in Ireland. Anyone who has ever been to one of his shows will agree that it is two hours of non-stop entertainment and that Robert Mizzell definitely puts his heart and soul into every song proving why he is one of Ireland’s top country music recording artists!

Sunday 29th March, 8pm
Tickets €25

Aslan's extraordinary singer and frontman Christy Dignam and his lifelong friend and co-founder of Aslan, songwriter/guitarist Joe Jewell perform together in this intimate acoustic show featuring the main hit songs of Aslan; Crazy World and This Is,

The duo will also perform some very special cover songs by other artists such as David Bowie and Pink Floyd that inspired the duo throughout their rock n roll career with Aslan. 

Christy and Joe relate many great stories of the origin of the songs, and some stories of their good and bad times on the road. 'Some Songs and Stories' is a truly beautiful musical acoustic experience. If you love music and a good laugh, this is the real deal.

Thursday 2nd April
Tickets €25

45 Years is a 2015 British romantic drama film directed by Andrew Haigh. It follows Kate and Geoff as they prepare for their 45-year anniversary party. The sudden and upsetting news that Geoff receives, however, unveils a secret event and threatens the heretofore solid balance of their married life. What may have been a banal story of a marriage running into the sand turns into a thought-provoking exploration of love. Their superbly nuanced performances won awards for both Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.

A Blayney Film @ Íontas Presentation

Wed 8th April, 7.30pm

Season Ticket €25 (Call Box Office 042 9753401)
Standard Ticket €7

'Well? Shall We Go?'

AN EVENING OF SAMUEL BECKETT
Plays & Discussion

Three of Beckett’s shorter plays - Come and Go, Ohio Impromptu and Footfalls - and the final scenes of Waiting for Godot will be performed by a cast including John and Tommy McArdle. An introductory talk by Brian Duffy will set the plays in the wider context of the evolution and essential themes of Beckett’s writing. The audience will have the opportunity to respond as the evening proceeds.

Fri 17th April, Doors 8pm
€14 / 12

After only 3 years on the comedy scene, Stevo & Sinéad have gathered a following of over 500,000 people worldwide, and over 100 million views on some of their sketches.

They've sold out sold shows all over Ireland and the UK, including  St George's Hall, Southport Comedy Festival, London, Cork, Belfast, as well as performing in Vicar Street & Goodison Park.

Their videos have been featured in notable press outlets including LadBible, Benchwarmers, WorldStar hip hop, JOE.ie, Irish Independent, The Daily Edge, The Star, The Sun, The Mirror, as well as mentions from international superstars Shaquille O’Neill and Marylon Wayans.

They've also appeared at length on RTE’s Ryan Tubridy Show, Galway Bay FM, iRadio, 4FM and 98FM.

The King & Queen of farming satire may offend some but aren’t planning on quitting any time soon!

As featured on  : RTE, TV3s Six O Clock Show, CNN, FOXtv, SKY TV.

Friday 24th April, 8pm

Tickets €22.50

CALLAN’S KICKS LIVE NATIONWIDE TOUR 2020
 
Impressionist Oliver Callan brings his award-winning Callan’s Kicks comedy show to life on stage for the first time in five years.
 
Aiken Promotions and Leo Varadkar (ledgebag and Teesh) are totes excited to announced RTÉ’s award-winning show Callan’s Kicks Live on stage nationwide in 2020. Oliver Callan brings his huge cast of characters on the road for the first time in the age of Leo, Boris and Trump. It’s no Kylie concert, but Leo heads a troupe of voices from the world of Irish politics, sport and entertainment.
 
As the 2020 General Election campaign gets underway, Callan goes from town to town deconstructing our leaders and stars in a special night of comedy and satirical commentary. Join the Marty Party, Paschal “I only have a certain amount of money” Donohoe, hear an alternative history of Ireland, a whirlwind tour of county accents, movie stars and GAA legends.
 
Ever wondered what really happens during Marian Finucane’s newspaper panel? What did Enda Kenny do next? Who’s actually pulling Mary Lou McDonald’s strings? Is Michael D Higgins still a thing? Why is Bertie back? Can Dermot Bannon be stopped and brought to justice?
 
Oliver Callan brings his most ambitious live show on the road yet, with dozens of impressions, sketches and voices kicking our leaders and legends into the next decade.

Praise for Callan’s Kicks Live:
 
“Totes lolcano. I love laughing at myself because it gives my amazeballs abs a workout and makes me look 5% more relatable and less like a neocon passing off my resting bitch-face disdain for Middle Ireland as intellectual aloofness”
- Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach and Minister for Ignoring the Housing Crisis
 
“Let’s get this show done! Callan’s Kicks Live can travel freely across the border, which after Brexit will be invisible, like a pair of hands groping under the linen for a pair of thighs at a dinner table in the 90s”
- Boris Johnson, Prime Minister and Shaved Yeti
 
“No one loves Ireland more than me, with its bagpipes and haggis puddings. And the data centres all in the one place to make it easier for my friends to hack”
- Donald W.T.F. Trump, President and Box of Taco Fries in a Suit
 
“I’m so excited about this show, a bit of wee has come out”
- Enda Kenny, waiting on a massive retirement lump sum with no tax or f**ks given

Saturday April 25th, 8pm
Tickets €30

OFF HER ROCKER!