Fáilte go dtí Columbus Irish! The latest iteration of this column will try to keep up with all the Irish happenings in Central Ohio. There is no better place to start than with Irish music.
Central Ohio is home to the transatlantic-famous Byrne’s Pub (Larry Kirwan of Black 47-fame still regularly reminisces about his performances there on his weekly SiriusXM radio show “Celtic Crush”); a Fadó Pub in Easton; O’Huids Gaelic Pub in Lancaster; and others that continue to host local, national, and international acts playing Irish and Celtic music. The[JO1] pub and Irish club scene in Columbus supports homegrown Irish musicians and bands like The Drowsy Lads, Ladies of Longford, Oxbow String Company, Molly Róisín, Dogwood Road, Dulahan, and others.
Dublin Irish Fest
The Dublin Irish Festival – just rated the Readers’ Choice Best Cultural Festival in USA Today -kicks off August 1st on the city’s northwest-side with eight stages of constant Irish music and craic. The festival first occurred in 1988, with the establishment of Dublin, Ohio, as a city independent of Columbus.
Over the years, it has attracted Irish performers and bands like Tommy Makem, The Saw Doctors, Eileen Ivers, Sharon Shannon, and of course, current mainstay Gaelic Storm, to central Ohio. Ohio cities do a fantastic job coordinating their festivals too, as many of the traveling bands involved can perform shows at Dayton’s Celtic Festival, Cleveland’s Irish Cultural Festival, and the Dublin Irish Festival on successive weekends.
Columbus Comhaltas
Columbus Comhaltas, the local branch of the international Irish cultural organization Comhaltas[JO1] (means association), hosts two weekly Trad sessions for Irish musicians in Columbus. One weekly session is open to all players, regardless of skill, with a Beginner’s training hour every Tuesday in Hilliard, on the west-side of Columbus. The local Ancient Order of Hibernians chapter also hosts live music at its Tara Hall on the southside, and the Shamrock Club of Columbus puts on an annual Irish Music Festival in July, with regular local and national band performances in the Club’s pub throughout the year.
Irish music rocks commercial bars, concert halls, theaters, arenas, and even stadiums in Columbus, too. Historically, the city has witnessed iconic performances from Irish bands like The Pogues’ American tour for Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, who played the Newport Music Hall on July 10, 1986.
The show was memorialized in a black-and-white photo in The Lantern’s July 14, 1986, edition of album producer Declan McManus (Elvis Costello) cuddling with then-girlfriend Cait O’Riordan in the crowd during the performance of the opening act, before she got up onstage to play bass and sing during, “I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day.”
U2 played the Agora Theater, Nationwide Arena, and Ohio Stadium in Columbus over the years. The Cranberries filmed their music video for “Ridiculous Thoughts” live at a 1995 show in the now-torn-down Veterans Memorial arena.
This year, Fontaines DC sold out their Columbus tour stop in May at the KembaLive concert hall. The Rumjacks – Sydney, Australia’s Celtic Rock export to Europe – jigs into Columbus’ Rumba Café on June 14. County Wicklow global superstar Hozier returns to Columbus to play the Historic Columbus Crew Stadium on June 18, after selling out the Schottenstein Center on Ohio State’s campus in 2024. The show will be Hozier’s only Ohio stop in 2025.
Kneecap has already sold out an October show date near Ohio State’s campus in its second “as Gaeilge” rap performance in the city. The Irish American community remains strong and proud in Columbus, and the city’s appetite for Irish music is tremendous and growing!
