Tag Archives: Donal Minihane

SIMON O’Reilly came to Clare to work for a week, after spending much of his early life in Australia and Holland. Twenty-three years later, the musician, composer and producer is still here.  He has certainly been busy during those two decades developing his music studio between Lahinch and Doolin and working with artists including Luka Bloom, Susan O’Neill, the ConTempo Quartet, the Monks of Glenstal, Davy Spillane and Kila. A composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music video maker, Simon has also found the time to showcase the musical energy of the West at festivals both local and international.  Under the banner of Doolin Arts, a not-for-profit organisation which describes itself as a “flying column of creative souls” committed to supporting and defending the arts, Simon co-founded Hedge School. The eclectic offering brings together creative artists and producers of all kinds in a series of workshops, performances and conversations that will take place from January 27 to 29 in Doolin. The …

AN eclectic arts festival that made its debut this year is to return for a second instalment at the end of January. Hedge School, an initiative of Doolin Arts, will take place over three days from January 27 to January 29, in and around the north Clare village. The festival programme boasts more than 30 events across a wide variety of artistic disciplines including music, literature, film, visual arts and will include classes, workshops, artistic collaborations and intimate encounters all against the magical backdrop of the Wild Atlantic Way. Highlights within the Hedge School programme include a performance from Manchán Magan, a seminar on Magick by acclaimed Glasgow writer David Keenan and a workshop on the tradition of keening and lament from artist Ceara Conway. There will be musical performances from Katie Kim, Stephan James Smith, Ana Mullarkey. Boutique guitar pedal-makers from around the world will host a pedal party, whilst attendees can also discover new sounds at a pop-up …

AFTER its Covid-enforced hiatus of the past two years, the Doolin Folk Festival will make a welcome return this summer. The event will take place over three days from June 10-12, with three stages on the go at Hotel Doolin. Organisers have promised top Irish and international acts and among those confirmed are Damien Dempsey, Mary Black and Ye Vagabonds. Festival organiser and Hotel Doolin managing director, Dónal Minihane said “The festival is relatively new on the scene but it feels like it has been going on forever. “When I tell people it is only in its eighth year they can’t believe there wasn’t a festival here before. “Doolin is synonymous with folk music in Ireland and so many musicians and music lovers have a connection with the area, the festival just feels so natural. The weekend is a celebration of Doolin and the music that has drawn and continues to draw people here from all corners of the world.” …

INTIMATE gigs and live entertainment are back on the bill at the hottest North Clare music venue, The Attic at Hotel Doolin.  Already hugely popular with fans of traditional music, Doolin now boasts another venue for music, spoken word, theatre, comedy and more. While The Attic opened last summer, it is now coming into its own with the easing of public health restrictions. Daily live music will be on offer this summer and organisers have promised to keep the tune coming throughout the winter with intimate gigs of all genres. Patrons will get the chance to check out some visual art. The artwork in the Attic was specially commissioned by local artist Marcus aka Surfek West who drew his inspiration from the mesmerising colours of the skies off Doolin pier. Also gracing the walls are some of the original Lisdoonvarna Festival posters alongside past posters from the Doolin Folk Festival. Organisers even promise that some of the same talent will …

A DOOLIN hotelier has been honoured in a prestigious short story competition organised by RTÉ. Dónal Minihane, General Manager of Hotel Doolin, was named on Monday night as joint runner-up in the competition which honours the memory of the late writer, Francis MacManus. “It’s absolutely amazing to be recognised like this,” Dónal told The Champion. “It’s really great that people will read and hear the story. When writers sit down to write, we don’t expect many people to read our work, but still we do it. This is something that’ll help me to keep going when I’m up early on the dark winter mornings while everyone else is in bed.” ‘Windsea’ was unveiled on RTÉ Radio’s Arena on Monday night as joint runner-up and Dónal said he was delighted to get the call from producers to give him the good news. The piece was read on RTÉ by actor Aaron Monaghan on Wednesday night last, and the story is available …

A DOOLIN hotelier is one of ten writers to make the shortlist for a highly prestigious short story competition organised by RTÉ in memory of the late author, Francis MacManus. Dónal Minihane is General Manager of Hotel Doolin and the organiser of a number of popular local cultural festivals, including Doolin Writers’ Weekend. His short story ‘Windsea’ impressed a judging panel of accomplished writers and secured a place on the shortlist, which was whittled down from almost 2,800 entries. The story will be among those read on RTÉ on week nights from next Monday, September 27 to October 8. Dónal, who is a PhD student of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick (UL), described ‘Windsea’ as the monologue of a misjudged teenager as he holds his landlord, who has shot his dog, at gunpoint.  “I’d the lad and his mum in my head for a few years,” he explained. “I got the story down one morning. It came out …

THE Doolin Folk Festival, which had been due to take place on September 18-19, has been cancelled for the second year in a row, writes Owen Ryan. Donal Minihane of Hotel Doolin said that it was too risky not to make the call now. “It’s a big investment and it’s too much of a risk to be holding out and holding out. There’s a roadmap coming at the end of August from the Department, but we don’t know what’s in it. There’s too much risk involved. “To be fair to the ticket holders, the artists, the crews and everyone involved, we had to let them know.” He said it would have been very positive for Doolin and its surrounds given the number of tickets sold each year. “It’s a huge amount of bed nights for the area. There would have been 1,200 tickets and it sells out every year. All of those people have to sleep somewhere, eat somewhere and …

THE tourism industry is up 20% on last year in some parts of the county. As the summer draws to a close, former chairman of the Irish Hotels Federation and Lahinch hotelier, Michael Vaughan, has said that, on average across the county, it is up by 5% or 6% and that the hotel sector could be back to 2007 peak levels within the next two years. “It was slow enough at the early part of the year but it improved as we got towards the main months and certainly the Wild Atlantic Way has brought tourists out along the coast, there is no doubt about that. Certainly there has been an improvement of at least 5% and 6% on last year and last year was up too, so we are getting closer to where we were before the bust came about. I think the figure we would love to reach is back to 2007 figures, which was the height of …