Doireann Ní Ghlacáin and The Bonny Men’s Conor Lyons on Powers Golden Hours

As a melting pot of sounds, styles and cultures – and with a defiant spirit always at its core – Dublin has produced some of the boldest and most boundary-pushing acts in contemporary music. Among them are artists who have mined deep into Irish traditional music for inspiration, finding meaning and connection in songs and tunes that stretch back hundreds of years. After launching in this legendary city last year, the acclaimed Powers Golden Hours series is now gearing up to return to Dublin next Tuesday, April 30, for an unforgettable evening of music on the iconic Whelan’s stage.

One of the acts set to perform on the night is the renowned Dublin traditional music group The Bonny Men, who've been active in the city and beyond for well over a decade, and are currently working on their eagerly awaited fourth album. As Conor Lyons, a long-standing member of the band, points out, playing Whelan’s is always “pretty special”.

“It’s like a stamp of approval for a band – playing Whelan’s, and getting a good sold-out crowd there,” he continues. “So for us to go back there for this gig is great.”

Acclaimed fiddle player, sean nós singer, podcaster and fellow Dublin native Doireann Ní Ghlacáin will also feature on the night, taking on MC duties. Like Conor, she’s been immersed in the city’s traditional music community her whole life – and she remembers the initial rise of The Bonny Men as a special moment for the “young ones” in that scene.

“At that time, there weren’t many other bands that young musicians could identify with,” she recalls. “But we’d all go buck ape when The Bonny Men were on!”

The Bonny Men

More recent years have seen a remarkable upsurge in interest in Irish traditional music, with the crowd at next week’s Powers Golden Hours event set to feature both long-standing folk fans and people embracing the tradition for the first time.

As Doireann notes, playing and listening to traditional music in a fast-paced, high-tech world can be a powerful “act of resistance” – which is why an increasing number of people, both young and old, are connecting to those ancient sounds right now.

“The traditional arts community is a real thread of truth, within a society that’s becoming increasingly more difficult to live in,” she reflects. “There’s also this total disregard now for the natural world around us – and I would put traditional music in the same bracket as that, because it’s as native to Ireland as the trees or the birds.

“It’s an authenticity thing, and that’s why it has such mass appeal," she adds. "Music is being produced now specifically for small clips that can go viral – but The Bonny Men play, as well as their own original stuff, songs that are hundreds of years old, that are just as relevant to modern society as they were to the lived human experience 200 years ago.”

Other acts on Tuesday's Powers Golden Hours line-up include esteemed sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird – a member of the award-winning supergroup The Gloaming – and lauded fiddle player Ciara Ní Bhriain.

Highlighting just how tight-knit the Irish traditional music community is, Doireann and Conor both have close ties to the other acts on bill, stretching back years.

"My mother [Sorcha Ní Riada] was a next door neighbour of Iarla Ó Lionáird – so I know the whole family," says Doireann, who's the granddaughter of the iconic Irish composer Seán Ó Riada, and previously explored his legacy through an acclaimed documentary. "My grandfather actually taught Iarla how to sing!"

"I grew up in Bayside, and Ciara Ní Bhriain was a neighbour of ours, only three doors down," Conor reveals. "Her mam, Fidelma, taught us all music. Ciara, and her brother Cormac and her sister [RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award winner Aoife Ní Bhriain], were always around when we were growing up."

That mix of generations on the line-up – a crucial element at each Powers Golden Hours event – is "a unique thing in Irish music," Conor remarks.

"It doesn’t matter what age the musicians you meet are, because music is the common language," he resumes. "In fact, more than likely, you want to play with the older musicians, because they’ve had more experience. But no matter what generation a person comes from, the music stays the same."

Doireann Ní Ghlacáin at Powers Golden Hours

The latest Powers Golden Hours session – which Doireann also hosted – took place at the legendary Páidi Ó Sé's pub in West Kerry, as part of the Other Voices 2023 line-up.

"They asked me if I’d present it, because they wanted to have a bi-lingual event," she recalls. "For a global brand like Powers to specifically seek out an Irish language presenter to MC the whole thing – and to have it at something as prestigious as Other Voices... I nearly got emotional.

"For our community – people who have been slogging away at traditional music and the Irish language for years – it’s a great vote of confidence," she adds. "They see the power in what we have to offer in our indigenous art. And the room was packed out, full of people. It was the talk of Dingle for the whole weekend!"

"Things like this are brilliant for Irish music – to give it a good platform, and a good stage," Conor nods. "And there’s no better place than Whelan’s to do it."

The Golden Hours series forms part of Powers’ Old But Gold campaign, which proudly champions the iconic Irish whiskey’s long and rich history – and encourages us to redefine what it means to be ‘old’ in today’s world. By exploring the overlap between traditional music and contemporary ideas, the series celebrates the origins of Irish music, while also presenting an innovative and immersive musical experience you'll never forget.

The series has already proved a major hit, with successful events in Dublin, Belfast, and West Kerry.

Tickets for Powers Golden Hours at Whelan’s (which is strictly over 18s) are no longer available, but you can join the waitlist here.