Event of the week
CMAT
Friday, December 5th, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €47.20 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie
For her last hurrah of 2025, CMAT, aka Dunboyne Diana, can take some satisfaction that with her third album, Euro-Country, she has laid the groundwork for crossover success.
Her music is now being played in coffee shops and shopping centres around Ireland – and many places elsewhere, no doubt – so it looks as if she’ll be hanging around the mainstream for some time. CMAT can thank her performance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury over summer, which beamed her into homes across the world.
This 3Arena show sold out in a jiffy, but she’s back next year, so no need to fret if you could not get tickets. Her 2026 shows include St Anne’s Park, Dublin, on Saturday, May 30th, and Virgin Media Park, Cork, on Saturday, June 20th.
Gigs
King Princess
Wednesday, December 3rd, Vicar Street, Dublin, 7pm, €45.80, ticketmaster.ie
Gaining early studio experience from her father’s Mission Sound recording studio, Mikaela Mullaney Straus soon realised that music was what she wanted to dedicate her life to.
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In 2018, at the age of 19, as King Princess, she released her debut single, 1950 (a tribute to Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Price of Salt), which caught the attention of Harry Styles. Within two years she was the opening act on the European leg of Styles’ Love On tour.
She soon graduated to headline-act status. Along with her previous two albums, Cheap Queen, from 2019, and Hold on Baby, from 2022, her latest, Girl Violence, features earworm indie pop-rock.
Paddy Hanna
Thursday, December 4th, Bellobar, Dublin, 7pm, €17.45, ticketmaster.ie, Friday, December 5th, Dolans, Limerick, 7pm, €15, dolans.ie
Persistence is paying off for Paddy Hanna, a commercially underrated songwriter whose belief is that “there’s real freedom in doing whatever you want and not being judged for it”.
Hanna’s fifth album, Oylegate, was released earlier this year to acclaim; these shows are the final pair of a brief tour around the country. From durable indie songs to singular performances, Hanna is always good value for money. Nab him before he packs up for Christmas.
Ash
Wednesday, December 3rd, Set Theatre, Kilkenny, 7pm, €30 (sold out), set.ie; Friday, December 5th, Mike the Pies, Listowel, Co Kerry, 7pm, €30 (sold out), mikethepies.com
The preternaturally youthful Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray continue their mission to bring swooping punk-pop to the masses. With a new album, Ad Astra, out in the universe, the trio take to the road to play small venues around Ireland. All shows are sold out, which is no surprise.
Also Saturday, December 6th, Spirit Store, Dundalk, Co Louth, 8pm, €29, spiritstore.ie; Sunday, December 7th, Roisín Dubh, Galway, 7pm, €29, roisindubh.net; Tuesday, December 9th, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, 7pm, €27.50, cyprusavenue.ie; Wednesday, December 10th, Dolans Warehouse, Limerick, 7pm, €33.65, dolans.ie; Thursday, December 11th, Academy, Dublin, 7pm, €33.65, ticketmaster.ie; Saturday, December 13th, Ulster Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £32.50, ulsterhall.co.uk.
Visual art
Colin Davidson: Stranger
Until Sunday, January 25, RHA, Dublin, adm free, rhagallery.ie
Colin Davidson’s first exhibition in Dublin for seven years features six three-dimensional works that the Belfast-born artist describes as paintings you can walk around.
Named after Irish landmarks, including Tara, Commedagh and Lugnaquilla, these appear as extra-large sculptures crafted not from clay or wax but from thickened oil paint (and via other processes, such as sculptural frameworks and models).
Best known for his grand-scale portraits – Irish sitters have included Brian Friel, Christy Moore, Edna O’Brien, Bono and Seamus Heaney – Davidson here combines paint and sculpture with remarkable results.
Panto
Beauty and the Beast
Until Sunday, January 18th, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, various times, €55/€28.50, ticketmaster.ie
Cinderella
Until Sunday, January 11th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, 7pm, €38.50/€30, everymancork.com
The State’s two largest cities are well catered for this year, with panto presentations that deliver seasonal treats with topical humour, catchy pop tunes, impressive costumes and high energy.
“It’s no ordinary panto – it’s the Gaiety panto” is the line we’ve been hearing for decades about the Dublin production, which has already been extended to January 18th. In Cork, Cinderella promises a twist on the tale as well as a fairy godmother with sizeable sass.
Stage
The Dead
From Friday, December 5th, until Sunday, February 1st, MoLI, Dublin, various times, €75/€65/€30, moli.ie
This immersive adaptation of James Joyce’s short story, the final part of his book Dubliners, returns after a successful first run this time last year.
Directed by Louise Lowe, it’s a promenade production that features a small audience moving through Newman House, the 18th-century mansion on St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, with the actors and which features several new faces this time around.
Seating is limited and cannot be reserved in advance; as the route involves two staircases, nor is it a wheelchair-accessible production. The cast includes Marie Mullen, John Cronin, Jonathan White and Lise-Ann McLaughlin.
Still running
An Fathach Leithleasach
From Tuesday, December 2nd, until Friday, December 19th, An Taibhdhearc, Galway, 3pm and 7pm, €18/€16, antaibhdhearc.com
Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s story The Selfish Giant, this charming festive production by An Taibhdhearc focuses on the nature of sharing, kindness and relationships.
Muireann Kelly directs a vivid show featuring a new Irish translation by Brídín Ní Dhonnchadha, narrated by Eoin Ó Dubhghaill and Orlaithe Ní Chearra.
Book it this week
Eureka Day, Gate Theatre, Dublin, from Friday, January 30th, 2026, gatetheatre.ie
Shane Todd, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, April 17th and 18th, ticketmaster.ie
Tricky, Vicar Street, Dublin, May 12th, ticketmaster.ie
James Arthur, Trinity College Dublin, June 29th, ticketmaster.ie
