After the world, Doctors take on Leitrim

It's not exactly a homecoming, but it's the next best thing. They may have just swept across the United States, played for a billionaire on a yacht off Connecticut, received ecstatic reviews for their new retrospective album . . . but the Saw Doctors are determined to play a little theatre in Leitrim next Saturday night.

What's more, the Corn Mill in Carrigallen has 180 very fixed and immovable seats.

No room for the sort of boisterous, up-tempo response that the Tuam band tends to engender. "It will be a perfect warm-up for our sit-down venue in the Footsbarn marquee during the Galway Arts Festival," says band manager Ollie Jennings, who received the request to include Carrigallen only a fortnight ago.

Jennings says that the man responsible for this was "pushing an open door".

He knows Ciaran McGinley, recently-appointed manager of the Corn Mill Theatre, from school days. But what bought him was a fond memory of Carrigallen dating back to 1995, when the whole village turned out on two consecutive nights to hear the band play.

The Saw Doctors have always been adventurous with their venues; they have played Clare Island, Co Mayo, they launched a tour in the sitting room of a fan's house in Bradford, England, and last month they did a home town show in the Scout Hall in Tuam as part of the festival to mark the 800th anniversary of Rory O'Connor, the last High King.

The Corn Mill will be their smallest, and perhaps most intimate, west of Ireland gig.

Reviewing the latest album, Sing a Powerful Song, in the Washington Post, critic Geoffrey Himes describes them as one of the world's most appealing rootsrock outfits.

That appeal is still universal, with both 10- to 15-year-olds and their 40-something parents rocking the night away.

"A bus queue" is how one of the band members has described the "typical" audience.

As for the Corn Mill, it has its own good news to celebrate. It has received a £250,000 grant from the Peace and Reconciliation Fund for refurbishment, and the Arts Council has also given it a substantial sum.

It won this year's All-Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone, and Eugene Finnegan took first prize for the best set. Not bad for a tiny west of Ireland village which isn't even on the N17 . . .