Music Network nationwide tour to take in Boyle

Music Network has announced a nationwide tour featuring Kevin Burke, Dermot Byrne, Noriana Kennedy and Jim Murray for February 2026.

This is an unmissable, new collaboration featuring four extraordinary artists who have shared their music with audiences over four decades of Music Network's National Touring Programme. They come to King House, Boyle on Saturday, February 21st.

Kevin Burke’s fiddle playing has been at the forefront of traditional music since the 1970s. His far-reaching solo album If the Cap Fits and his work with such distinguished performers as Arlo Guthrie, Kate Bush, Christy Moore and the Bothy Band established him as a ground-breaking artist. Kevin has earned international acclaim in both Europe and America as a solo performer, a teacher and as a member of some of folk music’s foremost groups including the exciting Celtic Fiddle Festival and Ireland’s long admired and respected Patrick Street. He has been the recipient of prestigious awards including Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musician of the Year 2016 and a National Heritage Fellowship, the USA's highest honour for excellence in the folk and traditional arts.

Another Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musician of the Year, Dermot Byrne’s seemingly effortless playing, combined with great subtlety and a faultless ear, makes him one of the finest accordion players of his generation. Hailing from the Inishowen peninsula of County Donegal, Dermot was a member of the renowned Irish traditional music band Altan from 1994 to 2013.

Half Irish and half Filipino, Noriana Kennedy possesses a captivating voice lauded by the Irish Times as 'a knockout: translucent and tenacious in equal measure'. Since her debut album Ebb n Flow was released in 2011, her career has soared, touring extensively in the USA with renowned traditional group Solas and sharing the stage with highly respected artists like Pauline Scanlon, Eilís Kennedy, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh and John Spillane. In 2013, Noriana joined Nicola Joyce and Noelie McDonnell to form the stunning songwriting trio The Whileaways.

Joining them is Jim Murray, one of the world’s leading acoustic guitar players. For over 20 years he has toured, performed and recorded with artists such as Sharon Shannon, Sinéad O’Connor, Steve Earle, Shane MacGowan, Séamus Begley, Mike McGoldrick, Altan and Mary Black. Jim had an extraordinary musical partnership with accordionist and singer Séamus Begley and their debut album Ragairne, released in 2001, received both The Irish Times and Hot Press Traditional Irish Music Album of the Year.

The programme will feature inspired performances of traditional and contemporary material from four artists whose collective experience and creativity have carved a deep impression on the landscape of traditional Irish music. This tour runs from February 10th to March 1st. Tickets are on sale now.