Kieran Beville

  Limerick Ireland’s Rising Cultural Capital By Kieran Beville Dolans - arguably the epicentre of Limerick's live music scene Limerick has long been seen as one of Ireland’s most authentic cities – honest, expressive and full of soul. Sometimes misunderstood and misrepresented this urban jewel in Ireland's Midwest has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past few decades. Limerick has blossomed into a vibrant, compelling hub for creative expression — one that rivals Dublin and Cork in cultural vitality but carries a distinct charm all its own. Limerick today stands as a fertile ground for artists, writers, and musicians — a city where creativity is not only fostered but celebrated, supported, and given space to evolve. Its history, rich cultural heritage, and unique urban landscape make it a source of endless inspiration, while its strong community spirit and growing infrastructure make it an ideal place for artistic careers to thrive. A City Steeped in Stor...

Between Brushstrokes and Brass Notes Limerick’s Treaty Brewery Becomes a Living Canvas by Kieran Beville On a cool sunny Sunday afternoon in September, Nicholas Street hums with a certain electricity. It’s the kind of vibration that runs deeper than footsteps on cobblestones or the murmur of passing cars. It’s a pulse, a resonance carried down the row of Georgian and Victorian facades to the heavy wooden doors of the Treaty City Brewery. Inside, time stretches differently. Strong beer foams golden in pint glasses, brass horns wail, and paint on canvas whispers its silent counterpoint. Every year, when Culture Night rolls across Ireland like a rolling tide of creativity, the Treaty Brewery throws open its doors to more than its loyal regulars. It becomes, for a week, part gallery, part listening room, part living room. The brewery transforms into a layered cultural organism where the worlds of art and music aren’t just curated side by side—they lean into one another, breathing the...

Grannies Intentions 1967. L/RJohnny Hockedy, Jack Costelloe, Guido de Vito, John Ryan, James (Cha) Haran, Johnny Duhan   Culture Night Rewind Limerick’s Beat Clubs Take Centre Stage by Kieran Beville `            On Friday, September 19th, Culture Night in Limerick will come alive with the sounds, stories, and the spirit of the city’s Beat era. Led by James “Cha” Haran — former singer with Granny’s Intentions, the trailblazing 1960s band who put Limerick on the rock ’n roll map. The inaugural Limerick Beat Experience will celebrate the youth clubs, venues, and musical revolutions that defined a generation, with walking tours, vinyl-spinning DJs, and live performances. The event invites music fans of all ages to step back into the era when teenagers first found their voice through rhythm and blues, pirate radio, and the electric charge of live bands. Granny’s Intentions – From Limerick to Legend If you’ve heard whispers ...

  Ink, Grit and a Shot at Glory The Gerald Griffin Competition for First Original Adult Fiction By Kieran Beville                  There’s an unmistakable buzz running through Ireland’s literary scene — and it’s coming from Limerick – from a competition that’s quickly becoming a proving ground for bold, fresh voices in fiction: the Gerald Griffin literary competition , now in its second year and gaining serious momentum. The winner of the 2025 competition will be announced on Thursday 18th Sept 6.30pm in An Driaocht Gallery in Adare. Guest readers and musicians will be included. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. The winning manuscript will be published in Oct/Nov by the Limerick Writers’ Centre. The competition honours Gerald Griffin (1803–1840), the Limerick-born novelist, poet and dramatist whose works captured the complexities of 19th-century Irish life with honesty and emotional depth. Griffin’s legacy ...

Image & Echo by Kieran Beville In Image and Echo , poetry meets painting in a vivid conversation across centuries.  From Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring to Van Gogh’s Starry Night, from Botticelli’s Birth of Venus to Picasso’s Weeping Woman, this collection of ekphrastic verse inhabits the worlds of iconic artworks—reimagining their stories, emotions, and mysteries. Written in sonnets and blank verse each poem is paired with a brief essay offering historical insight and artistic context. The result is a richly layered experience where the visual and verbal intertwine, inviting readers to see both art and poetry anew. Image & Echo is a book of articles and poems that interact with iconic paintings, technically called ‘ekphrastic’ poetry. By way of introduction I should say something about ekphrasis – offer a brief explanation and thereby put this work in context. Ekphrasis is a literary practice where a poem or other work of writing responds to, describes, or reflec...

  Brian MacMahon’s Limerick Portrait of a City in Colour and Light By Kieran Beville In the landscape of Irish contemporary art, few names resonate with as much quiet force and authenticity as Brian MacMahon. Born in Limerick in 1955, MacMahon’s life and work have been intimately bound to the rhythms, textures, and spirit of his home city. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, he has become not merely a painter of scenes, but a translator of emotion, place, and memory into a language of bold brushstrokes and luminous colour. His work stands as a testament to the enduring power of painting grounded in lived experience—art that is as personal as it is universal. Early Life and the Making of a Painter Brian MacMahon’s journey into art began in the cobbled streets and Georgian facades of Limerick. Growing up in this city—steeped in history yet touched by economic hardship—deeply shaped his visual vocabulary. In the mid-1970s, he enrolled at the Limerick School of Art ...