Kieran Beville

  Celebration of Legacy Photo Book and Video Launch By Kieran Beville On December 5th, the People’s Museum on Pery Square will open its doors for a special cultural occasion—an intimate launch of The 3 Johnnys Tribute Concert Photo Book and accompanying video. Running from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., the event promises an evening of reflection, gratitude, and artistic celebration in honour of three towering figures of Irish music: Johnny Duhan, Johnny Fean, and John Kenny. The photo book, produced in a limited edition, is the labour of love of John (Tulla) O’Mahony, who spent months gathering images, memories, and moments from the tribute concert that resonated so deeply with audiences. His work captures not only the performances themselves but the spirit of community that surrounded them—the musicians who came to pay their respects, the audiences who gathered in admiration, and the lasting influence of the three men whose creativity shaped generations. Each of the “Three Johnnys” ...

  Ciarán Mac Mathúna The Limerick Man Who Bottled Ireland’s Music Ciarán Mac Mathúna By Kieran Beville There are some voices that seem to belong to the air itself. For generations of Irish listeners, one such voice came floating through the wireless on Sunday mornings—a soft, steady Limerick baritone speaking of fiddlers and folklore, of tunes that wandered from the west and stories whispered by the fire. That voice was Ciarán Mac Mathúna’s, and though he spoke to the whole of Ireland, his heart and cadence were unmistakably Limerick. Born November 26 th 1925, this year marks the centenary of his birth in Limerick. Ciarán Mac Mathúna was the kind of Limerick man who carried the city with him wherever he went—not in boast or badge, but in a quiet musical way. His voice, his humour, and his deep respect for ordinary people all echoed the spirit of this place. From the cobbled streets and schoolrooms of Limerick to the airwaves of RTÉ, Mac Mathúna became one of the most beloved...

  Denise Chaila The Limerick Voice Rewriting Irish Identity By Kieran Beville Denise Chaila has found her home in Limerick. She’s not just a performer here — she’s part of the place, its grit and poetry woven into her voice. When she walks into the light, she doesn’t need theatrics to command attention. She surveys the crowd with quiet confidence, lets a smile tug at her mouth and the room stills. She begins — and her voice moves like water, sometimes rushing, sometimes lapping gently, but always carrying you forward. From Zambia to the Shannon Chaila’s journey began far from the Irish midwest. Born in Chikankata-Mazabuka, Zambia, she spent her earliest years in a home steeped in education and community service. Her father, a neurological consultant, accepted a position in Dublin when she was just three. The move was seismic — not just geographically, but culturally. She remembers Ireland first through textures: the damp...

  The Stony Thursday Book Golden Jubilee By Kieran Beville When a small poetry journal outlives governments, economic booms and busts, and whole movements in literature, something extraordinary has occurred. This November marks the publication of the fiftieth-anniversary edition of The Stony Thursday Book, a Limerick-born poetry journal that has quietly, doggedly, and with admirable grace become one of the longest-running literary publications in Ireland. Fittingly, its founders, John Liddy and Jim Burke, have returned as guest editors for this golden jubilee edition, closing a remarkable circle that began in 1975 when they first decided that Limerick deserved a literary voice of its own. Fifty years on, that voice still rings — sometimes softly, sometimes with a rougher edge — but always with sincerity. The story of The Stony Thursday Book is one of perseverance and poetry, of civic imagination and cultural stubbornness. It is also, as its title hints, a story of Limerick ...

  Great Gig Ignites Musical Memories By Kieran Beville There are few things more reliable than the cathartic power of a great guitar riff. On Thursday, 30th October, at the University Concert Hall in Limerick, that truth was on full display when Rock Rising: The Supreme Classic Rock Show rolled into town. The audience was a cross-section of generations: grey-haired veterans in tour t-shirts from the 1980s sat beside students who might have first heard these songs through Spotify algorithms rather than vinyl sleeves. But once the opening chords tore through the hall, it didn’t matter who was from which decade. The music — the eternal language of melody, and shared memory — levelled everyone into a single, roaring congregation. The Concept Behind the Sound Rock Rising isn’t a band in the conventional sense, but a curated collective of top-tier Irish rock musicians dedicated to resurrecting the spirit of the greats. Conceived as a live theatre production rather than a mere co...