Live Music in Laois

The Laois live music scene

Laois sits in the centre of the country between Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Offaly, and almost all of its listed live music happens in Portlaoise. LocalJams holds 19 venues for the county, with Portlaoise accounting for eight of them and nearly every upcoming gig; Durrow, Abbeyleix, Castletown, Ballybrittas, Clonaslee and Cullohill have venues on file that list only occasionally. Around 40 gigs are listed over the coming months, three-quarters of them ticketed, and rock is the most common tag ahead of folk.

The Dunamaise Arts Centre is the busiest listed venue, with a ticketed programme that runs from Here Comes The Girls and The Piano Man to The Andrea Bocelli Experience, a Night of a Thousand Praise and the musical Young Frankenstein, plus the Portlaoise Spotlight Sessions on Tuesday evenings. Kavanaghs on Main Street is the county's rock room, with Emma Hynes, Smash Hits, Swords Of Light, Run To The Beast and The Riptide Movement all listed through the autumn. The Midlands Park Hotel on Jessop Street covers the tribute and folk end with Spirit Of Smokie, Dan McCabe, The Bjorn Identity's ABBA tribute and Foster and Allen. Outside the town, the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel lists Lonrú and De La Salle Castletown Retreats a harp recital by Adriano Sangineto.

No free-entry gigs are flagged in Laois at present, and the only recurring session-style listing is the Dunamaise's Spotlight Sessions.

Live music in Laois: FAQ