Search Results for:

Prestige Drama by Séamas O’Reilly

The stunning debut novel from bestselling memoirist and storyteller, perfect for fans of The Bee Sting and Wild Houses. Séamas O’Reilly joins us in conversation.

Derry is already abuzz with news that famous American actor, Monica Logue, has flown to the city and will be starring in a new series set during the Troubles. And then she goes missing…

All eyes are on Diarmuid, the flaky scriptwriter who was the last to see Monica alive. From budding young actors hoping for a role to grieving parent whose story forms the backbone of the TV show; newspaper editors covering the mystery to taxi drivers hearing all the news from their clients, Prestige Drama follows the city’s cast as they try to locate themselves in Monica’s disappearance.

Séamas O’Reilly’s debut novel is a comedy about dramatising tragedy and the responsibilities of a teller to a tale. It brings to life the voices of a city, the people, families and communities who find themselves obsessed with, and terrified of, interrogating their past.

SÉAMAS O’REILLY is a writer and author who has worked as a columnist for the Observer, the Irish Times and the Irish Examiner. He is Features Editor of London satirical magazine, The Fence and his writing has appeared in The Guardian, the New Statesman and the New York Times.

His memoir Did Ye Hear Mammy Died topped the Irish Times Bestseller List for seven weeks, and won Best Biography at the 2021 Irish Book Awards. Séamas currently lives in Walthamstow, London with his family.

Moon Songs: The Phoebe Bridgers Project/Amhráin na Gealaí: Tionscadal Phoebe Bridgers

AMHRÁIN NA GEALAÍ -TIONSCADAL PHOEBE BRIDGERS
Meascann Phoebe Bridgers ceol tíre acústaice le popcheol leictreonach aislingeach agus tá cáil ar a cuid sárliricí a chuimsíonn briseadh croí, caillteanas, creideamh, caidreamh teaghlaigh agus teacht in inmhe.
Comhrá a bhíonn ar siúl aici ina cuid amhrán a tharraingíonn an t-éisteoir isteach i dtírdhreacha mothúchánacha atá greannmhar agus fírinneach. Thug Rolling Stone ardmholadh dá scil mar chumadóir.

Phoebe Bridgers is known for exquisite lyrics that explore themes of heartbreak, loss, family relationships and coming-of-age.

Amhráin na Gealaí features her songs translated into Irish by poets Caitríona Ní Chléirchín and Dairena Ní Chinnéide, and performed by Belfast indie-pop artist Aoibha, of whom Hot Press has declared ‘her gripping vocals could halt anyone in their tracks’ – and by Jessie Dingle, who wowed audiences with her dynamic performance at IMRAM 2024’s Taylor Swift Project.

The lyrics will be projected on-screen with art selected by visual designer Margaret Lonergan.

A Certain Ratio

English post-punk originals A Certain Ratio return to the Black Box, bringing their unmistakable collision of funk, dub, electronics and dance-floor grit. Still restless, still unclassifiable, ACR deliver groove-heavy industrial realness with a sharp, modern edge.

The show celebrates the release of ACR:BOX, marking 40 years since their debut — the Martin Hannett-produced All Night Party, which also happened to be Factory Records’ very first single. A landmark moment, then and now.

Emerging from the late-’70s post-punk explosion, A Certain Ratio never followed the rules — and never sounded like anyone else. Their forward-thinking punk-funk experiments helped shape the future, leaving fingerprints on artists from LCD Soundsystem and Happy Mondays to Franz Ferdinand, ESG and Factory Floor.

Across a genre-defying catalogue — spanning releases on Factory, A&M, and Robs Records — ACR fused avant-funk, jazz, tape loops, electronics and raw post-punk attitude into something entirely their own. Music that moved the body, challenged the mind, and looked impossibly cool doing it.

Four decades on, the sound still hits hard. The groove still cuts deep. And A Certain Ratio still refuse to stand still.

This event takes place in a licensed venue; therefore, admission to the performance is limited to guests aged 18+.

Glasshouse perform Sigur Rós

We’re delighted to welcome acclaimed Dublin music ensemble Glasshouse back to CQAF to reimagine the work of Icelandic giants Sigur Rós for their ensemble.

Arranger Robert Reid Allan crafts new textures and dynamic arcs that honour the band’s luminous sound and reveal unexpected detail and intimacy.

Drawing from across their catalogue, the programme traces whisper-soft incantations to sky-wide crescendos, inviting listeners into a landscape of shimmering harmony, pulsing rhythm and suspended time.

Join us to celebrate the enduring influence of Sigur Rós and experience these songs anew . A rare chance to hear iconic tracks lovingly reimagined in concert, in a setting built for deep listening.

The Steve White Trio

Legendary drum master Steve White of The Style Council, Paul Weller and more announces live shows with his new band launching his new album ‘Soul Drums’ on Acid Jazz Records

Steve White came to fame as drummer with The Style Council appearing on the majority of the band’s recordings throughout the 1980’s and touring around the world including appearing at ‘Live Aid’ in 1985.

When the Style Council broke up Steve White co-founded his own group with saxophonist Alan Barnes – The Jazz Renegades – who were one of the first bands from the ‘Acid Jazz’ movement. Steve went on to perform with Galliano, The Young Disciples, JTQ and more around that time.

Steve White joined the Paul Weller Movement in 1991 and continued to record and perform with Paul Weller throughout the first few decades of his solo career.

Steve White has recorded albums with Mick Talbot from the Style Council as Talbot/White and the Players group with Mick Talbot and Damon Minchella. 2008 saw Steve form the highly acclaimed Trio Valore with Damon Minchella and in 2015 Damon & Steve formed The Family Silver with ex-Mother Earth vocalist Matt Deighton.

Steve White has also appeared live with Oasis, The Who, Ocean Colour Scene, Jon Lord, Ginger Baker, La Roux, Ian Dury and many more.

da Googie + Cara Tivey present The Golden Thread

da Googie is the solo project of Deb Googe, the bass player in My Bloody Valentine and Thurston Moore Group. da Googie blends traditional basslines with more abstract noises and field recordings to create songs based around intricate, layered soundscapes.

Cara Tivey is a pianist and composer. During the 80s and 90s, Cara worked as a session keyboardist, touring and recording with various bands, including Everything But The Girl, Billy Bragg, and Blur during their Parklife era. She later taught music and Performing Arts at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford.

Despite decades of stellar work, neither Deb nor Cara have ever released an album under their own names until now, with The Golden Thread, their full-length debut made under the name da Googie + Cara Tivey.

Immersive Visuals designed by Deb Googe and operated and installed by The Fully Automatic Model

(This is the second event in the Oh Yeah Presents immersive series, following the commission of VANTA during Sound of Belfast 2025. Each one is unique.)

About the Artists

Deb Googe joined My Bloody Valentine during its ascent to legend, Deb joined My Bloody Valentine, and then filled a temporary void in Primal Scream. She also aided in Thurston Moore’s late-period artistic high, formed Snowpony with Stereolab’s Katharine Gifford, and played bass in ex-Fall guitarist Brix Smith’s all-female band.

Cara Tivey may be best known as a long-time collaborator of Billy Bragg, but she has also played with a remarkable array of artists, including Everything But The Girl, Blur, Lilac Time, Au Pairs, and the greatest living genius of the West Midlands, Robert Lloyd of Nightingales fame.

The Fully Automatic Model is a multidisciplinary artist from Derry working with digital projection, generative art and light as a sculptural medium.

PRESS FOR THE GOLDEN THREAD

The Golden Thread is an overdue declaration of artistry from two musicians whose work has long underpinned the music of others. The past lingers, but here, it twists, tightens, and trembles into something altogether different. — Post-punk.com

This is no mere side project, but very much music in its own zone. The songs vary from mesmerizing drone pieces to a captivating cascade of arpeggios hooking around the neo-industrial drum patterns. — Louder Than War

An atmospheric, cutting-edge, experimental tapestry of dark, magical musical textures and songs by an English duo of seasoned, innovative collaborators in a superb debut LP together. The album is also decorated with clever, entrancing videos created by Googe, making it a fabulously original release, truly unlike anything else out there. — The Song Bar

“Dumb”is available on YouTube as a fantastic video created by Deb herself, featuring absurdities captured in animated (and public domain) footage—such as a rodent army, ape-like men alongside man-like apes, and brainless birds—along with their even sadder human equivalents, captured on film. By the time you read this, a second video,”Bad Habits,” will likely have already appeared.

Bronagh Gallagher

‘I have adored and collected disco records all my life.

I am a child of the 70s and have deep admiration for the extraordinary productions from Quincy Jones to The Bee Gees, from Nile Rogers and Allen Toussaint to Winston Monseque and Motown to name but a few. They have created some of the most loved and celebrated productions of the 20th century.

The dance floor is a place of union and love of people, the celebration of dance and the human body, and the unification of people with no judgement, borders, racism or homophobia.

So here is my humble offering to the dancefloor.’

Hannah Casey-Brogan : Iarmhaireacht

In Iarmhaireacht (pronounced ee-war-acht), Hannah Casey-Brogan extends her exploration of landscape, colour, scale, and composition through a new body of small watercolour paintings on aluminium and drawings.

In this exhibition, Casey-Brogan deepens her engagement with drawing as a spatial and perceptual practice. Working at an intimate , closely held scale, she allows colour, shape, and surface to carry a quiet intensity. Colour moves gently across the works like weather—slow fronts warming and cooling the surface. Forms hover between cloud, cave, horizon, and planet. The palette feels borrowed from elsewhere: the soft-saturated neons of children’s picture books, galaxies imagined at the kitchen table, colours chosen before hesitation intervenes.

The title Iarmhaireacht—the hush of the early hours when the house has finally stilled—marks the threshold space in which these worlds are made. It is a time when thought loosens and inner and outer landscapes dissolve, allowing the real and the imagined to share the same light. The landscapes that appear here are familiar yet not entirely ours: Ireland, perhaps, seen from a slight distance; this planet, maybe, but tilted toward another possible version of itself. They are places just out of reach—close enough to recognise, far enough to long for.

Biography

Hannah Casey-Brogan is a landscape painter based in Belfast. She holds a first-class honours degree in Fine Art from The Belfast School of Art, as well as Master’s degrees in Embroidery and Painting. Her work has been exhibited across the UK and Ireland, including the Ulster Museum, CCA Derry, and The MAC Belfast, and internationally. Her practice has been supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council.

Curated by Feargal O’Malley

Supported By

dormant
embrace
FHM
up

Contact

The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and Out To Lunch are annual festivals of music, comedy, theatre, art and literature which take place in January and May in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Join our mailing list to keep up to date with festival news, events and early ticket releases.

View Our Privacy Policy

Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival / Out To Lunch Arts Festival
Unit 8
Northern Whig House
Bridge Street
Belfast
BT1 1LU