The Cork Folk Festival is preparing for a spectacular 45th edition from 2-6^th October!

A highlight of this year’s festival will be a very special 45th Anniversary Concert at Cork Opera House, featuring virtuoso fiddler Frankie Gavin presenting the latest incarnation of De Dannan with Catherine Mc Hugh on piano, Ian Kinsella on guitar, Diarmuid Ó Meachair on melodeon and Kaitlin Cullen-Verhauz on cello.

One of Ireland’s most gifted songwriters, Cork’s Jack O’Rourke, joins De Dannan for a night of music not to be missed.

Frankie Gavin & De Dannan

Frankie Gavin, from Galway, Ireland, is one of the most visionary and inspiring virtuoso Irish fiddlers in the world; the founder, heart and core of the legendary band De Dannan.

​Coming from a musical family, Frankie Gavin has played fiddle and flute since his teenage years. At the age of seventeen, he won All-Ireland competitions for fiddle and flute.

Originally influenced by the great Irish and American-Irish fiddle players such as James Morrison, he later found himself playing with stars: The Rolling Stones, Stephane Grappelli, James Galway and Yehudi Menuhin, and for celebrity audiences including four American presidents: J. F. K on his 1962 visit to Ireland, followed later by Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama.

Perhaps most importantly, the name Frankie Gavin is synonymous with De Dannan, the globally celebrated band he founded with Alec Finn in the mid-1970s. Over the years, there have been a numerous star-studded line-ups, and 2023 saw the birth of the latest incarnation of the band. De Dannan now comprises Frankie Gavin on fiddle and flute, Catherine Mc Hugh on piano, Ian Kinsella on guitar, Diarmuid Ó Meachair on melodeon and Kaitlin Cullen-Verhauz on vocals and cello.

​Since their formation, the new band have played at Wickham Festival (UK), Ballyshannon Folk and Traditional Music Festival, The All-Ireland Fleadh, Mujllingar, Tonder Festivak (Denmark), and Belfast Tradfest.

Jack O’Rourke

Jack O’Rourke was described by Hotpress as “one of Ireland’s most gifted songwriters” in a review for his 2019 album, Ivory Towers. A Corkonian, Jack certainly references the musicality of Leeside turn of phrase, but his songs explore unique character studies, matters of the heart and are deeply personal, yet universal. This particularly rings true on his most-recent third album, Wild Place.

Jack manages to combine that most difficult and delicate of writing traits – the ability to convey the personal whilst making it universal. The piano always remains central to what Jack does. His songs are innovative yet rooted in the traditions of folk, blues and parlour ballads – this juxtaposition of the past and the present has led to national radio play, international festival appearances, winning the Nashville Songwriting Competition (judges including Tom Waits) and playing St. James’ Church in Dingle for Other Voices after the release of his critically acclaimed 2nd collection of songs, Ivory Towers.