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Musician Liam O’Connor back and busier than ever

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By Sean Moriarty

Local musician Liam O’Connor has gone from zero to hero following the lifting on the ban on live music as a result of pandemic restrictions.

On Saturday he played his first gig in over 18 months, next Friday he will release a new single, and before that he will play a special gig in London.

Liam and his family played at the Kerry County Council organised ‘ANSEO’ concert in North Kerry that was run to coincide with the Listowel Harvest Festival last weekend.

It was his first live show since he played at St Brendan’s College, Killarney when he shared the stage with special guest, former Irish rugby coach, Joe Schmidt. That event took place on March 11, 2020, the night before the country entered its first COVID-19 lockdown.

The ‘ANSEO’ series of concerts signalled the return of live music in Kerry and the O’Connor family shared the stage with other local musicians like Tim O’Shea and his Afro Trad Ireland group.

“People were delighted, they were mad for it, they were obviously missing it,” Liam told the Killarney Advertiser. “But they are not letting go just yet, they are still a bit hesitant.”

This Sunday Liam heads to London were he will help Dan Tim O’Sullivan steer sheep over Southwark Bridge (see page 36 for more on this story).

To cap an exceptionally busy period for the local accordion player, he has joined forces with Moya Brennan of Clannad fame. Brennan and O’Connor will release a new single – ‘Strong in Numbers’ on Friday next, October 1.

They previously performed together at a concert in the Friary in 2017.

“It was such a positive experience for all of us we just had to repeat it,” he added. “So not only have we done this recording of ‘Strong in Numbers’ but we are planning to do the Friary again later this year. After that, I wouldn’t rule anything out.”

Meanwhile, the ‘ANSEO’ series visits Killarney on Sunday night.

The Fair Hill car park will host two shows featuring: The Gleneagle Concert Band; Pauline Scanlon with Mick Galvin; The Small Hours; The Rising; Cathal Flaherty and Truly Diverse.

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10-minute plays will linger in the memory

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The West End House School of Arts is delighted to take part in this year’s St Patrick’s Day Festival with a special evening of entertaining readings on Friday, March 13 at 7.30pm.

It promises to be a vibrant showcase of five original 10-minute plays written by emerging local playwrights, each of whom has recently completed a playwriting course with Fiona Doyle (pictured).


Diverse in style and subject matter, these beautifully crafted pieces promise an evening of laughter, tears, and powerful storytelling and each reading will be performed by West End House actors from Kerry.


Together, they highlight the remarkable talent of these up-and-coming writers and actors, who are the future of theatre in our community.

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Get your scrap together

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Following the success of the first ever Killarney Lions Club scrap metal collection in 2025, the Club will again run the event this year in partnership with KWD Recycling on March 28, at Killarney Racecourse.

Similar to 2025, money raised through recycling the metal will go towards improving facilities for families attending the children’s cancer unit in Cork University Hospital, as part of an overall fundraising drive being coordinated by Lions Clubs all over Munster.

The Club is asking people to bring non-ferrous scrap metals such as aluminium, copper, brass, zinc and stainless steel (no white goods such as fridges/cookers washing machines). Volunteers will be on hand from 9am until 4pm to take donations of scrap and work with KWD Recycling to remove it for processing.

“Although Lions Clubs in Munster have already raised some funds for CUH, more is still needed, so we’re delighted that KWD Recycling is working with us again to support this very worthwhile cause”, said Jason Higgins, President of Killarney Lions Club. “We’re asking anyone who has scrap metal at home, at work or on the farm now or in the next few weeks to please bring it to the Racecourse on the day because everything we collect will make a difference.”

Tadhg Healy, Sales Manager at KWD Recycling added that “We will recycle any high quality scrap metal that we collect – it can be quite valuable and of course it’s better for the environment if it’s recycled instead of being dumped. On top of that, the main thing with this collection is to help families of children with cancer, so hopefully we’ll get a good response from everyone and raise as much money as possible through this event”.

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