West Cork culture hub’s programme is out the gap!
Having undergone extensive redevelopment in recent years, it’s safe to say that Briery Gap in Macroom is absolutely flying these days, and the rest of 2026 is looking particularly spectacular.
With new director Pat Carey firmly at the helm, the West Cork cultural hub has just revealed its autumn/winter programme and quite frankly, it’s astounding.
“You will find a great deal of Macroom and the surrounding areas this season,” said Pat. “We truly believe that we have something for everyone at Briery Gap over the next few months.”
This year marks the hub’s most wide-ranging programme since reopening in 2024, which officially kicked off last week with Cork’s own top comedian, Chris Kent.
Another September highlight is Culture Night on 18 September, with a solo piano meditation from Cork-based musician, As If I Always Knew, where patrons can join the artist on stage for a performance of improvised meditation music, followed by the sensational Irish Guitar Quartet. Admission for both events is free, but tickets must be booked in advance.
As the weather gets colder, Briery Gap will only get hotter with huge names like Hermitage Green making their debut there on the October Bank Holiday weekend.
Award-winning folk fusion group Kíla, whose music scored the Oscar-nominated animations ‘The Secret of Kells’ and ‘Song of the Sea’, play in November, while Irish rock sensation, Hothouse Flowers come to Macroom for an acoustic show in February 2027. In theatre, John B Keane's ‘The Field’ comes to the stage courtesy of Hunters Moon Theatre Company in early November.
Running right through the programme is an unusually strong local thread. Lissarda drummer John Philip Murray brings his jazz quartet in October. The Eagles tribute Dezperado return with the finest musicians in Cork playing the best of Eagles. ‘The Dowry’, a new play by Cork writer Derry Cotter, returns for two nights in October, while the exceptionally talented Greenshine play in March. Always a strong favourite with Macroom audiences, folk music is again at the heart of the programme with John Spillane, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Emma Langford, and Oisín Leech all visiting the theatre as part of the programme.
In November, Briery Gap will host Cormac McCarthy, Aoife Ní Bhriain, and Estonian musicians Duo Ruut for a very special night of music as part of the Cultural Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026. Drawing closer to home, the theatre will screen an award-winning portrait film of Tadhg McSweeney, the painter who spent his working life in the Muskerry Gaeltacht – by Macroom native Dónal Ó Céilleachair.
In an expansion of its work with young people, Briery Gap and West Cork Education Support Centre have announced a partnership for the benefit of primary school students. The collaboration begins this autumn with two innovative professional learning programmes rooted in Ireland's rich storytelling tradition and will expand in spring 2027 with the launch of the West Cork FÍS Film Project, culminating in a public celebration of young filmmakers at The Briery Gap Theatre.