Laois musician to appear on Late Late Show this Friday

A Laois musician will perform on RTÉ's Late Late Show this Friday, as part of the programme's TradFest party.

Camross trad musician Molly Donnery will perform alongside Mundy, Cavan Gaeilgeoir Sinéad McKennaand Guadeloupean singer songwriter Ines Khai. Uilleann piper Louise Mulcahy, who made Fleadh history winning four senior all Ireland titles, will also be among the guests on Friday night’s show.

Molly Donnery is a critically acclaimed traditional Irish and contemporary singer from Camross. Best known for her vocals with emerging band The Haar, Molly’s style combines the emotive storytelling of the tradition with modern techniques and improvisation.

Since winning the All-Ireland Scór na nÓg in 2014, Molly has performed in renowned venues such as Croke Park, The National Concert Hall and the Helix. She has sung at multiple festivals including Electric Picnic and Body and Soul.

Pictured: Camross musician Molly Donnery 

Since the formation of the Haar in 2020, the band have released two improvised traditional-based music albums as well as remotely recorded singles during lockdown.

On The Haar’s most recent album, “Where Old Ghosts Meet”, Tradfolk described Molly’s vocals as a shining contribution to the record, her “evocative vocals guide the listener through every to-and-fro of this record, every ridge and furrow, every raging sea to trickling stream.”

The Summer of 2022 saw the Haar take to the main stage of the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, one of England’s most acclaimed folk festivals.

Having recently graduated from Film and Theatre Studies in Trinity College Dublin, Molly is currently balancing life as a freelance film producer while putting the final touches on her EP which will be released this coming March.

Other guests on this Friday's Late Late Show include folk singer songwriter Aoife Scott, musician Wallis Bird, singer songwriter Mike Hanrahan and sean-nós singer Seán Keane. 

Making it a proper session, multi-instrumentalist Alan Connor, guest fiddler with The Chieftains Tara Breen, folk singer-storyteller Daoirí Farrell and percussionist Robbie Harris will be in studio; with dancers Ruth Charles of Riverdance and Jordo and the Legs adding to the hooley!

Banjo player and former Dubliner Gerry O’Connor will be paying tribute to Dubliner Barney McKenna, while multi-instrumentalist Josephine Marsh and Nigerian Segun Arkano, frontman of The Yankari Afrobeat Collective will give performances to beat the band!
 
Also on Friday night, musicians will honour the late Johnny Duhan who passed away in November last year by performing The Voyage.
 
Combine all that with Dublin-born comedian David Nihill and you’ve got a great night of music and entertainment. David had a crippling fear of public speaking and tried standup comedy in an attempt to fight his phobia. Having overcome his fear, he has gone on to become the biggest selling Irish comedian in America and joins Patrick to share his extraordinary story. 
 
In a week that saw Elon Musk stake a claim on British politics and Donald Trump on Greenland; political podcasters Ivan Yates and Matt Cooper will join Patrick to reveal their predictions for the year ahead in global and Irish politics and how a Trump presidency will affect Ireland.

Catch Molly and guests on Friday's Late Late Show at 9:30pm.