Lisa O' Neill #CLMF26
Sat 26 Sep 2026
7pm
€33
Coughlans Live Music Festival 2026 | Lisa O' Neill
Renowned for her distinctive voice, fearless songwriting and spellbinding stage presence, O’Neill has become one of the most vital and respected figures in contemporary folk music. Her songs weave together history, politics, compassion and myth, delivered with a rare emotional honesty that has earned her widespread critical acclaim.
It’s been an extraordinary period for O’Neill, whose recent releases have cemented her reputation as a singular artistic voice. Her work has been critically acclaimed across the globe, by the like of BBC 6 Music, The Guardian, Mojo, Uncut, NPR, The Irish Times and The New York Times. Her album All Of This Is Chance which hit the number 1 spot in the Irish Independent charts, was widely ranked among the best releases of that year, with BBC 6 Music’s Gideon Coe naming it Album of the Year.
In late 2025 O’Neill released 'The Wind Doesn’t Blow This Far Right’ EP. The EP comprises six tracks that Lisa considers to fit together well, they include the haunting rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘All The Tired Horses’ that was recorded to soundtrack
the closing scene of the final episode of Peaky Blinders, plus ‘Homeless In The Thousands (Dublin in the Digital Age)’ featuring Peter Doherty, which was released as a stand-alone single in 2025 in response to the growing issue of homelessness in Dublin and across Ireland. Added to these are a new song and recent live favourite ‘Mother Jones’ about the activist and union organiser Mary G. Harris Jones, who in 1902 was called ‘the most dangerous woman in America’ - following her organising of miners against mine owners leading directly to the introduction of America’s first child labour laws. The EP is completed with a stunning version of the seasonally topical ‘The Bleak Midwinter’ and a moving reading of the James Stevens poem ‘Autumn 1915’.
A compelling live performer and natural raconteur, O’Neill’s concerts are known for their intimacy and intensity, moving effortlessly between stark, socially engaged songs and moments of warmth, humour and reflection. Audiences can expect material spanning her celebrated catalogue, alongside newer work that continues her tradition of giving voice to the unheard and overlooked.
Lisa O’Neill has also recently toured extensively across Ireland, the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand with performances celebrating the legacy of The Pogues and Shane MacGowan. Later this year she will rejoin The Pogues and other special guests to embark on further European dates.
“Giving voice to the disenfranchised is something she does so well, with a particular affinity for women – “Woman is powerful when not restricted”- she says…. And she is emblematic of this, with a free singularity that can fold in difficult subjects, such as homelessness…” - The Irish Times – live Gate Theatre review
“The Cavan songwriter has grown in stature in recent years as a valued chronicler of the disenfranchised. Songs of social, political and cultural issues preoccupy her as she proves as adept a storyteller as the playwrights long associated with this room.” - The Sunday Business Post - live Gate Theatre review
“O’Neill is a cultural hero in her own right… a modern artist tapped into the ancient.” - New York Times
“The first indisputable classic of 2023” - Uncut (9/10 Album Review)
“Stunning, cinematic” - NPR Music
“A record that makes a lasting impact… beautiful and evocative” - Aquarium Drunkard
“Uncompromising, stunning, soul-shaking stuff.” - The Guardian
“A beautiful and bold album” – PopMatters
“In a word. Mesmeric” - Songlines (5/5 Lead ‘Top Of The World’ Review)
“You’ll be lucky to hear a better record all year” – The Sunday Times, Culture (5/5 Album Review)
“Quite simply a modern masterpiece” – The Morning Star (5/5 Album Review)
“There’ll scarcely be a better record released this year than All Of This Is Chance.” – Hot Press (9/10 Album Review)
‘'All Of This Is Chance' is an epic canyon of sense and sound... a timeless piece of work, wholly unbound by style or genre, a universal shot of medicinal magic.’’ - Folk Radio (Album Of The Month)
“You’re unlikely to hear a more original, more powerful, more breathtaking release than this all year” - Narc Magazine (5/5 Album Review)
“A strikingly individual album, a cohesive whole musically and lyrically and unlike anything you’ll hear elsewhere.” - The Arts Desk (4/5 Album Review)
