Saturday 04th April 2026
Location: The Set Theatre, John St.
SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2026 20:00
All shows are over 18’s unless specified
(once purchased, tickets cannot be refunded, unless the event is cancelled)
“The root of a song is to feel strongly about something. And with my songs, I try to make the listener feel something. I don’t write hits, I write healers.”
Welcome to the wonderful world of Damien Dempsey.
Born and raised in the mid-1970s in Donaghmede, a Northside suburb of Dublin, Damien trained as a boxer with his older brothers, competing for Dublin before committing himself to music. Releasing his debut album, They Don’t Teach This Shit In School, in 2000, Damien soon formed a long-term working relationship with producer/musician John Reynolds, subsequently touring with Sinead O’Connor in 2002 and 2003 and releasing his second album, Seize The Day in May 2003.
Further albums included Shots (2005), To Hell or Barbados (2007), The Rocky Road (2008) and Almighty Love (2012), before a best-of album entitled It’s All Good, in 2014, summarised Damien’s career to date with customary aplomb.
After that No Force On Earth, featuring the traditional song, James Connolly – which Damien had become known for singing at protests against water charges introduced by the Irish government – surfaced in 2016 to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Rising, whilst Soulsun (2017) – an album that paired Damien with a selection of celebrated female vocalists, including Dido, Imelda May – and Union (2018) – an unusual twist on the Christmas duets album, featuring Sinead O’Connor, Kate Tempest and John Grant – showed just how far this unique Irish singer-songwriter had progressed in history’s blink of an eye.
In October 2021, Damien released Love Yourself Today, a powerful documentary and concert film, naturally the film centres around Damien’s music – in particular, the annual Christmas shows he plays at Vicar Street, performances that have become a cathartic ritual, a safe space where emotions can be laid bare – but what makes the film so special is the way it juxtaposes the concert footage with three of his fans’ personal histories.
Two years later, in February 2023, Tales From The Holywell, a two-hour one-man show directed by Conor McPherson and featuring Damien himself performing songs interspersed with humorous anecdotes and tales from his childhood and the early stages of his career, enjoyed an eighteen-date sell-out run at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
2024 saw the release of Hold Your Joy, arguably his best and most commercial album to date.
Please note: this is a standing show with limited seating available upstairs.
Organisers Website

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