Masters of Tradition, 21–25 August, Bantry, Co. Cork. 

Masters of Tradition is a five-day festival held each August in the West Cork town of Bantry featuring a series of performances covering the full spectrum of Irish traditional music.

Performances take place in Bantry House, one of Ireland’s historic mansions, and in St Brendan’s Church. This year’s festival features Cormac Begley, Florian Blancke, Dermot Byrne, Liam Byrne, Dennis Cahill, Yvonne Casey, Steve Cooney, Síle Denvir, Martin Hayes, Pádraic Keane, Philip King, Páraic Mac Donnchadha, Liam O’connor, Timothy O’Grady, Lisa O’Neill, Scullion, Sandy Silva, and Mohammad Syfkhan.

The festival is headlined by Artistic Director Martin Hayes, the fiddler from East Clare. He writes:

When we started this festival in 2003, my belief was that a sufficient audience with interest in the most authentic form of Irish music must surely exist; that the music itself does not have to be shaped and bent to meet the perceived needs of an audience. In its purest form it speaks a universal language. I have sat through almost all of the performances each year of this festival and every time I leave Bantry, I do so with a renewed faith in the strength of this music.