What’s On in the Irish Community
Bloomsday in Melbourne events
Bloomsday in Melbourne is an annual celebration of James Joyce’s life and works, featuring theatrical productions, seminars, and cultural events inspired by his novel Ulysses. This year’s production is entitled Between the Lines and examines letters between James Joyce and comedy legend Groucho Marx.
The play runs from Wednesday 17th - Sunday 21st June at Fortyfive Downstairs in Flinders Lane. The annual seminar and lunch will be on Sunday 21st June from 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. at the Celtic Club.
2027 Lake School Launch
The launch of the 2027 Lake School of Celtic Music, Song & Dance will be held on Saturday 20th June at the Celtic Club, Sydney Rd. in Brunswick.
Special musical guest will be the 2026 Stars of the Lake, the Surround, comprised of young musicians Tully, Donncha, Sylvie and Pascal. Music session to follow, so bring along your instruments!
Bound for Australia: Anne Trotter's Needlework Specimen Book, 1840
Melbourne Irish Studies Seminar Series
JUNE 24, 2026.
4.30pm Melbourne time.
Dr Laura Jocic, Deakin University
Bound for Australia: Anne Trotter's Needlework Specimen Book, 1840
Camperdown's Robert Burns Celtic Festival
Camperdown’s Robert Burns Celtic Festival is running from Friday 26th – Sunday 28th June in Camperdown in southwestern Victoria.
This is a festival weekend full of music, history, dance, choirs, food, and fun celebrating our Celtic connections and Burns beyond Scotland. There’s now even more ceilidh action making it easy for everyone to join in the fun, along with Irish and Scottish dance concerts. There will also be history talks, music, food, pipe bands and ceilidhs.
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival will be running from Friday 26th – Saturday 27th June and features bands, choirs, sessions, dancing, storytelling and much, much more. There’s truly something for everyone!
Tickets range from $15 for the opening night concert to $55 for the full festival and are available via Ticketebo.
St. Kevin’s GAA Club 70 Years Dinner Dance
St. Kevin’s GAA Club is marking its 70th anniversary this year with a Dinner Dance. Join them in celebrating this milestone, the St. Kevin’s community and a piece of home away from home. They will also be recognising the dedication, effort and achievements of their players with their annual awards.
Pop-up Gaeltacht at The Dubliner, Mornington
Want to practice your cupla focal? The Dubliner Pub in Mornington will be holding a pop-up Gaeltacht on Sunday the 28th of June beginning at noon. All levels of Irish are welcome.
The Dubliner is located at 65A Octavia St. in Mornington. For more details, contact (03) 5975 3567.
Christmas in July at Gaelic Park – Save the Date
Christmas in July is back at Gaelic Park, 324 Perry Rd. in Keysborough on Sunday 5th July.
Details to follow, but save the date.
Irish Support Victoria morning tea @ Gaelic Park
Irish Support Victoria will be holding its next morning tea at Gaelic Park, 324 Perry Rd, in Keysborough, Monday 15th June at 10:30 a.m.
These morning teas provide an opportunity for those who live in that area to meet and catch up with old friends – and possibly make some new ones. Everyone is welcome.
Sunset Celtic music session at Chelsea Yacht Club
The next Sunset Celtic Music Session at the Chelsea Yacht Club will be on tomorrow Sunday 10th May from 4:00 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.
Newport Fiddle & Folk Club Slow & Steady Session
The Newport Fiddle & Folk Club will have its next Slow & Steady music session on Friday 12th of June at the Newport Scout Hall, 6 Market St. in Newport. Running from 7:30-9:30 p.m., all are welcome to this low-pressure space for musicians of all ages and skill levels to learn, play and enjoy Celtic music at a more relaxed “traditional” pace.
Apolline in Brunswick
Local group Apolline will be performing at the Retreat Hotel, 280 Sydney Rd. in Brunswick, this comping Tuesday 9th June at 7:00 p.m.
National Celtic Folk Festival, Portarlington
The launch of the 2027 Lake School of Celtic Music, Song & Dance will be held on Saturday 20th June at the Celtic Club, Sydney Rd. in Brunswick.
Special musical guest will be the 2026 Stars of the Lake, the Surround, comprised of young musicians Tully, Donncha, Sylvie and Pascal. Music session to follow, so bring along your instruments!
Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club Untamed Ceilidh
Join the Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club for a Scottish ceilidh dance on Thursday 28th May at the Hawthorn Town Hall. Dancing starts at 7:30 p.m. and all are welcome.
St. Kevin’s GAC Family Day
St. Kevin’s GAA club will have its Family Day on Sunday 24th May at Gaelic Park, Perry Rd. in Keysborough to coincide with Gaelic Park’s National Day.
National Day at Gaelic Park
Come on down to Gaelic Park, 324 Parry Rd. in Keysborough on Sunday 24th May for Irish National Day, an annual celebration of Irish culture.
Comhaltas Set Dance Workshop Weekend
Bookings are open for annual Comhaltas Set Dance Workshop Weekend, running from Friday 15th - Sunday 17th May at St. Martin de Porres Parish Hall in Avondale Heights. The special guest instructor this year is New Zealand’s Helen Stonehouse, who has been teaching Irish dancing for 30 years.
Stephen Regan on Yeats & Heaney - MISS
Melbourne Irish Studies Seminar Series
Singing School: W. B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney
Stephen Regan (Durham University and University of Melbourne)
Throughout his career, Seamus Heaney reflected on the poetry of W. B. Yeats as an example of both formal accomplishment and exemplary poetic outlook. Particular works by Yeats, including ‘Meditations in Time of Civil War’, ‘The Tower’ and ‘Cuchulain Comforted’, became touchstones for his own poetic practice, calling for vigilance in the face of political violence and social upheaval. The influence of Yeats is strongly marked in poems by Heaney such as ‘Singing School’ and ‘Casualty’, but the presence of his illustrious predecessor is also evident in the later, visionary poems of Seeing Things, in which Heaney both earnestly and light-heartedly composes ‘Set questions for the ghost of W.B.’ This lecture will seek to show how Heaney’s critical understanding of Yeats changes and develops in keeping with his own energetic self-development. It will propose that Heaney’s relationship with Yeats was never simply one of assent, but rather one of complex engagement, adjustment and refinement, out of which came some of his most powerful poems and prose.
Stephen Regan
Stephen Regan is Professor Emeritus at Durham University and also an honorary member of staff in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. He previously taught at Ruskin College, Oxford and Royal Holloway, University of London. His books include Irish Writing: An Anthology of Irish Literature in English 1789-1939 (OUP, 2004), The Sonnet (OUP, 2019) and The Penguin Book of Elegy, co-edited with Andrew Motion in 2023. He is one of the editors of the forthcoming Oxford History of Poetry in English, with responsibility for modern British and Irish poetry.
http://isaanz.org/events/miss-seminars/
As always this is a free public seminar open to everyone.
Sunset Celtic music session at Chelsea Yacht Club
The next Sunset Celtic Music Session at the Chelsea Yacht Club will be on tomorrow Sunday 10th May from 4:00 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.
Theatre: Never Closer
Never Closer – A Story of Home and Division
Old friends reunite on Christmas Eve — but tensions beneath the surface are ready to ignite. Melbourne premiere at fortyfive downstairs of a powerful new Irish drama set in 1987, exploring home, friendship and the choices that shape our lives.
Comhaltas Irish Weekend in Queenscliff
Irish Music & Dance Weekend – Queenscliff
Bookings are now open for a full weekend of workshops, music and céilí from 1–3 May.
Jim's Game at the MCG - Free with Irish Passport
Melbourne Football Club is hosting an Irish party at the MCG and the club is giving away FREE tickets to Irish passport holders.
Present your Irish passport at Gate 3, and receive a FREE ticket to the Demons vs. Lions match, which starts at 3:15 p.m.
Galway Rovers album launch
Celebrate the debut of Losing Ground with local band The Galway Rovers - Ciaran, Declan, and full band - Saturday 18 April, 1:00pm – John Curtin Hotel, Carlton
Melbourne Irish Studies Seminar
Dr. Sarah Corrigan and Alan Myers will present on the topic “Early Medieval Ireland in Relation to the Ocean.”
Irish Support Victoria Home from Home meetup
The next Home from Home parents/carers and babies/toddlers meetup will be on Thursday 9th April at 10:00 a.m. at Irish Support Victoria, 440A High St, Northcote.
If you have a wee one and are looking to meet up with other Irish parents, this is the place to be! For more info, contact Irish Support Victoria at 9482 3865.
Port Philip Dance Festival
The Victorian Folk Music Club presents the Port Philip Dance Festival. Running over Easter weekend, from Thursday 2nd – Monday 6th April, the Festival will include 7 dances, 6 live bands and 2 dance workshops. A variety of styles will be featured, including English, Scottish, Welsh, and contra dance.
Irish Support Victoria morning tea @ Gaelic Park
Irish Support Victoria (formerly the Irish Australian Support & Resource Bureau) will be holding its next morning tea at Gaelic Park, 324 Perry Rd, in Keysborough, this coming Monday 30th March at 10:30 a.m.
These morning teas provide an opportunity for those who live in that area to meet and catch up with old friends – and possibly make some new ones. Everyone is welcome.
Melbourne Highland Games & Celtic Festival
The Melbourne Highland Games & Celtic Festival, will be on from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Sunday 29th March at Eastfield Park in Croydon.
Newport Fiddle & Folk Club Events
The Newport Fiddle & Folk Club has a busy month coming up. Their next slow & steady sessions will be on 27th March, from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. at the Newport Scout Hall, 6 Market St. in Newport. $3 for NFFC members, $5 for non-members.
Melbourne Irish Festival at the Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy.
St Patrick's Family Fun Day
The St Patrick's Family Fun Day is an annual event hosted by the Melbourne Irish Festival. The not-for-profit event is open to all, and brings people together to celebrate Irish culture and heritage.
The festival is an opportunity to come together, reflect on the true nature of a modern and diverse Irish community, and its contribution to the fabric of Australian society today.
This festival REALLY needs your support this year, so do try to come along to this FREE family event. If you can’t make it, you can still support it by buying a raffle ticket. You might even win a round trip ticket to Ireland thanks to Emerald Travel. You have to be in it to win it!
Celtic Thunder at Hamer Hall
Irish supergroup Celtic Thunder its brand-new show An Intimate Evening with Celtic Thunder to Hamer Hall on Friday 20th March.
Celebrate the group’s most beloved songs as past and present members reunite for an unforgettable night filled with music, memories and camaraderie.
Melbourne Comhaltas Patrick’s Day Hooley
Come along and celebrate all things Irish with us on St. Patrick’s Day itself, Tuesday 17 March at St. Philip’s Anglican Church Hall, Hoddle St. in Abbotsford. Kicking off at 7:00 p.m., there will be music, song, dance and loads of craic for the whole family.
Melbourne Celtic Festival at the Mission to Seafarers
Melbourne Celtic Festival heads into our fifth year at the iconic Mission to Seafarers complex in The Docklands, Melbourne.
Another stacked lineup of local and international artists from living legends, The Bushwackers to our ‘Under 30s from 5.30pm’ in The Dome featuring young stars of contemporary traditional music, Out of Hand, Apolline and Homebru.
Irish Service Victoria - St Patrick’s Day Open House
The freshly renamed Irish Service Victoria ( formerlly IASRB) will be having an open house to celebrate the day. All are welcome to come in and celebrate our wonderful culture. Doors open from 10:30am
Irish Social Dance Association of Victoria Patrick’s Day Family Ceili
The Irish Australian Social Dance Association of Victoria will be holding a St. Patrick’s Family Ceili on Sunday 15 March at The Djerring Centre, Eddy Court, Abbotsford (behind St. Philip’s Anglican Church Hall and a short walk from Collingwood Station).
St. Kilda St. Patrick’s Festival in the O’Donnell Gardens.
Melbourne St. Patrick's Day Festival - St. Kilda 2026
The St Kilda St Patrick's Festival returns in 2026 for its 7th year as a one-day celebration of live music, culture, and community in one of Melbourne's most iconic bayside locations.
Celtic Club St Patrick’s Day Breakfast
After a highly successful debut in 2025, the Melbourne Celtic Club St Patrick’s Breakfast is back for 2026 at Zinc, Federation Square!
Join us as we launch St Patrick’s celebrations with an engaging and festive breakfast event, welcoming members, friends and families alike. Expect great food, inspiring guest speakers, live music, entertainment and Irish dancing, all set against the vibrant backdrop of Federation Square as we celebrate together in true Celtic spirit.
Highlights include:
- A delicious breakfast and light refreshments
- Uilleann pipes performed by Matthew Horsley
- Irish dancing performances
- Special guest appearance by the Melbourne Welsh Male Choir
Port Fairy Folk Festival
The 49th Port Fairy Folk Festival runs from Friday 6th – Monday 9th March. “From humble beginnings in 1977, the Port Fairy Folk Festival has become one of Australia’s largest and most loved festivals.”
Irish performers this year include Beoga, Grainne Hunt, Irish Mythen, the Ocelots and Mary Coughlan.
For tickets and more information, visit the Festival’s website at: portfairyfolkfestival.com.