← All events
music · Sunday 19 July 2026 · 3:00pm 
Ancient Music Ireland at Music in the Forest
At Dorlindon Nature Sanctuary · Kilmacanogue, Co. Wicklow
At Dorlindon Nature Sanctuary · Kilmacanogue, Co. Wicklow
Simon O’Dwyer and Maria Cullen O’Dwyer, co-founders of Ancient Music Ireland, bring their programme “Voices of Deities” to a forest clearing in the Wicklow hills for one afternoon this July. This is music archaeology as live performance - not a lecture, not a re-enactment, but an hour or two of actual sound from instruments that predate writing in Ireland. If you have ever wondered what this island sounded like two or three thousand years ago, this is the closest you will get.
The O’Dwyers play accurate reproductions of ancient Irish instruments, pairing them throughout the presentation so you hear the instruments in dialogue as they would originally have been played. The programme moves through time - starting with the Wicklow Pipes, the oldest known musical instrument found in Ireland, dated to around 2,240 BC and discovered at Charlesland in Co. Wicklow - then continuing through the Bronze Age horn, the Iron Age, and into the Early Medieval period.
The setting is Dorlindon’s “Cathedral of Trees,” a natural forest amphitheatre reached by a ten-minute walk along forest tracks. The whole thing runs from 3pm to 5pm. It is an outdoor afternoon concert, quiet and unhurried, with the sounds of ancient horns carrying through the trees. A portion of proceeds goes to the Children’s Health Foundation, which supports paediatric patients in Irish hospitals.
Kilmacanogue sits just off the N11 south of Bray - about 35 minutes from Dublin city centre by car or a short drive from the M11 junction. The DART does not reach Kilmacanogue, but Bus Eireann services running the N11 corridor stop in the area; check the timetable and allow time to walk from the road. By car, the venue is signed from the village. Parking on site is limited and restricted to ticket holders - carpooling is strongly encouraged, and the car park is unsupervised. Gates open at 2pm.
The village sits at the foot of the Great Sugar Loaf, one of the most recognisable peaks in Leinster, and is a short drive from Powerscourt and the Sally Gap. There is more to see in Kilmacanogue and across Co. Wicklow.
Heading to Dorlindon Nature Sanctuary in Kilmacanogue? Wicklow has plenty more to see. Read the Kilmacanogue area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.