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music · Friday 17 July 2026 · 6:30pm 
Damien Dempsey - Live at Iveagh Gardens
At Iveagh Gardens · Clonmel Street, Dublin 2
At Iveagh Gardens · Clonmel Street, Dublin 2
Damien Dempsey - Damo to anyone who has been to one of his shows - returns to the Iveagh Gardens on 17 July 2026 for what is already shaping up to be one of the summer’s most anticipated nights. This is not background music at a festival: it is a full headline show from one of Ireland’s most fiercely original songwriters, a man who has spent three decades writing about working-class Dublin, addiction, colonialism and love with equal conviction. If you have never seen him live, the Iveagh Gardens is about as good a place to start as exists in this country.
Dempsey’s sets draw on more than twenty years of studio work - Colony, Apple of My Eye, It’s All Good, Ghosts of Overdoses - but the experience is less a catalogue review than a communal event. Dublin crowds sing back entire songs. There is a warmth between the man and his audience that builds across the night, with quieter storytelling moments sitting alongside the anthems. The Iveagh Gardens adds something to that: the walled Victorian setting, Ninian Niven’s original landscaping from 1865, the open sky overhead. Capacity is around 5,000, which keeps it intimate by outdoor-show standards. Bars run along the sides of the main stage area and generally move quickly; street food stalls cover burgers, spice bags, dumplings and similar. Gates open at 6:30pm, giving time to settle in before the main set.
Bag restrictions apply - check the Ticketmaster listing or Aiken Promotions before you go, as large bags and backpacks are typically not admitted. Dress for the weather: the show goes ahead rain or shine.
The venue entrance is on Clonmel Street, off Harcourt Street in Dublin 2 - there is no access from the Hatch Street gate on show nights. The Luas Green Line is the easiest option: Harcourt stop is a two-minute walk from the gate, and the Green Line connects directly to St Stephen’s Green from the city centre. From Connolly Station, take the Red Line to Abbey Street and transfer to the Green Line (four stops to Harcourt). Dublin Bus routes 151, 56A, 77A and 44 all stop nearby. Parking in the immediate area is very limited on event nights; public transport is the sensible call.
The Iveagh Gardens sit within easy reach of St Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street and the National Concert Hall - a good stretch of the city to explore before or after the show. There is more to see in Dublin and across Co. Dublin.
Heading to Iveagh Gardens in Dublin? Dublin has plenty more to see. Read the Dublin area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.