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music · Friday 14 August 2026 · 8:00pm 
Irish Chamber Orchestra at Kilkenny Arts Festival
At St. Canice's Cathedral · St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
At St. Canice's Cathedral · St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
On a warm August evening in Kilkenny, the Irish Chamber Orchestra brings one of its most distinctive programmes to St Canice’s Cathedral - a concert that draws on myth, folklore and virtuosity in equal measure. “The Devil, The Witch and The Warlock” is built for listeners who want classical music to feel alive and a little dangerous. It suits anyone who enjoys serious playing delivered with drama, and the cathedral setting makes that drama land all the harder.
The Irish Chamber Orchestra describes this programme as a place “where myth, folklore, and virtuosity collide - thrilling, and deeply human.” That is not marketing language for its own sake: the ICO has a well-earned reputation for choosing repertoire that holds a story, and for playing it with intensity that fills a stone building. Organist and pianist James McVinnie - who also performs his own solo recital earlier in the festival week - joins the orchestra as a collaborator, bringing his formidable technique to a programme shaped around elemental and supernatural themes.
St Canice’s Cathedral has been one of the signature venues of Kilkenny Arts Festival for over four decades. Its stone walls and hammerbeam timber ceiling give it an acoustic that chamber orchestras rarely get to exploit - resonant without being muddy, capable of making a small ensemble sound considerably larger. The nave holds up to 500 people, so this is a proper concert rather than an intimate recital, and the space rewards the scale.
Kilkenny city sits roughly midway between Dublin and Waterford on the M9 motorway, about 120km south-west of the capital. By car from Dublin, allow an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half depending on traffic. By rail, Kilkenny MacDonagh station is served by Irish Rail on the Dublin Heuston to Waterford line; the journey from Heuston takes around one hour forty minutes. Bus Eireann and Dublin Coach also run regular services from Dublin. St Canice’s Cathedral is at the northern end of Kilkenny city, a short walk from the city centre - parking is available in several surface and multi-storey car parks nearby, though the city fills quickly during the Arts Festival and arriving early or using park-and-walk is sensible.
Kilkenny Arts Festival runs from 6 to 16 August 2026, so there is a full ten days of music, visual art, literature and performance across the city to build a visit around. The medieval streets, Kilkenny Castle and the Butler Gallery all reward time between concerts. There is more to see in Kilkenny and across Co. Kilkenny.
Heading to St. Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny? Kilkenny has plenty more to see. Read the Kilkenny area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.