← All events
music · Friday 25 September 2026 · 9:00pm 
These Charming Men - The Music of The Smiths
At Kavanaghs Bar & Venue · 28 Main Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
At Kavanaghs Bar & Venue · 28 Main Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
If you ever wished you could have seen The Smiths live, this is as close as it gets. These Charming Men have been performing the Smiths and Morrissey catalogue with genuine commitment since 1995 - over thirty years on the road, which gives you a fair idea of how seriously they take it. They have played the annual Smiths/Morrissey Convention in Los Angeles, filled in for Morrissey at Fuji Rock in Japan to a crowd of 35,000, and sold out Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre. A Friday night at Kavanaghs in Portlaoise is a smaller room, which means the whole thing hits harder.
The set draws from across The Smiths’ catalogue - expect “How Soon Is Now”, “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”, “This Charming Man”, “Girlfriend in a Coma” and the deep cuts that real fans come to hear. These Charming Men are not a novelty act; they are Dublin musicians who have spent decades getting the guitar jangle, the bass lines and the Morrissey-isms exactly right. The 2026 tour is tied to the 40th anniversary of The Queen Is Dead, so expect songs from that record to get particular attention on the night. Kavanaghs is a proper live music venue - a family-run pub that has hosted Tommy Tiernan, Ardal O’Hanlon and Flight of the Conchords over the years, so the room knows how to hold a crowd. Gig starts at 9pm; arrive a bit early to get your spot.
Portlaoise sits at the junction of the M7 (Dublin to Limerick) and M8 (Dublin to Cork) motorways, making it one of the most accessible county towns in Ireland by road. From Dublin it is about an hour; from Limerick or Cork roughly the same. Iarnród Éireann trains on the Dublin Heuston to Cork/Limerick line stop at Portlaoise - the station is a ten-minute walk from Main Street. Street parking is available in the town centre, and there are car parks off Main Street within easy walking distance of Kavanaghs.
Portlaoise town centre is compact and easy to move around on foot, with plenty of pubs and restaurants along the main drag if you want to eat before the gig. There is more to see in Portlaoise and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Kavanaghs Bar & Venue in Portlaoise? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Portlaoise area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.