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arts · Saturday 18 July 2026 · Various 
36th Joe Mooney Summer School
At Drumshanbo Community · Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim
At Drumshanbo Community · Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim
Every July, traditional musicians and dancers descend on the small town of Drumshanbo for a week that has quietly become one of the most respected events in the Irish music calendar. The Joe Mooney Summer School - now in its 36th year - is not a passive festival where you sit and watch. It is a school in the real sense: people come to play, to learn, and to spend evenings in the kind of free-flowing session that only happens when a hundred musicians end up in the same town at the same time. It suits beginners who have always wanted to learn the whistle or the fiddle, experienced players looking for a week of immersion, and anyone who simply loves the music and wants to be around it.
The week runs from 18 to 25 July 2026 at the Drumshanbo Community Centre. Classes run across most of the traditional canon - flute, uilleann pipes, tin whistle, concertina, fiddle, bodhrán and Irish céilí dancing. All classes are graded by ability so beginners are not thrown in with advanced players. Beginner classes are specifically available for whistle, fiddle, bodhrán, set dancing, sean nós dancing and singing. Children and juniors have their own classes too, including junior sean nós dancing.
Beyond the daytime instruction there are two main concerts (the Opening Concert and the Grand Traditional Concert, each at 8 PM and €15 admission), as well as céilís, open-air sessions, recitals and informal pub sessions that carry on well into the night. The school is named in honour of Joe Mooney, a Drumshanbo man who did a great deal to keep Leitrim’s musical culture alive, and the event still carries that local, community-rooted character even as it draws participants from across Ireland and abroad.
Registration closes on Friday 12 July 2026. The 2026 programme and full class schedule are published on the official website, with online booking available.
Drumshanbo sits on the southern shore of Lough Allen in south Leitrim. By road from Dublin, take the N4 west and follow signs for Drumshanbo from Carrick-on-Shannon - around 20 minutes’ drive from Carrick. From Sligo, the N16 brings you south-east through Manorhamilton and down into Leitrim. Bus Éireann routes 462 and 469 serve Drumshanbo, connecting it to Sligo, Longford and Dublin, though services are infrequent so check current timetables before travel. The nearest rail station is Carrick-on-Shannon, roughly 14 km away - a taxi from there is straightforward. Parking in Drumshanbo itself is easy; the town is small and street parking is generally available around the community centre.
The town sits at the start of the Shannon Blueway walking and cycling trail, and Acres Lake has Ireland’s first floating boardwalk - a good stretch of the legs before an evening concert. There is more to see in Drumshanbo and across Co. Leitrim.
Heading to Drumshanbo Community in Drumshanbo? Leitrim has plenty more to see. Read the Drumshanbo area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.