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festivals · Saturday 27 June 2026 · Various 
Clare Island Féile Ceoil
At Clare Island Community Centre · Clare Island, Co. Mayo
At Clare Island Community Centre · Clare Island, Co. Mayo
The Clare Island Féile Ceoil is a three-day traditional music weekend run by Granuaile Comhaltas, the local Comhaltas branch on Clare Island. The festival pulls in guest musicians, singers and dancers from across Ireland alongside local performers, keeping the whole thing rooted in the island community rather than feeling like an imported touring show. If you play, sing, or dance in the traditional style, you are actively welcome to join in - this is not a sit-and-watch event. For those who simply want to listen, it offers a rare chance to hear good trad in a setting that cannot be replicated on the mainland: a small Atlantic island with fewer than 150 permanent residents, where the music carries a different weight.
Concerts take place on Friday and Saturday nights in the Clare Island Community Centre. Saturday and Sunday bring sean-nós singing and dance workshops with experienced tutors, and open sessions run in the local bar throughout the weekend - the kind of informal gathering where the best music often happens. Granuaile Comhaltas has built the festival around both performance and participation, so the weekend moves between polished evening concerts and loose afternoon sessions. Accommodation on the island is limited and tends to book out early; the organisers are direct about this - get sorted in advance or plan to travel back to the mainland each evening. There are plenty of boats each day to make that work.
Clare Island sits in Clew Bay, roughly five kilometres off the coast south of Westport. The Clare Island Ferry Company runs a service from Roonagh Quay, west of Louisburgh - a ten-minute crossing in most conditions. O’Malley Ferries also operates from Roonagh. Roonagh Quay is about 26 kilometres from Westport town; there is no regular bus connection to the pier, so most visitors drive or arrange a lift. During the festival weekend, additional sailings run to accommodate demand - check current times with the ferry companies directly before travelling. There is car parking at Roonagh Quay. Once on the island, the Community Centre is a five-minute walk from the pier.
The drive west from Westport to Roonagh takes you through some of the most open Atlantic landscape in Ireland, with Croagh Patrick above you most of the way. The wider county offers Achill Island, the deserted village at Slievemore, Westport town itself, and the long peninsulas of Curraun and Corraun if you want to extend a trip around the festival weekend. There is more to see across Co. Mayo.
Heading to Clare Island Community Centre? Mayo has plenty more to see. Browse the area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.