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theatre · Sunday 28 June 2026 · 8:00pm 
Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years
At Birr Theatre and Arts Centre · Oxmantown Mall, Birr, Co. Offaly
At Birr Theatre and Arts Centre · Oxmantown Mall, Birr, Co. Offaly
If you grew up with The Sound of Silence, The Boxer, or Bridge Over Troubled Water, this tribute show is worth the trip to Birr. Simon & Garfunkel Through the Years is performed by Dan Haynes and Pete Richards - two lifelong friends who have been touring together as Bookends since 2011. Now more than fifteen years into the project, they have built a reputation for close harmonies and intricate guitar work that goes well beyond the usual tribute-act approximation. The show combines song with narrative, tracing the story of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel alongside the music, so it works equally well for long-time fans and for anyone who knows the hits but has never gone much deeper.
Dan Haynes and Pete Richards draw on the full catalogue - expect The Sound of Silence, Mrs Robinson, The Boxer, and Bridge Over Troubled Water, alongside deeper cuts that reward anyone who knows the albums. The performance is accompanied by a live string quartet, which adds the orchestral warmth that defined some of Simon and Garfunkel’s best-known recordings. The show has earned standing ovations across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and beyond, and has been described as one of the better tribute productions currently touring. Birr Theatre is an intimate Victorian venue with 220 seats, which makes for a very different atmosphere to a large arena - the close harmonies carry well in a room this size.
Birr is in the middle of the country, roughly equidistant from Dublin, Limerick, and Galway - about 1 hour 20 minutes by road from Dublin via the M6 and N52, and around an hour from Limerick via the N7. The town is not served by a direct rail line; the nearest station is Tullamore, about 20km to the north-east, with Bus Eireann connections from there. If you are driving, parking is available at the theatre on Oxmantown Mall and in the surrounding town centre streets, which are generally easy to park in on a Sunday evening.
The town is worth arriving in early. Birr Castle Demesne and its historic telescope - once the largest in the world - is close by, as is the pleasant Georgian streetscape along Oxmantown Mall where the theatre stands. There is more to see in Birr and across Co. Offaly.
Heading to Birr Theatre and Arts Centre in Birr? Offaly has plenty more to see. Read the Birr area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.