Giddy up to Mullahoran Country Music Festival!

Michelle Taite

Hold on to your hats because Cavan is going country!

Ireland’s favourite country music artists are set to take Mullahoran by storm at the 2022 Mullahoran Country Music Festival.

The event, which is in its third year (Covid hiatus aside) is set to run for three nights from July 15 to July 17.

Chief event organiser and club chairperson, Ciaran Brady, has been busy planning the long weekend and is sure it will be a huge success. “We ran it in 2018 and 2019 and had an average of 1200 people each night,” says the Mullahoran man.

“2019 was our most successful year, it was very good. We had a lineup similar to what we’ve got this year. It has grown a lot over the last two years that we’ve ran it so we’re hoping this year the name is really out and it’ll be even bigger.”

The festival will kickstart on July 17 with Ciaran Rosney and his guitar jamming out songs like ‘The Old Turf’s Sod’ and ‘Willie’s Shoes’. The star will then give way to the fantastic Derek Ryan, who will surely have you screaming ‘It’s Friday’.

Finished day one and dying for more? Get ready because Mayo man Gerry Guthrie will take the stage on Saturday, July 16, with his Long Sermon of country ballads like ‘Come on In’ and ‘Kentucky Gambler’.

It won’t be long before Mike Denvir has you thinking ‘Wasn’t That a Party?’ when he takes centre stage as headline act for the evening.

The final night, Sunday, July 17, will see Tyrone starlet Cliona Hagen gives her cowboy yodle to get the crowd going. Finally, if you’ve been ‘Living For The Jive’ then Antrim artist Johnny Brady has you covered as he’s set to close the jam-packed weekend on a high.

A community affair

Like most events across the globe, the long-awaited festival had to be postponed for the past two years due to Covid restrictions, but there’s no stopping the plans for 2022.

The Mullahoran based festival has been organised by members of Mullahoran Dreadnoughts GFC and will be run by members and volunteers from start to finish. “All the club members and volunteers will be taking care of running the whole show from cleaning toilets, litter and spills - so it really is a community event,” says Ciaran.

“It’s great for building relationships in the parish as well - people meet up and help out that probably wouldn’t see each other from one end of the week to the other so a lot of people found that great the last time.”

Like every other year, many people are expected to travel to the south Cavan parish from all across Ireland. “We’ve had people from as far away as Dublin, Kildare, Leitrim and even had people from Offaly at the last one as well, all the surrounding counties.”

Safe and secure

With such a big event in such a small area, safety and security is at the top of the festival committee’s agenda. “The previous two years we’ve had an exit and an entry so we parked on the main playing pitch right beside the complex, which is also floodlit. The attendees have light access the whole way through to the entrance of the sports complex where the dancing takes place so it’s very secure all round.”

The committee has hired professional security personnel to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible. The area will also be split into different sections to allow everyone to have the best possible time. “The main sports complex, which is licensed by the fire office to hold 1,000 people, will be used solely for dancing. There will also be a marquee to the side of that building with a bar in it. So there won’t be mixing with drinkers and dancers,” explained the club chief.

Camper vans and showers

Ciaran was delighted to announce that anyone wishing to stay for the whole festival weekend will be catered for. “People can bring and park their campervans at the event. We will also provide showers in the dressing rooms for anybody who decides to stay for the weekend.”

Nightly or weekend tickets can be purchased in advance through the Mullahoran Dreadnoughts Facebook page, or alternatively, entrants can pay on the door.

So dust off your jiving shoes and waltz on down to Mullahoran for a night to remember!