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Belfast Cathedral welcomes Fleadh visitors

Wednesday August 5th 2026

Organ recital by Belfast Cathedral Master of Music Jack Wilson on Wednesday lunchtime, August 5.

Belfast is certainly buzzing, with the Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture, running in the city from August 2-9.

We popped into St Anne’s Cathedral in the heart of the city on Wednesday August 5. The Cathedral has strong connections to traditional Irish music through Edward Bunting, organist in the old St Anne’s Church (around which the Cathedral was built), whose transcription of the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival is the reason much of the old Irish harp repertoire has survived.

A lecture by award-winning harper, composer and PhD researcher Gráinne Meyer in the Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon drew a big crowd and was followed by harp performances by Laoise Kelly and the Cruit Éireann All-Ireland Harp Ensemble, reimagining Edward Bunting’s 1796 Collection. You will see some photos of this event in our gallery below.

The Cathedral car parks are a hive of activity – the Academy Street carpark is hosting some 70 food vendors, while the Northern Whig has a marquee in the Talbot Street carpark.

Some visitors are taking time to sit and enjoy refreshments at the Cathedral’s pop-up coffee shop selling fresh bakes and, uniquely, Tayto crisp sandwiches; others to watch the entertainment provided by the Cathedral musicians – on Wednesday it was Celtic hymn tunes by Master of Music Jack Wilson; and others to simply wander around taking in the building’s grandeur and history.

Each afternoon, the Cathedral is hosting a traditional Irish music workshop, aimed largely at children and run by Kieran Brady of Ionad na Fuiseoige, an Irish Language centre based in Twinbrook.

What wonderful sounds from very talented young people. Our gallery includes photos from both today and earlier in the week.

“I am really enjoying coming here and sitting and having a cup of tea,” said Kieran. “There is music all around the town and it is lovely to have a setting like this. The acoustics are great. There are a lot of people coming in and out. There were some Bulgarian folk dancers in on Monday, we played music for them and they danced.”

The Cathedral has extended its opening hours for the week of the Fleadh and will be open each day until Saturday from 10.30am-8pm. The Rev Julie Bell will be giving Thursday’s free lunchtime violin recital, starting at 12.20pm.

If you are in town, St George’s Parish Church in High Street is also offering a special programme for the Fleadh

We will revisit Belfast Cathedral’s involvement in the Fleadh in more depth in our autumn issue of our diocesan magazine Connor Connections.

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