Annual Ciaran Carr Christmas Busk set to be a big hit

ORIGINALLY organised in 2014 by Clondalkin-born singer-songwriter Colm Gavin, the Annual Ciaran Carr Christmas Busk has taken on a life of its own, with audiences appearing in the hundreds and performers descending upon Clondalkin Village from all over Ireland.

The Busk was voted as one of the “Top 10 Things To Do In Ireland At Christmas” by The Star Newspaper.

Hot Press Magazine, Irish Independent and more have all championed this charitable showcase

This year will feature guest MC Enya Martin, along with performances from Kiera Dignam, Bridín, CARRON, Colm Gavin, Kylabelle, Ailsha, Cailíní Lua, Daoirí Farrell, Orla Monelle, and so many more.

This week, we sat down with Colm to discuss the 12th Annual Ciarán Carr Christmas Busk, which will take place on December 20 at the Clondalkin Credit Union at 7.30pm.

All proceeds go directly to the Ciarán Carr foundation; visit www.roundtower.ie for more information.

Another busy year, Colm! Can you remind us of everything you have gotten up to in 2025?

It’s been a whirlwind of a year; I can’t quite believe we’re ebbing towards December already.

I’ve been on the road constantly since the last week in January. I was a special guest for the great Ralph McTell at Tradfest, and since that point I’ve toured every corner of Ireland with a handful of shows in mainland Europe, the UK & the USA to boot. I’ve got one or two more live commitments before the close of the year, and then I’ll tame the rods for a little while

What has been your personal highlight of 2025 and why?

I’ll give you a few! I’ve had a fistful of mantlepiece moments in 2025, one of which came in May of this year, when I played a headline show in London in The Water Rats Theatre in Kings Cross.

In the early 1960s that venue was known as The Pindar of Wakefield, and on a teeth-chatteringly cold winter’s night in 1962 a very young Bob Dylan wandered in to perform at Ewan MacColl’s Singers Club (which was housed there at the time).

I’m a Dylan nut, so that was hugely significant for me.

There’ve been other shows this year in similarly austere venues like The Triad Theatre on west 72nd street in NYC, or Levi’s Cornerhouse in Ballydehob; this year’s shows have all very much yielded a profound sense of occasion, an intense feeling of ritualistic gathering.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have faced this year, and what have you learnt from them?

It’s been said by all and anyone who ever occupied a departure lounge or ran after a long-haul coach in the rain, but the travel has been exhausting.

I’ve spent the last few months on the road with the indelible road warrior that is Kenan Flannery.

In some instances we’d course our way to Donegal, Belfast or Cork three times a week, sometimes putting in 10+ hours of driving a night, in some cases just to play an hour-long radio slot and then head straight home afterwards.

We do have a great sense of companionship and often have found ourselves singing in full voice to pass the long journeys, but we always reach our destination

What do you think it is that has made the Ciaran Carr Christmas Busk so popular and successful that it is still uniting Clondalkin all these years later?

You either believe in these things or you don’t, but I recall watching an RTÉ documentary years ago called “Glenafooka: Glenn of the Ghost”. it talked about the ritualistic habits the people of old Ireland held close to, the relationship between us and the good folk, all souls night, the Banshee.

I look upon the Busk as a ritualistic event, an offering of some kind to those in attendance but for the other world too, and when you’re there, it’s as though there’s a protective halo around everything, because it’s an offering handed up with deep respect, honesty and empathy.

Without sounding overly “ooky spooky”, I think that’s what keeps people coming back every year; people feel that.

It is looking to be another packed line-up this year, with big names such as Enya Martin, Kiera Dignam, Bridin, etc. What can audiences expect from you and these guests on the night?

I pick up the phone around the same time every year and call upon a handful of people; I’m deeply fortunate that on each occasion people respond with vigour and enthusiasm.

We have artists from every corner of Ireland performing at the busk this year, from Ballina & Ballincollig to Ballyhaunis & Ballymun.

Cailíní Lua, Kylabelle, Orla Monelle, Kiera Dignam, Aengus Devine, Zoe Clarke, Bogga Frogs and so many more.

Every year it is the ultimate musical showcase in Clondalkin and in Dublin for that matter!

Do you have any projects lined up for 2026? What are your hopes and goals for the new year?

I have projects extending all the way into 2027, some that are only coming to fruition now after 3/4 years of chipping away, and some that won’t blossom until April or May of next year.

It’s a bit like tending to a garden; you’re pruning a bit of ivy one minute or plucking dandelions the next, and you don’t even realise the violets are in bloom.

The days run away from me sometimes, and there’s a lot of playing catch-up.

I know what Jim Croce meant when he said he wanted to “save time in a bottle”; I feel that in a reverential way.

Who would you like to thank for helping you organise this event?

I have a couple of really great pillars in my life; my uncle Brian Gavin helped me shape this event many moons back and taught me the importance of a good post-mortem “look at your good points and your not-so-good points, learn from them, adapt, and improve”, that’s a model of thinking I continually try to implement.

Emmet Myler is a very dear friend of mine whom I feel holds a closeness to that “other world” I mentioned earlier, a mesmeric street singer in the Frank Harte sense of the word, a true bard who’s got a bargain with the saints that’s written all over him.

Those kinds of people just make you feel good being in their presence. They’re called holy people.