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Lisdoonvarna was a 3-day Irish music festival held each year from 1978 to 1983. Conceived as an Irish folk and traditional music festival, it expanded to include other genres and international artists. The festival was compared to an Irish version of Woodstock or Glastonbury.

Though successful, violence at the 1983 event and the unrelated drowning deaths of 8 festival goers that year led to the event being cancelled. Attempts were made to revive the festival in 2003 and 2016.

History

After considering the idea since 1975, festival creator Jim Shannon made concrete plans in a bar in June 1977 for a festival to be held the following year. Participants would be predominantly Irish acts, since the violence of The Troubles discouraged international artists from playing in Ireland.

1978

The inaugural event was held from 14-16 July 1978 and included Christy Moore, The Chieftains, De Dannan and The Fureys. Moore wrote a song to commemorate his appearance which was added to The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry in 2010.

1979

The second festival was held from 13-15 July 1979 and was headlined by Loudon Wainwright III. Others who performed included Ralph McTell, The Chieftains, De Dannan, The Fureys and Stockton's Wing.

1980

The third festival took place from 11-13 July 1980 and participating artists included Emmylou Harris, Paul Brady, Clannad and The Chieftains

1981

The fourth festival was held from 10-12 July 1981 and was headlined by Chris de Burgh, with support artists including Lindisfarne, The Beat, Paul Brady, Planxty and De Dannan. British reggae band Steel Pulse played and commented on the recent Brixton riots

1982

The 1982 festival was headlined by Jackson Browne, with other artists including UB40, Wishbone Ash, The Chieftains, Stockton's Wing and The Atrix. For the first time, a festival village was added. Festival attendance fell relative to the previous year.

1983

The 1983 festival was cut from three days to two and was moved two weeks later to 30-31 July to take advantage of the August Holiday. It was headlined by Rory Gallagher and Van Morrison, while Peter Green, Christy Moore, Amazulu, Dennis Bovell, Climax Blues Band, John Martyn, Moving Hearts and Stockton's Wing also played. Attendance was estimated at 40,000. Attendees included American singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones who recounted meeting Van Morrison in her memoir.

After over a thousand people without tickets had breached the fence on the first day, organisers recruited members of a Hells Angels motorcycle group to bolster security. A further breach on the second day led to running battles between festival goers and the Hells Angels, which resulted in injuries, motorcycles being vandalised and tents burned.

In a separate incident, eight festival goers disregarded warning notices and swam out to a sandbank. They were washed out to sea and drowned, while several others were rescued by emergency services.

The 1983 events led to a significant backlash from the local community in Lisdoonvarna who, at a public meeting, expressed concerns about vandalism, public intoxication and drug use by festival goers and voted to oppose the festival occurring again in the area. The 1983 festival had resulted in a financial loss and proved to be the last of the festival's original run.

Revival attempts

A festival was scheduled for 28 June 2003 as a one-day event across two stages and was to have been headlined by Christy Moore, while The Frames, Suzanne Vega, Mundy, Damien Dempsey and Luka Bloom were also set to perform. The organisers planned to hold the revival at the original site but were denied a licence by Clare County Council, who cited concerns about noise pollution and inadequate infrastructure around the festival site for their decision. The event was relocated to Dublin's RDS Arena and held on 30 August 2003 with an approximate attendance of 24,000. Josh Ritter was the only non-Irish artist to perform. The event was criticised for its long queues.

A further revival attempt was made in 2016 when a one-off "Lisdoonvarna Folk festival" was held as a two-day event near to the original site.

References

1. ^ "Lisdoonvarna ready to rock". RTÉ. 30 June 1982. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
2. "From Sunstroke to Lisdoonvarna to Carnsore Point - a history of music festivals in Ireland". Irish Independent. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
3. ^ McCarthaigh, Sean (1 September 2003). "Christy highlight of post modern Lisdoon". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
4. ^ "On This Day In Clare History – 15 July 1979". Clare Herald. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
5. "Eight youths attending a pop music festival, including three brothers, were swept out to sea". www.newstalk.com. Newstalk. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
6. "Song Lisdoonvarna in Penguin poetry collection | Ramblinghouse". Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
7. "Lisdoonvarna reggae 1981". RTÉ. 19 October 1981. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
8. ^ "Music and mud at Lisdoonvarna". RTÉ. 13 July 1982. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
9. ^ "Old Lisdoonvarna Festival To feature In Upcoming Documentary". www.clare.fm. Clare FM. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
10. ^ "What future for Lisdoonvarna festival?". RTÉ. 17 August 1983. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
11. ^ "Eight youths attending a pop music festival, including three brothers, were swept out to sea". www.upi.com. United Press International. 1 August 1983. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
12. Browne, David (12 April 2021). "'You Met a Leprechaun': Read Rickie Lee Jones' Surreal Van Morrison Meetup in Book Excerpt". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
13. ^ Kerrigan, Gene (31 July 1983). "Lisdoonvarna". Magill. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
14. "Moore for Lisdoonvarna Festival return". RTÉ. 28 February 2003. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
15. "License refused for Lisdoonvarna festival". RTÉ. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
16. "Lisdoonvarna comes to Dublin". RTÉ. 30 August 2003. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
17. "Lisdoonvarna Folk Festival is reborn". Clare Herald. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2024.

• Folk festivals in Ireland
• 1978 in Irish music
• 1980s in Irish music
• Music festivals established in 1978
• Music festivals disestablished in 1983
• Summer events in the Republic of Ireland
• Tourist attractions in County Clare