Immram, a suite of poems by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, first published in her 1991 collection, Feis, and subsequently set to music by awardwinning Clare composer Neil Ó Lochlainn, will be performed at An Taibhdhearc this Saturday night, March 8.

Immram roughly translates as ‘Voyage’ and it’s a type of story found in mythological Irish writing, describing a person’s journey by sea to the otherworld and their adventures on the voyage.

In 2019, Neil Ó Lochlainn was commissioned by poet Paddy Bushe and Kerry’s  Amergin Solstice Poetry Festival to set the poems to music.

Neil, who plays double bass and flute, is a co-founder of the critically acclaimed ensemble, Ériu, and has released three albums with that group, while his innovative chamber ensemble, Cuar, released their third album, Tairseach, in 2024. His musical accolades include a TG4 Gradam Ceoil award.

For this composition, he combined influences from Irish traditional music, sean-nós singing, jazz/improvised music and contemporary classical music to create an innovative style of contemporary Irish chamber music.

The musicians who will perform it include some of Ireland’s finest. Eithne Ní Chatháin (Inni-K) is on vocals, Lucia Mac Partlin on fiddle, Eilís Lavelle on harp and Neil himself on double bass, flute and vocals.

It’s at 8pm this Saturday in in An Taibhdhearc and tickets are €20/15 from antaibhdhearc.com.

Pictured: Eithne Ní Chatháin (Inni-K) is on vocals.