The Ties That Bind - Super Song Sunday & Abair Amhrán

The Duncairn is hosting a free family morning on Sunday 15 November, from 11.00am to 1.30pm, as part of The Ties That Bind. It's a West Cork music day, with live music from the region, children's arts and crafts, and Abair Amhrán Irish song sessions running throughout.

Abair Amhrán — which means 'say a song' — is led by Dr Caoimhín Mac Con Fhaoileach, a West Cork-based musician, composer and community music facilitator. It's a relaxed way to get stuck into traditional Irish songs, and you don't need any prior singing experience or a word of Irish to join in. Between that and the arts and crafts, it's set up as a family morning, so it works as well with kids in tow as it does on your own.

The whole thing sits inside The Ties That Bind, a 2026 Creative Ireland-Shared Island project that links Levis' Corner House in West Cork, The Duncairn here in Belfast, Wexford and South Derry (the Sperrins) in a cross-community creative exchange, supported by Cork County Council Arts Office and Belfast City Council. The same project brings the Secret Song Music Festival — an annual West Cork music and spoken-word event whose line-up is kept secret until the day — to The Duncairn, along with Sing for Your Supper, an evening of West Cork food, traditional music, singing and céilí dancing.

So the Sunday morning is one part of a wider West Cork presence in the city this year. It runs from 11.00am to 1.30pm at The Duncairn, and it's free, with no ticket required.