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Cultural Scenes in Dublin and Belfast

DUBLIN
Any discussion of musical life in the fair city of Dublin used to revolve around one letter and one number—U2. However, with the recent surprise international success of the film Once, Dublin’s singer-songwriters have graciously been pushed to the fore. The film’s star, Glen Hansard, is the front man of a band called The Frames. Try to catch one of their frequent shows while in Dublin, but if you can’t see them, there are others. In fact, Dublin is the home of the anguished guitar man. David Kitt, Paddy Casey, Fionn Regan, David Hopkins, and Damien Rice play regularly at venues like Whelan’s and the Button Factory.

In the world of theater, the plays of Dubliner Conor McPherson are now a staple on Broadway, and many of them have premiered at the Gate Theatre, while Dubliner Anne Enwright won the Man Booker prize for literature in 2007 with The Gathering. Previous winners John Banville and Roddy Doyle are residents here, and while Doyle is considered by many to be the voice of Dublin, young writer Kevin Barry’s collection of short stories, There Are Little Kingdoms, is a fresh and dark view of contemporary life on this island.

BELFAST
Just as Dublin has U2, this place has its own musical giant in the form of Van Morrison. But these days, the Belfast music scene has a more global presence. David Holmes is the man at the vanguard—he scored the soundtracks for the Ocean’s Eleven film franchise as well as Out of Sight and Analyze That. His own records (which often sound like soundtracks to imaginary movies) include Let’s Get Killed and a stellar compilation of rare vintage soul titled Come Get It I Got It.

The success of this Belfast boy is not surprising when you consider that the Belfast club scene is one of the most vibrant in Europe. Ollie’s Club at the Merchant Hotel, the Potthouse directly across the street, and Milk—which bring in world-class DJs like Carl Cox, Deep Dish, and Derrick May—are all worth checking out. But the live music scene is equally exciting. Classic punk bands like the Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers come from Belfast, as do modern-day rockers like Ash, Snow Patrol, Duke Special, and Neil Hannon.

If this all sounds a little sweaty and undignified, consider the roll call of Northern Irish writers and you’ll find plenty of holiday reading matter. The standard bearer of Northern writing is of course Nobel Prize–winning poet Seamus Heaney (born near Derry), but the new kid on the block is
Nick Laird, the author of Utterly Monkey and the partner of star English novelist Zadie Smith.

Brian Friel, Flann O’Brien, and Seamus Deane are native sons, as are painter Paul Henry and photographer Paul Seawright. Two contemporary recommendations that will provide great company during your trip to Belfast are radio broadcaster John Kelly, whose eclectic show is broadcast on Lyric FM (rte.ie/lyricfm), and Slugger O’Toole (sluggerotoole.com), a website that parses Northern Irish news and politics.