Noelie McDonnell, with Special Guest Dave Clancy. Friday 18th September.

Noelie McDonnell

Special Guest Dave Clancy

Friday 18th September 2026

Jerry Moynihans Clonmel

Clonmel World Music is delighted to get Noelie McDonnell to come and play a solo show, of all his own original music.

Noelie recently played 2 sold out shows in the famous Campbells Tavern in Galway, with an all-star band. He also played as special opening guest for the Sawdoctors big top show at the Galway International Arts Festival, again with his all-star band.

Noelie is a regular visitor to us in Clonmel, with The Whileaways and with Bird On The Wire.

Special guest for this show is Dave Clancy. Dave has been involved in the music industry for many years now, gaining valuable experience and contacts as a session musician as his career developed. Dave continues to craft deeply resonant folk music, blending rich storytelling with evocative melodies. Dave is a versatile musician whose songs and finger-style guitar playing combine the acoustic folk of Nick Drake while maintaining strong links to the Irish folk tradition. Sometimes songs come along that sound both familiar and new, and Dave Clancy is a songwriter with that elusive gift. Dave is also in The Bird On The Wire ensemble.

Noelie McDonnell began releasing music in the mid-2000s and toured as a support act for The Sawdoctors. Some of the bands he has been involved with over the years include The Ceolns, Stir, The Faddantonies, The Elmer Fudds, Mad Dog Dick, Sgt. Peppers, The Whipperwills and The Timbertramps.

His debut release was an EP entitled Downhome in 2004. He released his debut album Noelie McDonnell in 2005 and his second album, Beyond Hard Places, in 2008. His third solo album Come Alive, appeared in 2009.

His debut album Noelie McDonnell, released in 2005, is packed with songs which were alternately celebratory and yearning, full of verve and packed with melody, and with all the hope of youth and none of the ennui. Opening track ‘Stars’ sets the scene:- a rapid tempo with a thrilling squall of harmonica, acoustic and electric guitars chiming, all leading to a fantastically catchy chorus. It has ‘live favourite’ written all over it, and there’s a joyous clip on YouTube from a Galway concert that captures the essence. It was the song that initially caught the ear of the radio playlists, and no wonder. Similarly, ‘Marrakech’ became something of a radio song, with its nice mid-60’s groove and subtle melody. There were some slow burners, too, and ‘Easy On Me’ and particularly ‘Roundstone’ had a yearning quality that would ensure they would last in the listener’s memory, both capturing a very personal feel. Rounding off with a beautifully delicate love song’, ‘Marguerite’, it was a really wonderful debut. 

The second album Beyond Hard Places took the folkier, more fragile parts of McDonnell’s debut and expanded on them. ‘Moths’, track number three, is a really beautiful song of the fragility and anxiety that comes with a new blossoming relationship. Wrapped in a natural melody, it’s a song of rare beauty. There are two up-tempo numbers on the album, the hooky ‘Feet First’ and the edgier ‘Broken Dishes’. The poignant lyricism of ‘Dominick Street’, the gossamer light of ‘There You Go’ and ‘If I Need Your Arms’, the warm glow of closing tracks ‘Take the Evening Slow’ and ‘You’ll Find Me There’. Not to mention the radio hit of ‘Nearly Four’, written from the perspective of a three year old, full of joy and bravado, and no little humour (“I’m Batman and I’m Spiderman / I’m a pirate through and through / I knew all of the alphabet / way back when I was two”). It’s a gorgeous record, full of subtle, inviting story telling, and for anyone who enjoyed early Paul Simon songs like ‘Bleecker Street’, ‘Kathy’s Song’ or ‘Homeward Bound’, or the more up to date likes of Madison Violet, Ruth Moody or the Tallest Man on Earth, there’s likely to be plenty to entice you. 

McDonnell’s third, and to date last, solo album, came in 2009, in the form of “Come Alive”. It sounds a little more produced, and a little more mature.

McDonnell joined short lived Irish ‘supergroup’ The Cabin Collective after this, reworking ‘Marrakech’ with them, and participating in the highly enjoyable project with members of the Saw Doctors and the Waterboys also onboard. 

In 2012, the first fruits of a new band appeared, as McDonnell joined forces with fellow singer songwriters Noriana Kennedy and Nicola Joyce, to form The Whileaways.

The Whileaways have now released four albums to date, and have toured widely to significant acclaim, performing their own music. They are currently putting the finishing touches to their fifth album, and will have it on sale at their 5^th annual Clonmel World Music Christmas show on 28^th December 2026.

Noelie, Nicola and Norianna also put together the ‘Bird on the Wire’ show with Pauline Scanlon, a live tribute to the songs of Leonard Cohen, and featuring a large band of musicians. This great ensemble also played for us in Clonmel

Recently, Noelie has also become a regular member of the Saw Doctors band, coming full circle and keeping him in touch with his Tuam roots. His own albums, though, remain a testament to a warm and empathic songwriter, full of charm and verve. They are undeniably difficult to find, having been self released on his own label in the noughties, being too early to appear on iTunes and Spotify, and with little sign of them on Soundcloud or YouTube either. Nonetheless, search them out if you can, for there are musical gifts aplenty within. 

“a hybrid of John Prine, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.” – Hot Press