About

Claddagh are a Christchurch-based Celtic Group who toured New Zealand in the 1990's. Winners of the Folk & Acoustic Music category of the New Zealand Music Awards (now known as the Best Folk Artist Tui) in 1992 for their album 'Continental Drift', they are reuniting to perform at the 2026 Canterbury Folk Festival.

These multi-instrumentalists are:
Davy Stuart on Cittern, Fiddle & Guitar
Barrie McDonald on Accordion & Mandolin
Mike Considine on Vocals, Guitar, Bouzouki & Bodhran

The lads are delighted to have been invited to perform at this 'milestone' 2026 Canterbury Folk Festival and are excited to recreate the 'Claddagh Sound'.
Check out their 1992 album 'Continental Drift' here on Bandcamp:
mikeconsidine.bandcamp continental-drift-the-songs

More about Davy Stuart:
Davy Stuart is an experienced traditional Celtic luthier and musician. Hailing from Edinburgh, he began making instruments as a teenager, alongside playing fiddle and bouzouki. His professional life has included extensive involvement in the Folk Revival, including touring Europe with the band Alba and performing with Crannachan. His musical journey eventually led him to Aotearoa as a member of the band Rua, where his work with Claddagh was recognised with multiple NZ Folk Album of the Year Awards, highlighting his long and successful history as a key figure in the Celtic music scene.
www.stuart.co.nz

More about Barrie McDonald:
Over his musical lifetime (so far), he has been a member of various groups playing Bluegrass, Country Rock, Bush Bands, Scottish Country Dance and Irish Traditional. In Invercargill in the early 80’s, apart from being a Founding Member of the Foveaux Folk Club, he could be found in the ‘Orchestra Pit’ playing for light Operatic Shows. For some years, Barrie played for the NZ Irish Traditional Dancing Championships.
Years of shiftwork made it difficult to be part of a group. However, he was part of ‘Claddagh’ with Davy Stuart & Mike Considine, winning the NZ Music Award for their Album ‘Continental Drift’.

More on Mike Consedine:
Mike is an accomplished bouzouki, guitar and bodhran player. His passion is in the Irish traditions with a strong fondness for fado, jazz, new Irish artists and a wider circle of world music.
www.mikeconsidine.com

Opening Act: The Larks

The Larks are a Brisbane-based group formed in mid-2022 that sing mostly unaccompanied traditional English folk songs in glorious harmony. The members are Sam Chittenden, Nonie Malone, Janet O'Brien and John Stafford. 

They have been inspired by the singing of the truly unique Copper Family of Rottingdean, Sussex, who have traced their singing tradition back seven generations and of these, the last five generations have sung in harmony, which is unequalled by any English-speaking singers.

They have further been inspired by the two most prominent English revival groups of the 1960s – the Watersons and The Young Tradition – who had a tremendous impact on the Christchurch folk scene of the 1970s and beyond. They also follow other major harmony groups like Swan Arcade, Blue Murder, Coope, Boyes and Simpson, and The Devil’s Interval, other groups like Steeleye Span and Pyewacket who occasionally sing unaccompanied, and next generation groups like The Longest Johns, The Norfolk Broads, and The Teacups.

Not content to merely copy from recordings, The Larks carefully select their versions from a selection of sources often moulding them from several versions while maintaining the traditional folk sensibility.

They believe in putting their songs in their social/historical/cultural context and help keep their songs relevant to the 21st Century. Audiences get to understand why their songs are still relevant and get an understanding of the relevant social history, both in concert performances and in workshops.

The Larks members have previous experience in shanty singing, bush bands, folk choir, and solo work. Since uniting, they have performed at all the Brisbane folk clubs as a blackboard act and have subsequently been booked for longer guest spots at each venue, and have performed at most of the clubs in the greater South East Queensland area.

They have expanded their performances past folk clubs to more general music clubs where their enthusiasm, professionalism, and performing skills have drawn praise from organisers and audiences, many of them never having heard traditional folk songs before.

They have also performed at the local Neurum Creek and Maleny Music Festivals. In addition to concert performances, they have sung at formal Gospel, shanty, and Gentle Song sessions.

Best of all, they love singing these old songs, and their enthusiasm is catching. They welcome audiences to join in their choruses and refrains. They are also used to singing in sessions and look forward to singing in informal sessions at the festival.

The Larks YouTube

Date

Location

Get directions

Christchurch Folk Music Club
29 Domain Terrace, Spreydon, Christchurch 8024

VENUE: Irish Society Hall, 29 Domain Terrace, Spreydon The hall is situated up the long driveway, directly next to Domain Park, and there is plenty of well-lit off-street parking.

Doors open 7pm. Performance starts at 7.30pm - online bookings will close 2 hours prior to the event start time.  After this time only door sales will be available on the night and will be dependant on the number of seats available in line with the Hall capacity.

LIMITED DOOR SALES AVAILABLE IF ONLINE SALES ARE NOT SOLD OUT. 

Please note that Door Sales are CASH ONLY: Tea, coffee, biscuits and cake available during the break, also bar facilities for cold refreshments throughout the night, Eftpos available at the bar for purchases only, no cash-out facility.

Folk Club and Irish Society members please remember to bring your membership card for licensing purposes. Non-members sign in at the bar if making purchases. 

Contact Event Organiser