Ger O’Donnell playing TradFest 2026

Ger O’Donnell, Trevor Sexton and Don Stiffe have come together as a trio for TradFest 2026.

They will be playing together at The Purity Kitchen in Dun Laoghaire on the 22nd of January 2026 at 7:30.

O’Donnell and Sexton released a collaborative album titled ‘The Alchemists Stone’ in 2023. They had worked together before on previous projects and have just recorded another album with Don Stiffe.

“When I met Sexton I was doing a lot of collaborations at the time, he came over, we sang together and something just clicked with our voices,” O’Donnell said.

Their first album together was a collection of new work and already recorded collaborative tracks that they had done. They haven’t stopped working together since.

The Alchemist’s Stone is an album full of intricate harmonies and beautiful messaging. O’Donnell is a multi-instrumentalist who plays anything from the guitar, flute, bouzouki, mandolin, to the bodhrán. The variety of instruments and his instrumental knowledge add great depth and warmth to the album.

O’Donnell began his music career as a member of a wedding band, for many years he played covers. He said that people started telling him he should record his own stuff, he thought about it for a long time before finally recording his own pieces.

“I decided one day, maybe I should record something and see what happens, sure if nothing happens, nothing happens. One night I got up out of bed and went to the piano and I had some recording equipment and a camera and I set the whole lot up. I recorded one song and put it up online, and it ended up doing pretty well,” O’Donnell said.

He kept a very level head after the video went well and he prioritised consistency rather than relying on virality. He started posting once a week and that’s when he found his love for collaboration.

“My favorite thing about music is playing with other people, you bounce off each other so well. I would do it everyday if I could, it’s great fun,” he said.

When discussing his creative process for making music he said that it is a natural process that he doesn’t try to force. He creates as much as possible and sees what happens. He doesn’t push himself too hard and tries not to put much pressure on what he creates. He said the songs can be hit or miss but if he leaves himself space and then tries again later he could have a whole new, fresh idea.

His newest project is embarking on a new medium of music, making an album for a movie.

“I can’t tell you much about it but it’s a movie set in 1930s Ireland, post First World War. I wrote the songs for the movie but then the people behind the movie thought that it could be an album before the film comes out, and if the album is a success then it only helps,” O’Donnell said.

Creating the music for this album wasn’t a huge change from his current way of making music, he said it’s all about collaboration and storytelling and that’s what he does with his own work.

O’Donnell has some extremely interesting music influences and is wildly well-versed in his musical knowledge. From finding harmonic inspiration in old chant music, melodic weaving from Bach and classical music to Eastern European and Pakistani music, he’s been inspired by it all.

“There might be tiny little inspirations somewhere, the small things can be magic you know,” said O’Donnell.

Growing up music wasn’t a huge part of his family, he learned to play the flute after it was passed down to him from his grandfather.

“The standard of the young people coming through is off the charts. They are absolutely out of this world, they have all the recordings at their fingers. I remember growing up and I was learning stuff on the dial up internet. Young people are using it and learning and they are amazing,” he said.

“I love hearing young people coming up and the festivals are really important for them so they can experience getting into venues and learning things live,” O’Donnell said.

Visit TradFest for more information on the lineup and Ger O’Donnell’s gig. Head to babylonradio for more articles on culture, music and lifestyle.