Irish women collective Banshee announces first Dublin gig in over two decades

Since the nineties ended, the Irish women collective Banshee seemingly disappeared off the radar - until now. On Tuesday 16th of July, the New York gang gets back together again to perform a gig at the Button Factory in Dublin.

The show includes performances by members Emer Martin, Helena Mulkerns, Imelda O'Reilly and Caitriona O'Leary as well as onscreen presentations of film and dance. There will even be a tongue-in-cheek "Banshee mini-forum" with guests.

Banshee, comprised of six Irish women, flourished as a performance and early online entity in New York in the late nineties. It was founded by writers Helena Mulkerns, Emer Martin, who named it for something "Irish, female and loud". Poet Imelda O'Reilly, singer Caitriona O'Leary, actress and comedienne Elizabeth Whyte and dancer Darrah Carr brought spoken word, music, comedy and dance to the line-up.

Creating a website in 1997 as "BANSHEE – an Irish Women's Artists' Collective" was a move assuredly ahead of its time, but when the live gig that launched the site in the Lower East Side's Pink Pony was a hit, they began to gig regularly around New York's East Village. Playing venues like The Knitting Factory, Fez or The Kitchen, they also hosted and performed at one of the stages in the New York Guinness Fleadh, road-tripping it to San Francisco for a West Coast festival.

After years of going their separate ways - although the virtual connection via the original Banshee website remained - they now reunite for a special evening at the Button Factory. Four out of the six original members take the stage at 8pm. You can get tickets online for 6€ and at the door for 7€.