Galway International Arts Festival 2026: Saoirse

Chris O'Rourke
4 minutes ago
4 min read

Síofra Ní Éilí, Ciara Cox and Evanne Kilgallon in Saoirse. Image,Emilijia Jefremova

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What to do when you’re the smartest person in the room? Find the room with smarter people. People whose skill, talent and experience you can learn from. With the delightful Shauna Carrick Wants A Dog, Shauna Carrick proved herself one of the smartest people in the Irish musical theatre room. With Saoirse, Carrick seeks out the smarter room. The insanely talented Juliette Crosbie, along with the inimitable Leslie Conroy bringing insight and experience. Some of the country's most gifted rising stars, including Evanne Kilgallon, Ciara Cox and Síofra Ní Éilí adding fresh perspectives. The brilliant people at An Taibhdhearc who commissioned Carrick's Irish language musical and premiered it at Galway International Arts Festival. Saoirse’s Irish advocacy tale, set over a three week summer in the Gaeltacht, arousing lots of cheerleading curiosity. And the verdict? A hung jury. The prosecution claiming its exceptional cast, clever direction and Irish language promotion cannot forgive a nauseating, Nickelodeon sentimentality where its heart should beat. The defence claiming Saoirse is a fun fest, sugar rush of summer love and self discovery aimed at a younger generation, as Gaelige.

Juliette Crosbie and Ursula Earley in Saoirse. Image,Emilijia Jefremova

Like Bláthnaid Daly’s charming Connemarvellous, Saoirse offers an Irish language version of the ready made journey to discovering your very best self in the Gaelteacht. In which the anxious Saoirse (a charming Ciara Cox) and her Mean Girl bestie Róisín (a scene stealing Evanne Kilgallon) return to an Irish College for immersive lessons in language and life. Getting reacquainted with Irish speaking locals like impassioned teacher Tara (the effervescent, multi talented Crosbie), widowed host Nuala (Conroy’s gravitational brilliance grounding everything), her disenchanted daughter Siobhán (a compelling Ursula Earley), and wise and grumpy Postman Liam (a terrific Colm Mac Gearailt). A subplot about the potential closure of the college opens up questions of privilege and entitlement, of rural living and activism, and of people collectively championing hopeless causes. Against which Saoirse’s central, coming of age themes play out. Boys and girls, girls and girls, boys and boys discovering candy floss lust and bubble gum love. The nervous Saoirse (a superb Ciara Cox), the musically minded footballer Caoimhin (a compelling Elliot Nolan) and their respective sidekicks, outsider Aoife (a faultless Síofra Ní Éilí) and wannabe bad boy Séamus (a terrific Callum Maxwell) learning to accept who they really are and who they might really like. Tweely trumpeting love, friendship and fighting for the Gaels, Saoirse resolves into feel good, save the day acceptance, bringing it all home with a kitsch musical finish.

Lesley Conroy and Colm Mac Gearailt in Saoirse. Image,Emilijia Jefremova

You could argue Saoirse could as easily have been called Aoife. An argument compounded by Ní Éilí being simply sensational as the working class, gay outsider, confirming her reputation as one of the brightest young stars around. But that’s an argument for another day. Today, it’s hard to argue against Carrick seeming to compromise her unique voice to curate a collage of the commonplace riddled with cultural and emotional cliches. Throughout, songs are given plenty of oomph by actor/musicians playing live (Crosbie, Mac Gearailt and Ní Éilí frequently playing instruments), with vocals ranging from acceptable to outstanding (Crosbie again). Yet songs, formerly Carrick’s greatest asset, often sound like cheap knock-offs of teenage dirtbag Americana. Co-composed with Aidan Byrne (playing Aodh, and playing live), songs seem to be trying to sound like someone else. Bowling for Soup and SUM 41 immediately spring to mind. Whose lyrics trade intimate, human specificity for dull, childlike generalisations. The result less Gaelteach 50210 so much as Hanna Montana: Tá Brón Orm. Indeed, there’s an awful lot of brón about, pitched and a young audience nostalgic for their youth.

Ciara Cox and Evanne Kilgallon in Saoirse. Image,Emilijia Jefremova

Whilst Meadhbh Lyons’ choreography is mostly slight, it impressively delivers what’s needed from untrained dancers. Becky Minto’s STOMP style scaffolding and DIY platforms proving cleverly playful, with Sarah Jane Shiels' lights adding depth. All elevated by Muireann Kelly’s terrific direction which weaves energies and movement in constant, engaging flow, ensuring Saoirse works compositionally well. What does not work well, and has not worked in previous instances, is replacing surtitles with downloading an app to read English language translations on your phone. Aside from the fact you may not have a phone, or have it properly charged, or that it unforgivably draws your attention away from action onstage, the app frequently froze, took forever to load, and even, at one point, presented the Irish language version. Ensuring you never get comfortable enough to truly enjoy the experience.

Síofra Ní Éilí and Ciara Cox in Saoirse. Image,Emilijia Jefremova

Like its characters, Saoirse looks like it’s wanting so hard to be liked. Ironically, it's nothing if not divisive. Some will enjoy Carrick’s escapist, rose tinted nostalgia with its unapologetic love of the Irish language. For others, Saoirse should come with its own health warning and insulin shot. Yet even then Saoirse’s passion for the Irish language would prove contagious. What can’t be denied, love or hate it, is that Saoirse succeeds on the feel good, pre-teen, Irish language terms it sets out for itself. It might look more like a school's education production than a quality musical, but it’s sure to delight its Glee friendly, target audience. Whether that proves to be Carrick's smartest move, long term, remains to be seen. What is smart is Saoirse looking to inspire a whole new generation of young, Irish language speakers. Now that is very smart indeed