Galway International Arts Festival and Róisín Dubh present The Mary Wallopers at the Heineken Big Top on Saturday the 19th July.

With their punked-up versions of traditional Irish songs wowing audiences in Ireland, Australia, the US and the UK, The Mary Wallopers became a word-of-mouth live phenomenon. This culminated with the band performing to their biggest audience in 2024 at Glastonbury’s revered Park Stage.

The Mary Wallopers were formed by brothers Charles and Andrew Hendy and their friend Sean McKenna. They began traveling the length and breadth of Ireland singing and collecting songs before expanding to a blistering 7 piece that has torn up the live circuit over the past three years.

At the heart of their live performances is their ability to move seamlessly between crackling cabaret-style banter, raucous tales, chaotic punk velocity, and pin-drop silence for heartrending songs. Their zeal for live music is infectious.

The Mary Wallopers repertoire is steeped in traditional material, however, far from treating the folk idiom as unrealistic sacred territory, the band perform with a mischievous warts-and-all honesty reminiscent of the wild energy of Shane McGowan and The Pogues.

The Mary Wallopers will play the Heineken® Big Top on Saturday 19 July 2025 as part of Galway International Arts Festival.