TG4’s festive schedule features host of music shows to suit all tastes
The Oscar-nominated film An Cailín Ciúin has its TV premier on Christmas Day at 8pm on TG4 – one of a host of small screen highlights set for transmission on the channel over the festive period.
An Cailín Ciúin tells the story of Cáit played by newcomer Catherine Clinch, a nine-year-old girl from an overcrowded, dysfunctional family who is sent away to live with foster parents for the summer.
Despite a warm reception from the woman, Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley), the man of the house, Seán (Andrew Bennett), keeps his distance from Cáit and she from him, but over time, their strained relationship begins to deepen. But in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.
New Year’s Eve will provide a musical highlight with Fáilte 2025, as Dáithí Ó Sé and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin ring in the New Year with the best of traditional Irish music and song and a host of stars coming from Belfast, Dublin and Tigh Chualáin in Indreabhan.
There are musical stars aplenty on Christmas night too with Mary Coughlan, Johnny Óg Connolly, Padraig Jack and singer/presenter Pauline Scanlon for Geantraí na Nollag from Tigh Hughes in An Spidéal.
The mix of live music stretches from Tommy Fleming – Live in Galway Cathedral on December 30 to Billie Eilish: Live at the O2 on New Year’s Day, as well as Oasis - Live at Glasgow Barrowlands on December 22 and Elvis Costello: Live at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on December 23.
Carna's vibrant heritage is explored in Carna an Cheoil agus na nAmhrán which is screened in New Year’s Day.
For over a century, music collectors have flocked to Carna in Conamara, drawn by its rich Gaelic traditions – and this documentary is an immersion in Carna's vibrant heritage, exploring the treasures passed down through generations and meeting the new wave of locals proudly keeping their native culture alive today.
And Siar 20 Bliain on December 27 sees Máire T. Ní Mhadaoin and Professor Emeritus Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh explore the stories, national and regional, that stem from this year's release by the National Archives – with a particular emphasis on stories relating to the Irish language and to Gaeltacht communities.
Pictured: Christmas star…Catherine Clinch in An Cailín Ciúin.