Dermot Kennedy heads outdoors in Cork and Belfast
Two nights at Virgin Media Park plus Belsonic mark his first full-band shows in those cities in more than five years, with mailing-list presale from Wednesday morning.
Dermot Kennedy will play three headline outdoor shows in Ireland in June 2027, after announcing the dates on 12 October 2026. He takes Virgin Media Park in Cork on 23 and 24 June, with Aaron Rowe in support on both nights, then moves to Belsonic in Belfast on 26 June.
The Cork and Belfast gigs will be his first full-band performances in either city in more than five years. They land after a year in which the Irish singer-songwriter has already filled arenas, sold out Dublin’s Aviva Stadium twice and carried a new album across North America.
From home writing rooms to stadium nights
2026 has been a landmark stretch for Kennedy. His album The Weight of the Woods became his third UK and Irish number one. The record was largely written and recorded near his rural Irish home with producer Gabe Simon, keeping the songs close to the landscape that has long shaped his writing before the live campaign opened out.
From those sessions the year moved into arena tours, the two sold-out Aviva Stadium shows in Dublin and a North American tour. That run has kept the full band in motion and set a clear scale for what follows. The outdoor dates in Cork and Belfast pick up the same thread: large Irish nights built around the band rather than a stripped-back or one-off appearance, on stages that match the ambition of the Aviva shows while restoring a full-band presence to two cities that have waited more than half a decade for it.
Virgin Media Park gives him two consecutive nights in Cork; Belsonic anchors the Belfast date three days later. Taken together, the three shows read as a deliberate Irish outdoor chapter after a calendar already heavy with stadium and arena work at home and abroad.
Tickets and the week ahead
Presale tickets go on sale at 10am on 14 October 2026 for fans on the mailing list. General sale follows at 10am on 16 October. Cork tickets are priced at €76.25 and €86.25 via Ticketmaster.ie. The Belfast Belsonic show sits in the same announcement package, framed as part of the three-date outdoor run.
For an artist whose busiest year yet began with writing and recording near home and then moved through arena rooms, two Aviva Stadium sell-outs and a North American itinerary, the June 2027 nights keep Ireland at the centre of the next live chapter. They also give Cork and Belfast the full-band show that Dublin stadium crowds already saw in 2026, after a gap of more than five years in both cities.
Further detail on the wider Belsonic bill beyond Kennedy’s headline slot, and any additional Irish or UK dates around the June run, has not yet been set out. For now the confirmed picture is three outdoor headline nights, Aaron Rowe in support in Cork, and a ticket window that opens this week for a summer that will bring the band back to two of the country’s major outdoor stages.
Tour dates
JUNE 2027
23 – Tramore Rd Cork, Virgin Media Park
24 – Tramore Rd Cork, Virgin Media Park
26 – Belfast, Ormeau Park
The Cork and Belfast gigs will be his first full-band performances in either city in more than five years. They land after a year in which the Irish singer-songwriter has already filled arenas, sold out Dublin’s Aviva Stadium twice and carried a new album across North America.
From home writing rooms to stadium nights
2026 has been a landmark stretch for Kennedy. His album The Weight of the Woods became his third UK and Irish number one. The record was largely written and recorded near his rural Irish home with producer Gabe Simon, keeping the songs close to the landscape that has long shaped his writing before the live campaign opened out.
From those sessions the year moved into arena tours, the two sold-out Aviva Stadium shows in Dublin and a North American tour. That run has kept the full band in motion and set a clear scale for what follows. The outdoor dates in Cork and Belfast pick up the same thread: large Irish nights built around the band rather than a stripped-back or one-off appearance, on stages that match the ambition of the Aviva shows while restoring a full-band presence to two cities that have waited more than half a decade for it.
Virgin Media Park gives him two consecutive nights in Cork; Belsonic anchors the Belfast date three days later. Taken together, the three shows read as a deliberate Irish outdoor chapter after a calendar already heavy with stadium and arena work at home and abroad.
Tickets and the week ahead
Presale tickets go on sale at 10am on 14 October 2026 for fans on the mailing list. General sale follows at 10am on 16 October. Cork tickets are priced at €76.25 and €86.25 via Ticketmaster.ie. The Belfast Belsonic show sits in the same announcement package, framed as part of the three-date outdoor run.
For an artist whose busiest year yet began with writing and recording near home and then moved through arena rooms, two Aviva Stadium sell-outs and a North American itinerary, the June 2027 nights keep Ireland at the centre of the next live chapter. They also give Cork and Belfast the full-band show that Dublin stadium crowds already saw in 2026, after a gap of more than five years in both cities.
Further detail on the wider Belsonic bill beyond Kennedy’s headline slot, and any additional Irish or UK dates around the June run, has not yet been set out. For now the confirmed picture is three outdoor headline nights, Aaron Rowe in support in Cork, and a ticket window that opens this week for a summer that will bring the band back to two of the country’s major outdoor stages.
Tour dates
JUNE 2027
23 – Tramore Rd Cork, Virgin Media Park
24 – Tramore Rd Cork, Virgin Media Park
26 – Belfast, Ormeau Park