The Fureys to play Athlone gig as part of farewell tour

After decades of worldwide touring and recording, The Fureys have announced that they will be playing their final 105 concerts throughout Ireland, the UK and the continent from October until next May.

The band's busy schedule includes a performance in Athlone's Shamrock Lodge Hotel on Saturday, January 10, at 8pm.

The acclaimed folk and traditional Irish music band is known for its performances of songs such as When You Were Sweet 16, Red Rose Café, Leaving Nancy, The Old Man, From Clare to Here, Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway and The Green Fields of France.

The Fureys indelible musical footprint is rivalled only by their vast collection of personal stories of their musical experiences and friendships, gathered by Eddie and George Furey during their amazing 49-year journey.

The band's 105-date farewell tour will begin in Bray on October 2 and end in Dublin's Vicar St on Friday Saturday, May 22 and 23, 2026.

Eddie and George said: "We will have very mixed emotions over the next number of months knowing our working lives as we have known them for so long will be coming to an end.

"We know we have been among the luckiest people on earth having a 'job' we love and enjoy, travelling the world to places we would never have been to, meeting people and making many friends we would never have met.

"However, time catches up with us all and we will look to a new future from the middle of 2026, playing at the odd music session and seeing the younger Furey generation playing their music. Our manager Joe McCadden will also be retiring from the business after 56 years, 39 of them with us."

The Fureys will be performing all of their best-loved songs on the farewell tour.

Tickets to the performance in Athlone on January 10, priced €43.90, are available from ticketmaster or from the Shamrock Lodge Hotel's reception on 0906 492601.