‘Late Late Show’ host Patrick Kielty. Photo: Andres Poveda
Folk singer Peggy Seeger and actor Ricky Tomlinson will be among the guests on The Late Late Show Irish traditional music special.
Viewers have been promised the “seisiún of all seisíuns”, with the show set to feature a number of the greatest trad musicians from Ireland and around the world, including many of those who performed at Trad Fest 2025.
Seeger, aged 90, still performs and releases music. She will join Patrick Kielty to look back on seven decades in the music industry, and will also pay tribute to her late husband Ewan MacColl with a performance of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, a song he wrote for her.
There will also be a special group performance of another classic Ewan MacColl tune in Dirty Old Town.
Tomlinson, known for his role in the British comedy The Royle Family, will discuss his passion for singing and playing the banjo, his connection to Ireland and the joy he finds in performing. In the spirit of the trad special, he will also be playing a tune of his own.
Lisa Canny, a founding member of all-female trad supergroup Biird, will tell Kielty about an “incredible year” for the band. The group launched their debut Irish tour, performed at All Together Now, the Fleadh and the 3Arena, and also toured with Ed Sheeran.
Canny will also look ahead to 2026, with more milestones ahead for both her and the band.
In between musical performances, Kielty will speak with a number of other musicians including Kevin Conneff of The Chieftains, Dónal Lunny, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Zoë Conway.
The Late Late Show trad special will also serve as a preview of the upcoming Trad Fest, running across Dublin from January 21 to 25.
In a first for the show, one musician will be inducted into the Late Late Show trad music hall of fame.