An Rí Rá Montana Irish Festival

08/18/2024

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and supported our efforts!

08/15/2024

The An Ri Ra Committee would like to thank Irish Johnny, a gentleman who called regarding Johnny’s post, and the Butte Police Department for their excellent work! The stolen golf cart has been recovered, and we thank everyone for the shares and awareness. Luck of the Irish with this one ☘️

08/14/2024

No good deed goes unpunished. The festival committee is all-volunteer and works year round to bring this event to Butte. If anyone has any information, we would really appreciate it.

08/14/2024

Please help us find this golf cart!

08/12/2024

By popular demand, our series was recorded this year!
Thank you all to those who came, and a big thank you to our speakers!! ☘️

The 2024 An Ri Ra Speaker Series features a panel of Irish who now call Butte their home. Listen to the panel of speakers featuring Father Patrick Beretta, D...

08/12/2024

The An Ri Ra Committee wants to extend a huge shout out to all of the performers, committee members, volunteers, sponsors, spectators, and friends of the festival. It was another challenging year with weather but the event was a great success.

Everyone was so cordial, supportive, and generous and really made the event pleasant. We are so thankful to our performers who are such consummate professionals and were so easy to work with the entire weekend. We cherish your talent and your friendship! We will be back next year ☘️

08/10/2024

08/10/2024

We are live and onstage now and having a great night! Thanks to everyone for sticking it out from our volunteers, vendors, family, friends, and all of our amazing acts! Come on up and send it out with us!

08/10/2024

The show must go on! We are a seasoned crew to deal with an occasional rain delay. Come on up today and enjoy yourself! Apron Lady Mary McMahon is holding back the current weather ☘️

08/10/2024

Packed house for the Speaker Series!
A wonderful way to kick off our second day! ☘️

08/10/2024

The Elders!

08/09/2024

What makes An Ri Ra different than any other festival? The people. This was the dedication of the one and only Lori Maloney’s plaque at the KC to kick off the 20th Anniversary of An Ri Ra in Historic Uptown Butte. ❤️☘️

08/08/2024

The An Ri Ra Speakers Series is excited to welcome John Conlan this Saturday, August 10th to speak on Irish history in Butte at 10:00a.m. at the Butte Brewing Company. Do to unforeen circumstances, unfortunately, Mary Sheehy Moe had to cancel her speaking engagement, but John has graciously offered to step in. John, has dual Irish/United States citizenship, is a retired Montana educator and past recipient of the BSB Public Archives’ Carrie Johnson Stipend, where he researched the Robert Emmet Literary Association. John is also a radio DJ and host of a Celtic music program, "The Rocky Road to Dublin," that airs weekly on Butte Community Radio Station, KBMF 102.5 FM, as well as a history series, "The Harp Without the Crown." We look forward to John’s presentation!
We hope to see you there ☘️

The An Ri Ra Speaker Series is one of the true highlights of the festival each year. The series really is second to none with unique and intimate interactions with the speakers and audience. You can check out all of the amazing offerings for the series on our website or the schedule posted here on Facebook!

08/08/2024

Come to O’Donnell’s when you’re here for the world-class An Ri Ra and get your very own An Ri Ra pint!

08/07/2024

This weekend! Come see for yourself why this is the best Irish celebration in the Western United States! Full schedule online and here on Facebook, see you Friday ☘️

08/07/2024

Head to Butte, Montana for a weekend of 🍀 Irish cultural immersion, music and dance at An Rí Rá - the Montana Irish Festival! Enjoy a variety of cultural workshops, language lessons, and performances at this event.

📅 August 9-10, 2024

Butte's Irish roots run deep! Often referred to as the most Irish city in the US, Butte is still home to many people with Irish heritage. As many as a quarter of Butte's modern-day population is estimated to have Irish heritage, making Butte home to the highest percentage of Irish Americans per capita in the US.

What better place in the US to enjoy Irish music, dance, language and workshops than Butte? We hope to see you at An Rí Rá!

To see this year's event schedule, please visit: https://www.mtgaelic.org/anrira

08/06/2024

Calling all fiddle players!!
You do not want to miss out on this wonderful opportunity! Diana is amazing!
We encourage you to sign up for this workshop Friday morning!!
Please email Helen [email protected] with any questions, or to let her know you are going!

08/06/2024

The shuttle route for the An Ri Ra and provided by Butte-Silver Bow Transit is listed here. It will be a loop around the Uptown Historic District and people can park in the Uptown areas adjacent including the Parking Garage on Park Street and catch the shuttle to the Original. We will have some parking right next to the Original for handicapped parking to accommodate those in need. You can catch the shuttle along the loop but we ask you use caution and encourage cross walks or corners to flag down the shuttle.

08/05/2024

The An Ri Ra Speaker Series is one of the true highlights of the festival each year. The series really is second to none with unique and intimate interactions with the speakers and audience. You can check out all of the amazing offerings for the series on our website or the schedule posted here on Facebook!

08/04/2024

Attention Campers! If anyone is coming to Butte for the An Ri Ra with a camper, you can park the camper at the Mountain Con mine yard. The Mountain Con is due north of the festival grounds at the Original Mine Yard. Hope to see you all in Butte!

08/04/2024

We can't wait either!!

Butte, America 🇮🇪🇺🇸
We can’t wait to be back!
Aug. 9 & 10

07/31/2024

Another one of our hometown favorites...
The Tiernan Irish Dancers!!☘️
Tiernan is the sister school of the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison.
In 2003, Mark Howard, Trinity's founder and artistic director, fell in love with Montana and the passion to learn Irish dance. Trinity brought consistency, professionalism, and expertise in Irish dance to Montana. In 2004, the name Tiernan, meaning 'three in one,' was chosen for the new dance organization in Butte and Helena. Dancers range in age from three to eighteen.
Tiernan Butte dances on Friday, August 9th, at 3:20pm, and Saturday, August 10th, at 4:40pm . Tiernan Helena dances on Saturday, August 10th, at 12:00pm!

07/29/2024

Update! The shuttle will now start at 4:30pm on Friday. Please plan accordingly and if you need easier access for individuals we will have golf carts at the gate.

Butte-Silver Bow in partnership with An Ri Ra will provide a festival shuttle in Uptown Butte on August 9th & 10th to accommodate easier parking for everyone. The shuttle will run on the following schedule:

Friday August 9th - 2:30pm to 10:30pm
Saturday August 10th - 12:00pm to 10:30pm

The parking garage on Parking street can be utilized and will be a pick up point for the shuttle. We hope to post a graphic of the loop this week.

07/29/2024

This is awesome!!

☘️🇮🇪🇺🇸We were honored to present our dear friend Frank Walsh and An Rí Rá Festival Volunteers with a gift card for $1000 to our little pub here in The Ireland Of The Rockies. We hope it makes a nice raffle prize for your 20th Anniversary of An Rí Rá! Congratulations ☘️🇮🇪🇺🇸

07/26/2024

There will be an updated schedule posted tomorrow morning to include the Outdoor Mass and the Wolfe Tone hurling exhibition both scheduled for Sunday August 11th. We apologize for the oversight and will have it corrected shortly. Hope to see everyone in Butte for Montana’s and the Western United State’s best Irish gathering ☘️

07/18/2024

This is the updated schedule of events for the 2024 An Ri Ra. Mark your calendars, make your plans, and do yourself a favor and make it a weekend! There is plenty to see and do on Friday too so come on over, and we look forward to seeing all of you in Historic Uptown Butte!

07/12/2024

This year's poster turned out so awesome!
Don't miss out on your chance to enter the raffle!!
Not only are there cash prizes, but a beautifully handmade quilt, and liquor baskets.
Tickets are $5 each or six for $25.
You can purchase them through any of the Butte Tiernan Irish Dance families, the booth at the Farmer's Market, and the tent at An Rí Rá.
All proceeds benefit the festival!

Are you interested in volunteering? We would love to have you! Please contact Frank Walsh at 406-498-4982 or [email protected]

06/27/2024

It's getting closer to An Ri Ra! The 20th Anniversary in Uptown Butte!

We are again offering a chance to purchase a personalized An Ri Ra banner. We had a tremendous response last year and can accommodate a few more banners for 2024. The cost is $50 per side and we would need the name you would want displayed on the banner. If you are interested please contact Helen Patterson at [email protected].

05/03/2024

Introducing The Elders!!

The Elders remain one of the top Celtic-rock bands in the U-S after 24 years because of their timeless sound. It’s their passion, great melodies, unique harmonies, unparalleled musicianship and strong song-writing that keeps them connected.

And that songwriting began in 1998 when two musicians moved back from L.A. to Kansas City to play Irish music. Norm Dahlor and Brent Hoad, played in numerous bands but their American and Celtic-folk rock roots were calling and The Elders were born.

Their most recent studio album, number 9, “Well Alright Then”, released in March, was conceived after the band retired and the country experienced a lockdown. The band had not intended on recording again but did so in honor of guitarist Steve Phillips, who urged them to finish the album. Phillips recorded all of his vocals and musical parts before he passed in 2020.

The Elders have been to Butte several times over the years. A long with many bands, they fell in love with Butte and its history. They wrote the song "The Miners" an absolute beautiful tribute to the Granite Mountain/Speculator Mine disaster!
We are so excited to have them back this year!! ☘️

*All images used in this video were used for educational and historical purposes only. The Elders do not own the rights to any of the images used. Thank you ...