Johnny McEvoy to perform in Ballina
Johnny McEvoy performs in Ballina on March 13th, 2026.
Always a favourite in this part of the country, it is no surprise that legendary Irish folk and ballad singer Johnny McEvoy can still fill venues – after 60 years of performing!
Tickets are now on sale for an unforgettable evening of music as he takes to the stage of the Great National Hotel Ballina on Friday, March 13, 2026.
Johnny, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year, began his love of folk music while doing school homework and listening to Radio Luxembourg at home in Co Offaly in the late 1950s.
As teenagers in the early 1960s, he and a friend went on to form a folk duo. Little were they to know that, a few short years later in 1965, they would support The Rolling Stones at a gig in Dublin.
Very soon after going solo in the second half of the 1960s, Johnny scored a huge hit with the emigration song , which went on to be a No 1 in Ireland in 1966 and is still a favourite in the 2020s.
At a time when folk groups such as The Johnstons and The Ludlows, and leading folk singer Danny Doyle, were also competing with the Irish showbands for record sales, Johnny managed to continue his own remarkable success with albums and two further No 1 hit singles – (1967) and (1968). Further chart success came his way again in the 1970s with his self-penned song , released during a period in which he had formed his own band.
In the 1980s, Johnny McEvoy delivered two further albums, including a country long player, but spent less time in the studio over the next few decades. His most recent recording is from 2017.
The timeless quality of his voice and songs, and the stories and banter which accompany his music, have retained the attention of audiences not just in Ireland, but internationally. Renowned for his many ballads, haunting lyrics and captivating performances, Johnny McEvoy remains one of Ireland’s most beloved folk artists.
His ‘Both Sides Tour’, which marks six decades in the music business, is a night that fans from Ballina and the wider Mayo and Sligo region will not want to miss. Johnny last appeared in Ballina in February 2024.
Tickets for his Ballina show are available from Ticketmaster, costing €43.55.
