RT lyric fm's award-winning The Lyric Feature returns for new autumn series

New season begins Sunday, 4 October at 6pm on RT lyric fm and RT Listen

RT lyric fm's arts and culture documentary series The Lyric Feature returns on Sunday, 4 October, bringing listeners more engaging stories exploring Ireland's past, present and future.

Broadcast every Sunday at 6pm on RT lyric fm and available on RT Listen, The Lyric Feature is a place where creative audio makers use the full range of the audible spectrum to tell stories that tickle your brain. It's a place that regards Irish culture and traditions as something fluid and living, as an inexhaustible source of stories that can be told and retold. It's a place where unexpected questions are asked and unexpected answers are offered.

The new autumn season begins on 4 October with a special broadcast of Vocal Chords, originally made for the 2017 series. After the untimely death of singer Glen Hansard this year, the Lyric Feature will broadcast a programme in which Glen was the principle guest. The programme features the late musician in conversation with sean n s singer Iarla Lion ird, discussing singing and what it means to him.

The season continues 11 October with Flashes from the Dark, in which writer and broadcaster Emma Dabiri explores the remarkable story of Jamaican poet Ferdinand Levy. Levy arrived in Dublin in the 1940s to study medicine at Trinity College, bringing with him the rhythms and language of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as a perspective shaped by racism and colonialism. The programme examines his contribution to Irish literature and his experience of seeing Dublin with a fresh pair of eyes.

On 18 October, harpist Niamh O'Brien presents From Parlour to Pub, tracing the evolution of the Irish harp from the Anglo-Irish drawing room to its place at the heart of traditional music sessions in pubs. Along the way, she explores how an instrument often regarded as a fixed symbol of Irish culture has continually evolved and changed.

The following week, Dancing to a Different Drum explores another chapter in the evolution of Irish traditional music. The programme meets musician amonn Cagney whose immersion in Irish music has been complemented by his study of hand drums including the djembe, conga, handpan and shaker in Ghana and Australia. His outward-looking approach to Irish tradition has led to collaborations that reimagine Irish music, including his work with Congolese-born Irish guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. Along with amonn himself, we'll hear from musicians and composers Mel Mercier and Zoe Conway and music historian and archivist R onach U h g in who tell the story of how his music contributes to our evolving tradition. There's also a first chance to hear new work from amonn specially composed for the programme.

On 1 November, the eve of All Souls Day, we pause to consider those who have left and what it is to be left behind when five artists create original voice-led audio works in response to the five stages of grief, as defined by Elisabeth K bler-Ross - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

On 8 November, the series also explores the life and work of another remarkable Irish writer in In the Deeps, in which Joanna Marsden goes on the trail of poet Eithne Strong. A county Limerick writer, Strong left home at the age of 19, married an Englishman and later settled for a time in the emerging psychoanalytic community of D n Laoghaire. Her story is one of a woman seeking a freer life, challenging social norms and writing from the edges of Irish society.

These are just some of the stories featured in the new season of The Lyric Feature, with further documentaries exploring a wide range of subjects across arts, culture, music and history.

The Lyric Feature begins its new season on Sunday, 4 October, from 6pm to 7pm on RT lyric fm and RT Listen.

-ENDS-

Rayna Connery, RT Senior Communications Lead

LINK:	https://about.rte.ie/2026/10/01/rte-lyric-fms-award-winning-the-lyric-...
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