New Year's Eve celebrations break all records

DPB on the Ball

11 Jan 2026 — 3 min read

2026 got off to a flying start in Achill Island where the Dooagh Pipe Band kicked off proceedings with the traditional New Year's Eve performance at Gielty's Bar and Restaurant. A record number of attendees were present at midnight when the band performed their traditional set of tunes to welcome in the new year. The band then marched through the village of Dooagh to the finishing point at the Wavecrest Hotel, stopping off at Lourdie's on the way to entertain the crowds that had gathered there. The absolutely perfect weather conditions in the lead up to the parade no doubt contributed to the large number of spectators in attendance. And, while it did start to rain at midnight, everyone had clearly already committed and taken the "in for a penny, in for a pound" approach, and stayed with the band until the end.

Dooagh Pipe Band has a geographical advantage over the other bands on the island of Achill as the village is not on a through route to anywhere else. Except Corrymore Holiday Cottages possibly. But if anyone is holidaying in Achill on New Year's Eve and not attending the parades, they are doing holidays wrong and deserve all they get.

The locational advantage Dooagh enjoys means that the crowds in attendance are all there to watch the band - simplifying the organisation of the evening. This contrasts sharply with the bands of Pollagh and Keel for whom parades are always a balancing act between marching on the road, and allowing the crowds to pass through on their way to Dooagh.

In response to changing audience demographics the Achill pipe bands are looking to adapt the New Year's Eve celebrations in order to reflect modern expectations. The suggestion by the Keel and Dooagh bands that the bands meet at 10pm at Pollagh Church was an important first step but further refinement is clearly needed, given the Pollagh Band's desire to retain the 01:00-01:30 collective meeting of the bands (03:00-03:30 Kyiv time) and Keel band's last minute change of heart regarding travelling to Pollagh at all.

Regular readers of this column will recall the difficulty that the Dooagh band had in timing the route, which meant that the basic requirement of midnight at Gielty's could only be guaranteed if the band followed the reverse of the route originally proposed. We can however reveal exclusively in this publication (webpage, whatever) the final timings for the parade of 2025/2026. This we hope will help inform decision-making for the 2026/2027 New Year.

Midnight of the 31st December, Gielty's: The band plays to welcome in the New Year.
1st Jan, 00:21 - Band begins the parade from Gielty's to the Wavecrest
1st Jan, 00:28 - Band forms the circle at Lourdie's
1st Jan 00:33 - Band breaks the circle at Lourdie's and continues to the Wavecrest
1st Jan 00:41 - Band forms the circle at the Wavecrest
1st Jan 00:45 - Parade ends

Total time from beginning to end: 45minutes

Note: Midnight is that strange time that is neither the day before or the day after, and 24:00 is the same as 00:00. Our policy at this publication is to avoid references to 12am or 12pm due to the ambiguity such references can engender. Midnight or midday, thank you very much. "12 during the day", and "12 at night" may also be accepted.