The Irish Descendants Christmas

Celebrating their 35th anniversary this year, Newfoundland & Labrador folk group The Irish Descendants bring their annual holiday show, The Irish Descendants Christmas, to Harbourfront Theatre in Summerside on December 12. Concertgoers will be treated to Christmas songs and stories reminiscent of long-lived, old-time holiday celebrations from the “Rock,” all presented by seasoned storyteller and longtime frontman Con O’Brien.

The show will feature songs from their two Christmas albums, The Gift (2001) and the 2025 ECMA-nominated An Irish Descendants Christmas (2023), and more.

The band includes Con O’Brien (lead vocals, guitar), Rowan Sherlock (mandolin, fiddle, piano, vocals), Jeff Kinsman (bass, vocals), and Madeline Carter (fiddle, vocals).

To mark their 35th anniversary, the group released a limited-edition 35th Anniversary Box Set and a new album featuring eight songs. The recording also includes live show favourites and both vocal and instrumental versions of one of their signature songs, “Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s,” written by the late Otto Kelland and inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in May 2025.