Sign-up for AVA Belfast Day Tickets Pre-sale 
Sign-up for AVA Belfast Day Tickets Pre-sale 
Sign-up for AVA Belfast Day Tickets Pre-sale 
Formed in 2023, Huartan have created an original blend of Irish traditional music and electronica, earning them accolades such as the BBC Introducing NI Artist of the Year (2025), the 2024 NI Music Prize Live Act of the Year, and the inaugural Amhrán na Laoch competition.
Through bold reinterpretations of at-risk Irish language songs, Huartan’s self-titled debut album fulfils their mission to connect contemporary audiences with the oral singing tradition and native language of Ulster.
“Huartan as a whole is a tension-filled, energetic powerhouse of a record. It’s full of conviction and innovation, careening between industrial textures and organic vocal segments.” – Hot Press
Rooted in anti-colonial and anti-capitalist ideals, their theatrical live shows playfully channel collective imaginaries of a pre-Christian Ireland, featuring masked performers who embody the presence of the síogaí (fairies/shapeshifters). Their sold-out headline show at Belfast’s Mandela Hall in October 2025 was an important milestone, demonstrating their rapidly growing audience and unique live aesthetic. They have similarly been sweeping away festival audiences across Ireland, and a recent performance at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient has proven their ability to connect with international audiences.
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Emerging from the Gaeltacht quarter of West Belfast, Huartan is built around a core trio of Irish traditional singers and musicians: Catriona Ní Ghribín, Múlú, and Stiofán Ó Luachráin. The latter also serves as the band’s composer and producer. For their evocative and immersive live shows, Huartan expands into a dynamic collective, drawing on a diverse team of artists, dancers, and musicians.
Catriona, Stiofán and Múlú first bonded while playing traditional sessions in the Hawthorn Bar in West Belfast, where the ideas that would become Huartan were still just conversations between tunes. They eventually named and conceptualised the project after the powerful and vengeful hawthorn. Huartan is an ancient druidic word meaning the tool associated with the hawthorn tree – a symbol of both protection and connection to the otherworld.
All members of Huartan share a commitment to preserving and pushing the boundaries of Irish language song. Rather than seeing them as relics of the past, they believe Irish culture and traditions are safest when they are allowed to transform and take on new meanings.
