Report by Brad Balfour
When Michael Londra celebrated the launch of the third season of his hit public television show “Ireland with Michael” he came to New York’s Irish Arts Center. Held last week at the recently relaunched arts space, the series takes viewers on a journey to popular and lesser-known Irish destinations. Sponsored by Tourism Ireland, Aer Lingus and CIE Tours, each episode examines aspects of Ireland that personally engage Londra and audiences as well.
The show’s popularity and audience reach has continued to grow since its U.S. debut on PBS in May 2021. To date, episodes from seasons one to three have aired over 21,000 times in 48 states, and have been broadcast into 97% of all U.S. households. Season Three features interviews and performances with Ireland’s best-known talent such as Darina Allen, Louis Mulcahy, Clannad, Riverdance, Tenor Gavin Ring and Aoife Scott., The show also showcases up-and-coming artists such as flautist Tiernan Courell, Sasha Terfous (Wexford Poet Laureate), traditional music band Ceól, Damian and Shauna McGeehan, harpist Úna Walsh and trad duo Shelly O’Grady and Cormac O’Hanlon.
As an Irish entertainer he’s inevitably been an ambassador for Ireland. Londra has been hosting visitors on curated tours to Ireland several times a year, allowing them to experience the places highlighted through the TV show. His Ireland with Michael Live concert plays theaters and performing arts centers across the U.S. bi-annually in March and December, accompanied by his band and world champion Irish Dancers, and set to a backdrop of sweeping vistas of Ireland.
From Wexford, the opera capital of Ireland, Londra had no idea he’d follow his town’s heritage. But once he became lead vocalist for the original Riverdance show on Broadway, Londra never expected his career to evolve in this way. but once he got in the show and toured the USA, he seized the opportunity and has now become not only a noted TV host but an established musician and producer of various shows for stage and screen.
Over the past nine years, Londra built an annual hosted tour of Ireland for fans, which led to the current PBS series. Season one first aired on Public Television in 2021. The show follows the singer on his travels around the Emerald Isle via his love of music and Irish music especially. The first three seasons of Ireland with Michael have been a breakaway success, airing over 21,000 times on PBS stations across the country into 96% of all U.S. households.
In addition to launching this third season, Londra announced that season four is scheduled to air in January 2024. His appearance at the Irish Arts Center — with a performance there — was not only a celebration of all things Ireland but of New York’s connection to tradition and contemporary Irish arts as well.