Kilkenny’s Toil & Trouble presents Anakronos: The Red Book of Ossory

Medieval music meets jazz in this compelling reimagining of one of Ireland’s most remarkable manuscripts.

The fourteenth-century Red Book of Ossory preserves the Latin lyrics of sixty songs written by Richard de Ledrede, Bishop of Ossory, the architect of the infamous witchcraft trial of Dame Alice Kyteler. Although the original music has been lost, Anakronos, comprised of some of Ireland’s most celebrated and adventurous virtuoso musicians from the worlds of classical music, early music, jazz and traditional music, has reconstructed and transformed these extraordinary songs using melodies from medieval musical sources — tunes that could well have been sung in Kilkenny in the 1300s.

Blending scholarship with fearless creativity, this atmospheric programme conjures the sounds, stories, and imagination of medieval Kilkenny, inviting audiences on a thrilling journey; a performance that is both historically inspired and unmistakably contemporary.

Supported by Kilkenny County Council and Tourism Ireland.

Kilkenny is a Tourism Ireland Home of Halloween Destination 2024–2027.