When? 7pm Saturday 18th April 2026
Where? Killyleagh Castle
Cost? £20
Book? email admin@sirhanssloanecentre.co.uk or via Eventbrite, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/…/sir-hans-sloane-centre….
Co. Down singer, songwriter and storyteller Colum Sands has been described as a performer who “views the world with balanced, non tribalistic humanity, breaking down all kinds of barriers and leaving behind an optimism and appreciation of the power of the human spirit over adversity.”
He has performed solo and as a member of ‘The Sands Family’ in >30 countries, presented BBC radio programmes over 22 years and produced > 100 albums, working with young musicians and legends like Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.
His songs and stories, often laced with humour, are based on observations of the profound and sometimes quirky ways of life that connect us all and remind us that we all live under the same sky.
Growing up in a “mixed” farming community near Mayobridge, his early songs like “The March Ditch” recall the days of neighbours sharing work in the fields, borrowing spades and other farm implements from each other.
“Whatever you say, say nothing”, his wry send-up on the kind of suspicion which is deliberately generated to keep people apart, has been translated and recorded in German, Dutch, Danish, Polish and Hebrew, a sign that his songs travel well. Colum relishes the vast variety of venues in which he has sung them, from Carnegie Hall New York to an audience of one in a packed phone box on Rathlin Island!
With tours in England, Germany and Denmark last year, Colum is looking forward to a shorter journey for a performance in the unique setting of Killyleagh Castle.
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Part of our Shared & Together where Ulster-Scots meets Irish programme of events – thanks to funding from Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland’s Reconciliation Fund.