Limerick author Kevin Barry premieres his new play ‘The Cave’ at the Abbey Theatre

 Limerick author Kevin Barry is one of Ireland’s most distinctive literary voices 

Limerick author Kevin Barry has long drawn from the raw edges of urban and rural Ireland alike

Limerick author Kevin Barry, one of Ireland’s most distinctive literary voices and one of Limerick’s own, makes a triumphant return to the stage with The Cave, a world premiere production at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre this summer. Barry, born and raised in Limerick city in 1969, has long drawn from the raw edges of urban and rural Ireland alike — spinning vivid tales that shift from the slaughterhouse streets of his youth to the lonely bog roads of the west.

Speaking to The Irish Times about his early life, Kevin often recalls a Limerick of the 1970s and 80s that shaped his dark humour and outlaw spirit, “My most vivid memory of Limerick in the 1970s is walking down to school, to the CBS in town, and walking past the gutters all flowing with blood, because there were still loads of slaughterhouses in town. It was a pig city. The gutters were just full of blood.”

While his novels — including the award-winning ‘City of Bohane’ and ‘Night Boat to Tangier’ — echo that urban grit, The Cave draws us deep into rural Sligo, where Barry has lived for nearly twenty years. Yet the Limerick edge is never far away in his characters’ gallows humour and rebellious streak. Kevin became the first writer to win the Edge Hill Prize for the second time with ‘That Old Country Music’, a collection of short stories inspired by the landscape of Ireland. Kevin’s previous awards include the IMPAC Dublin City Literary Award, the Goldsmith’s Prize, the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize amongst many others. His stories have appeared in the Granta and many other journals and his work has been translated into 16 languages. He also writes screenplays, plays and radio plays.

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

advertisement
advertisement

Set among the wild caves of Caish Hill in south County Sligo, ‘The Cave’ follows the McRae brothers, Archie and Bopper, who sleep rough in a cave, hide from the law, and obsess over a Mexican actress’s private life through an unreliable Wi-Fi connection. Barry describes the inspiration for the setting: “I was up by the caves in Caish Hill, a few miles from where I live one day, and I thought, wow, this is a great set. What you’re always looking for, I think, is a set that can be two things at once. This was a mad, primal, eerie kind of feeling, but it was also real.”

Kevin’s trademark sharpness is alive in the brothers too with Kevin saying, “Archie is kind of madly articulate in a strange way. He’s very eloquent. Bopper, the brother, at least in his own mind, might be a more pragmatic, down-to-earth kind of character, but is not either, really. Quickly, it seems to me that we see that the brothers are in a state of dangerous obsession.” Beneath the laughs lies a darker truth: “I realized I’d been writing about the great change in the life and texture of that place as it’s occurred in those 20 years. The great change is the phones.”

Directed by Abbey Theatre Artistic Director Caitríona McLaughlin and starring Aaron Monaghan, Judith Roddy and Tommy Tiernan, The Cave runs from June 6th to July 18th, 2025 on the Abbey stage. Audiences in the west can catch it at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre from July 22nd to 26th.

Bridging Limerick’s harsh memories with Sligo’s eerie solitude, The Cave is Kevin Barry at his finest: equal parts mischief, melancholy, and razor-edged truth — a must-see for anyone who loves Irish stories that howl from the margins. Congratulations Kevin! Wishing you every success!

Abbey Tickets