Paddy Cullivan

Historical Entertainer

Paddy Cullivan was born in Galway. His father Tom Cullivan is a classical composer from Cavan town, his artist mother Nancy Byrne came to Ireland from New Jersey in 1965. So, Paddy is an Irish American in the other direction!

Educated at the non-denominational Mount Temple (where U2 went to school), Paddy studied Visual Communication in the National College of Art and Design while embarking on a music career. With his band The Camembert Quartet, Paddy became House leader on Ryan Tubridy’s ‘Tubridy Tonight’ for 5 years, moving with Ryan to ‘The Late Late Show’ for another decade. The band played with everyone from Sinead O’Connor to Russell Crowe to Michael Bublé, before Paddy decided in 2019 to go full-time with his innovative one-man shows.

From the Easter Rising centenary 2016 Paddy felt the simple approach to commemoration was avoiding the complexity of Irish history. In response, he wrote ‘historical entertainments,’ one-man shows featuring wry comedy, hundreds of images, original songs, and deep historical research. With ‘The 10 Dark Secrets of the Irish Revolution’ (2016) and ‘The 10 Dark Secrets of 1798 (2018) Paddy questioned official narratives in an entertaining and enlightening way. During Covid, Paddy focused on two of the secrets, producing ‘The Murder of Wolfe Tone’ and ‘The Murder of Michael Collins’ in 2021, bringing them on the road for the next two years before bringing his new show out in 2024.

‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Ireland’ brings a new interpretation of our past from St Patrick to partition – and an intriguing, positive vision of a United Ireland in 2032. Using AI imagery and research Paddy forges a path to the future that has left audiences stunned with a new understanding of their history and most importantly, a feeling of hope in these dark times. Most importantly, the show is fair to all traditions both in Ireland and America – already in 2024, the show has been enjoyed north and south by as many Protestants as Catholics, making it a truly unifying experience.

Touring North America for the first time, Paddy is so excited to bring his work to his ‘other home,’ from San Francisco to New York.