Rory Gallagher, the Ballyshannon-born, Cork-raised guitar legend, is about to take centre stage once more, and this time it’s on the big screen. The 2026 Cork International Film Festival, running from 12 to 22 November, will host the world premiere of JOE BONAMASSA: THE SPIRIT OF RORY, a new documentary that traces one American guitarist’s lifelong devotion to the man who shaped his sound. It’s a fitting tribute to an artist whose influence has never faded, and the festival is clearly proud to give it a home in the city Gallagher grew up in.

The film follows Bonamassa to Ireland in the summer of 2025, when he travelled to perform Gallagher’s celebrated Irish Tour ’74 set in full, marking thirty years since the great man’s death. Live concert footage sits alongside candid conversations with fellow Gallagher disciples, among them Queen’s Brian May and Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, whose admiration for Rory reveals just how far his reach extended beyond the island where he was born.

The premiere takes place at Cork’s Everyman Theatre on Wednesday, 18 November, and the evening won’t end when the credits roll. Rory’s brother Dónal Gallagher will join a Q&A afterwards, alongside what organisers are teasing as “a special guest”, a tantalising promise that will have fans guessing until the night itself.