The Storyteller’s Trail
Join John Keane as he passes by the birth places of literary greats, Bryan McMahon and John B Keane and examines the work of the master of plaster; the doyen of Sculptural stuccos, Pat McAuliffe. The tour will end in the Small Square where in May 1951, Tom Doodle, president of the Independent Coulogeous Party made his only public appearance. The man who promised to drill for oil off the coast of Ballybunion and who secured gravel rights on the moon for Listowel will be celebrated. No spoofers please.
Departs from the Listowel Arms Hotel at 10 am
This is a free event. No booking required.
Ciorcal Comhrá – Conversational Irish
Bí linn don ócáid mhíosúil seo lán le caint, craic agus ceol faoi stiúir Gabriel Fitzmaurice & Áine Ní Chuaig. Ócáid saor in aisce agus cuirfear na múrtha fáilte romhat. Join us for a morning of coffee and conversational Irish. From beginners to advanced, all are very welcome to come along, join in and enjoy the craic.
St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre at 11 am
This is a free event. No booking required.
Joseph Dillon: The Newspaperman who befriended Kings, Presidents & Oil Tycoons
Emile Joseph Dillon witnessed some of the most dramatic events the world has ever seen including the assassination of a Russian Tsar, the Dreyfus court martial and bloody massacres in Armenia. Kevin Rafter, Full Professor of Political Communication at DCU, in conversation with Mike Lynch, will relay this previously untold story of a life that transferred from the slum streets of Victorian Dublin to the sumptuous salons of Tsarist Russia, to the American oil rush in Mexico in the 1920s.
Kerry Writers’ Museum at 11 am
NEWKD Ukrainian Cultural Event
Documentary about the kobza player and lyricist Taras Kopanichenko who sings old Ukrainian poems playing an old instrument (kobza) but is now fighting in the army. (26 minutes)
Marian Relihan, Poet, Activist and Creative Writing Tutor will read a poem and facilitate a discussion on the role of the artist during extreme political change.
Kerry Writers’ Museum at 11.30 am
This is a free event. No booking required.
Book Launches: Elizabeth Scanlon & Matt Mooney
In Gaelic & Free: The Memoirs of Pádraig O’Callaghan, Elizabeth Scanlan has edited her grandfather’s memoirs describing a Kerry childhood in times past, the bitter Irish civil war, internment in Kildare, imprisonment in Cork, and resistance to the decline of the Irish language.
Matt Mooney’s latest collection The Moon & Báinín is a series of thoughtful, beautiful and outraged poems that reach across decades and continents in their focus and breadth.
Listowel Library at 12 noon
This is a free event. No booking required.
Daily Debut: Roisín O’Donnell & John Patrick McHugh
Roisín O’Donnell’s Nesting is a gripping, deeply emotional story, following a mother as she escapes coercive partner control and navigates the difficulties of the broken housing system in Dublin. Fun and Games by JP McHugh is a stunning, darkly comic and deeply moving debut novel following a teenage boy as he comes of age on the west coast of Ireland. It takes in social class and its firm borders, manhood and its frailties, family and, of course, love.
Listowel Arms Hotel at 12.30 pm
Lunchtime Theatre: Nora & Jim
Written by Nora Connolly, Nora and Jim intricately weaves the enchanting tale of literary genius, James Joyce and his beloved, lifelong muse Nora Barnacle. Featuring Julie Hale as Nora Barnacle and Rúaidhrí Conroy as James Joyce.
St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre at 1 pm
Poetry on the Bawn
An open mic session devoted exclusively to your poetry. No songs, no stories, just three minutes to present your poetic masterpiece to an appreciative audience of fellow poets on the steps of Listowel Castle when the sun shines, or indoors in the Seanchaí if it rains.
Listowel Castle at 1.30 pm
This is a free event. No booking required.
Suspicious Minds
Join us for an hour of thrilling crime writing entertainment with Jess Kidd and Tom Casey. Jess Kidd has made the leap from literary novel form to a life of crime with Murder at Gull’s Nest, introducing former nun, Nora Breen who has lost her faith and is hankering after the calling of a private investigator. Tom Casey’s third novel Unsettled States is a page-turning whodunnit. A small Connecticut coastal town is shaken by a set of seemingly random tragedies and a gripping investigation of facts and fabrications ensues. In conversation with Sophie Grenham.
Listowel Arms Hotel at 2 pm
Double Ninety
Scannán faisnéise iontach de chuid TG 4 is ea Viva Mary, scéal Mary Lamb Waugh atá 92 bliain d’aois, scéal ina bhfuil feimineachas, imirce, ealaín agus oideachas taobh le taobh. Nuair a d’éirigh sí as bheith ag obair sheol sí an Mheánmhuir ina haonar. Cuirfidh Lelia Doolan, an léiritheoir scannán a chuir go mór le tionscal scannán na hÉireann, faoi agallamh í.
‘Viva Mary’ is the captivating TG4 documentary, telling the story of 92-year-old Mary Lamb Waugh. Interviewed by Lelia Doolan, the first female artistic director of the Abbey Theatre and co-founder of The Galway Film Fleadh.
St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre at 3 pm
Wellness: Laugh, Live & Grow
A transformative and humorous event of wellness, self-discovery and connection to nature with Marianne Power and John Connell.
Journalist, TedX speaker and author of Help Me! and Love Me!, Marianne Power truly believes that self-help will not change your life.
John Connell, playwright, journalist and farmer discusses a meditation on the rituals of farming life Twelve Sheep: Life Lessons From A Lambing Season. Together they explore what it really means to live well in the modern world.
Listowel Arms Hotel at 3.30 pm
Poetry Trio
Poets Gail McConnell (The Sun is Open) and Lindsey Hilsum (I Brought the War with Me) have a shared sensitivity to the deep emotional impact of war and conflict. They will be joined by artist and poet Jo Slade (Once).
The Plaza Centre at 5 pm
Where Mountains Speak & Air Breathes
Join author of Ghost Mountain, Rónán Hession and John Boyne, author of Air in conversation with Roisin Meaney.
Listowel Arms Hotel at 7 pm
Between Ghosts & Wildelings
David Park and Lisa Harding present their latest novels of friendships, personal growth, and the complexities of human connection. In conversation with Rhona Tarrant.
The Plaza Centre at 8 pm
Theatre: Mr. Bergman of Deadman’s Point
Mr. Bergmann of Deadman’s Point is a mysterious and comic tale of personal angst, which explores reputation, legacy and what it is to live close to death. It’s brought to you by the multi award winning company, Nth Degree Productions.
St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre at 8 pm
Poets’ Corner
Chancers, charmers, and chanters are all welcome to the friendliest and best open mic session in Ireland! Bring your read and unread poems. First-time readers and seasoned veterans of the spoken word are welcome, ‘to inspire, entertain, intrigue and intone.’ With MC extraordinaire Seán Lyons.
Christys ‘The Well Bar’ at 9 pm
This is a free event. No booking required.
Celebrating the Poetry of Paul Durcan
To mark Paul Durcan’s eightieth birthday and the publication of Paul Durcan 80 at 80, enjoy an evening of poetry and music with actor Mark O’Regan, former RTÉ weather presenter Jean Byrne with guest appearances by Christine Dwyer Hickey, Joanna Keane, Rita Ann Higgins, John O’Donnell and Enda Wyley.
Listowel Arms Hotel at 9.30 pm
REVIEWS