Literary and arts festival returns to Limerick this autumn

A RIVER of colour and the sound of pipes and drums will signal the start of this year’s Éigse Michael Hartnett.

The popular literary and arts festival will run from Thursday, October 1 to Sunday, October 4, in Newcastle West.

Over four days and nights, the town that was home to and helped shape the late poet Michael Hartnett, will play host to a wide range of talented poets, writers, musicians, singers and artists in a packed programme of “exciting and engaging” events.

One of the headline events for this year’s festival will be the opening ceremony, beginning with the EU Colours Parade and followed by a talent-packed Gala Concert.

These free events are part of a nationwide cultural programme to mark Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union and are supported by the Department of Culture, Communication and Sport.

The parade, featuring all the colours of the EU countries, will involve scores of drumming children as well as the Newcastle West and District Pipe Band while the Gala Concert, taking place at the Longcourt House hotel, promises to be a “lively affair” with a mix of music, song and dance.

The line-up includes Derek Hickey, TG4 Gradam Ceoil Musician of the Year 2024, along with Diarmuid O’Brien, Donal O’Sullivan, Naoise O’Connor and dancer Matthew Quilter.

Other acts will be soloists Máiréad Buicke and Anne Phelan, as well as the Broadford Youth Choir and the Capriccio Chamber String Orchestra.

Another headline event will be the Window Sessions at Éigse where the line-up will star the “stunning” trio of Lisa Hannigan, Paul Noonan and Gemma Hayes playing at Cleary’s Bar on Saturday night.

The programme also includes the award-winning writers Donal Ryan and Hugh Hamilton as well as crime-writer Andrea Mara.

Following opening night, Friday’s events will include a coffee-morning reading with Pat Boran and Annemarie Ní Churreáin, winners of this year’s Michael Hartnett Award, a light-hearted lunch event with the ukelele-playing Limerick Yukealadies and poet Vivienne McKechnie and a screening of Báite, the Irish-language film starring Limerick actress Eleanor O’Brien.

Saturday’s programme will see writer Hugo Hamilton, author of The Speckled People, speak on writing, identity and the idea of home in the Michael Hartnett Memorial Lecture, followed by uilleann piper Louise Mulcahy from Abbeyfeale telling the story of Limerick’s piping women.

In the afternoon, locally-born poet Máighréad Medbh and her cousin Dr Margaret Buckley delve into the past in a mix of poetry, story and history.

The Éigse Slam on Saturday afternoon will be headlined this year by poets Daragh Fleming and Molly Twomey while in the evening, Donal Ryan will “mesmerise and entertain” as well as read from his new novel Where are the Kings. This will be followed by the gig at Cleary’s.

Sunday will see a very special event take place when Michael Hartnett’s son Niall will be joined by long-time friends of Michael, writer Brighid McLaughlin and poet Tony Curtis for ‘Michael and Me’, a “warm and insightful” take on Michael, man and poet.

And to wind up the festival, Andrea Mara, whose novel Such a Nice Girl was published earlier this year, can be heard in conversation.

Other events over the four days include a culinary trip with chef Tom Flavin, a book launch by local writer Pat McLoughlin, an exhibition of haiku at the Red Door Gallery and a chance to have a go at writing your very own haiku or short, three-line poem.

This year’s programme was launched at a reception in Newcastle West by Cllr Liam Galvin, Cathaoirleach of the Newcastle West Municipal District who praised the commitment of the voluntary committee for keeping the festival alive.

Poets Pat Boran and Annemarie Ní Churreáin were announced as the winners of the Michael Hartnett Poetry Award 2026.

Many of this year’s festival events are free or pitched at budget-friendly level and the festival is supported by Limerick Arts Office, the Arts Council, Creative Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communication and Sport.

The opening night Gala Concert is a free event but attendees must have a ticket. Tickets can be purchased online or at the hotel.

For more information on any or all events and to book, go to www.eigsemichaelhartnett.ie