| We're delighted that the Festival will be opened on the afternoon of Friday 7 August by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. Our opening event will a panel discussion led by Iain Dale who has recently edited a collection of profiles of the Taoisigh, with three of the contributors Gary Murphy (who wrote on Charles Haughey), Deirdre Foley (who wrote on Liam Cosgrave) and Stephen Collins (on Jack Lynch).
Our main theme for 2026 is Boundaries - making and crossing them. We'll be considering physical boundaries, with Cormac Moore on the Irish Boundary Commission, Sam McBride on the arguments for and against a united Ireland, Lewis Baston on Borderlines - his history of Europe in 29 borders and Alexander Morrison on border-making during the Russian conquest of Central Asia in the 19th century.
We'll consider social boundaries, with Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick, authors of Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women and Leanne Calvert on her recent book Life, love and family in Presbyterian Ulster, as well as Sonja Tiernan, speaking about Eva Gore-Booth, whose life represented the challenging and crossing of many boundaries. And Gabriel Cooney will consider the ultimate boundary while discussing his book Death in Irish prehistory.
We'll have many other fascinating talks, alongside a Saturday night screening of three films about the history of West Cork. Our popular Festival field trips return, exploring West Cork on land and water.
Book your tickets here. |
