Heritage

Find your perfect Irish pub for International Beer Day With over 7,000 pubs on the island of Ireland, it’s the ideal place to celebrate International Beer Day on 2 August. Here are just a few that have a claim to fame. The oldest Sean’s Bar, Athlone, County Westmeath, is officially the oldest pub in Ireland, having been serving alcohol since AD 900....

The small Moravian village of Gracehill in County Antrim has become Northern Ireland’s first cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gracehill, the only complete Moravian Settlement on the island of Ireland, has been designated as part of the transnational Moravian Church Settlements by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. It joins Bethlehem, (Pennsylvania, USA), Herrnhut (Germany) and Christiansfeld (Denmark) on the listing. The...

UnCork your best Summer ever!   The Imperial Hotel shares their Top 10 ways for visitors to experience the very best Pure Cork Experiences this summer as they launch their Mid-Summer Sale~ Summer adds an extra sparkle to the gem that is Cork City and there is no better time to enjoy a Pure Cork staycation. The Imperial Hotel is incentivising visitors...

Unearth the Hidden Charms of Cobh, Co. Cork this summer -Picture-perfect from every angle, the scenic and historic town of Cobh has more to offer visitors per square metre than any other town in Ireland. -In addition to all the well-known attractions there is lots more to discover this summer off the beaten track! Perched gracefully on the edge of Cork Harbour,...

Dungarvan is Seisiún ready as TuneFest 2024 Festival Beckons Head to Dungarvan from 21st-23rd June for concerts, including headline gigs with Cherish the Ladies, Talisk and Danú, music workshops, dancing, pub sessions, youth buskers, cd launches, and free outdoor gig rig performances. TuneFest Dungarvan, Ireland’s most exciting emerging traditional Irish music festival, will take place in the scenic harbour town of Dungarvan...

Joyce’s Dublin recalled in Bloomsday Festival   Ireland’s annual celebration of James Joyce’s seminal work, Ulysses, returns to Dublin in June with the five-day Bloomsday festival. Art, music, theatre, lectures, readings, walking tours and food events make up the packed programme that invites Joyce fans to see his famous novel Ulysses through a multitude of lenses. Bloomsday (11–16 June) recalls 16 June 1904,...

Bealtaine welcomes summer with festival fun   The festival of Bealtaine in May marks the beginning of summer in the Celtic calendar and, since it’s Ireland, it’s a good excuse for a party. Falling midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, Bealtaine is one of Ireland’s four fire festivals, the others being Imbolc (February), Lughnasa (August) and the best known...

St Patrick’s Day celebrations around the world Over 75 million people around the globe claim to be of Irish descent. So it’s little wonder St Patrick’s Day has become a worldwide phenomenon. They say everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day, and with parades and events happening from Australia to Zimbabwe, that’s easy to believe. When the Irish first left the...

Take your pick from great St Patrick’s Day celebrations around Ireland   On St Patrick’s Day all the major cities on the island of Ireland stage fantastic festivals. So why not avoid the Dublin crowds and seek one out this 17 March.   This year St Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday, so Monday 18 March 2024 will be a public holiday. Lucky...

  The ABAIR programme is back for 2024!   ABAIR is St. Patrick’s Festival’s flagship traditional arts strand, sponsored by the Arts Council Traditional Arts fund, which explores the Irish traditions of storytelling, song, and oral history and traces their links around the world. Curated by traditional singer Macdara Yeates, and now in its 6th year, the multi-format programme offers a wide array...