Sunday Morning Coming Down

Hosted by John Healy

12 noon, Festival Dome at Bridge St

Coffee and chat with a panel of hometown writers in a relaxed, informal setting, outdoors in the Festival Dome. Short presentations followed by lively banter and free-flowing audience input.

Between Mee and You

Book launch by Johnny Mee

Hosted by Edwin McGreal

7pm*, Festival Dome at Bridge St

*PLEASE NOTE EARLIER START TIME - THIS EVENT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND ON THE BIG SCREEN IN THE DOME

For more than 20 years, Johnny Mee’s Auld Stock column in The Connaught Telegraph has been compulsory reading every Tuesday.

Johnny is a treasure trove of memories of the Castlebar and Mayo of yesteryear. His ability to recall people, places and events right back to his childhood in the 1930s is exceptional.

He has a phenomenal recall and his columns are a marvellous trip to another era, recalling the characters, happenings and day to day life of previous generations.

Johnny doesn’t just recall his own childhood and adult years but the stories passed onto him by older generations. He’s a wonderful storyteller with wit, knowledge and he offers a pithy look at many of the flaws of modern life.

This collection of the best of his columns is a unique and vital social history of Castlebar and Mayo.

His love for ‘the town I have loved so well’ is clear and he honours the memory of those who went before him and those who will follow him with this wonderful trip down memory lane.

About the author

Johnny Mee has been writing his Auld Stock column for The Connaught Telegraph for more than 20 years. He was employed as a member of the staff of the newspaper for over 60 years, starting at the age of 14.

Johnny is a former Labour Party urban and county councillor and contested two General Elections for the party. He was a member of Castlebar Town Council (previously the Urban District Council) for 34 years and Mayo County Council for 18 years, prior to his retirement in 2009.  He was Mayor/Cathaoirleach of Castlebar Town Council on six occasions. 

He is a former player and official with Castlebar Celtic Football Club. 

A long-time campaigner for people with disabilities, he was one of three founding members of Western Care.

He was the first person to be given the Freedom of Castlebar.

One of a family of 12 children from McHale Road in Castlebar, he lives in St Bridget’s Crescent with his wife Mary, née Cameron, a native of Westport. They have two daughters, Mary and Ann, and three sons, James, John and Alan.

Limitless: Extreme Swimming

Book launch by Nuala Moore

5pm, Festival Dome at Bridge St

The sea has always been a part of Nuala Moore’s life: her earliest memory is of jumping off her father’s trawler in Dingle harbour and swimming back to shore. Since then, she’s swum in some of the coldest, remotest and most dangerous waters in the world, from the Bering Strait to the Drake Passage.

After years of marathon swimming, Nuala struggled to balance sacrifice and achievement. Her work-life balance, coupled with caring for her father, forced a change in her pathway. She turned to ice swimming. For Nuala, these extreme situations offered freedom and a chance to find her true north.

Nuala believes that everyone is capable of greatness, whatever shape that might take. Limitless is her breathtaking memoir, detailing what goes through her mind when she’s in the water and how, when she returns home, she processes the fallout of pushing herself to the brink.

About the author

Nuala Moore is an open-water swimmer, cold-water educator and public speaker. She holds two Guinness World Records, has represented Ireland at five ice-swimming world championships and, in 2006, was a member of the team to swim around Ireland. She lives in Dingle, County Kerry.

Birth of a Nation

– Decade of Centenaries commemoration event

Time: 3.30pm–5.30pm

Venue: Castlebar Courthouse

Speakers: Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union; Diarmaid Ferriter, historian; Justine McCarthy, author and journalist.

Hosted by Marie-Louise O’Donnell

This will be an intriguing seminar which will explore the economic, social and political challenges that faced the new state in 1923.

It will cover various aspects of those seminal years including: rebuilding the nation, economic and social life, establishment of new institutions of state, partition, the experiences of women, Ireland and the wider world, a changing society and social class and gender. It will examine how a state beset with deep divisions met these challenges.

Solar Bones & Spinning Hearts: An evening with Mike McCormack and Donal Ryan

Hosted by Darina Molloy

Time: 7.30pm*. Please note: this event immediately follows the short story reading and prize-giving, which starts at 7pm in the Festival Dome; this year’s judge is Donal Ryan. You are encouraged to take your seat in time for the earlier event. All events are on a first come, first served basis and are free of charge.)

Readings and presentation of prizes to the winner and runner-up in the annual Wild Atlantic Words short story competition, judged this year by Donal Ryan. Sponsored by Bridge St and Mayo Books Press.

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane (off Bridge St), Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Time: 7pm*

*Note: This event will be immediately followed by Solar Bones & Spinning Hearts: An evening with Mike McCormack and Donal Ryan

Carl Frampton: My Autobiography

The Wild Atlantic Words literary festival, in association with Castlebar Boxing Centre of Excellence and Castlebar Boxing Club, hosts former super-featherweight world champ Carl Frampton for the launch of his autobiography.

Details to follow.

Hosted by Ken Armstrong

With contributions from local poets and anybody who feels like reciting their favourite poem in the outdoor tent at one of our local pubs. A very popular, laidback and fun event for everybody!

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20
Time: 8.30pm

Absent Friend: Leonard Cohen

8pm, Festival Dome at Bridge St

An evening of readings and song, Absent Friend is a meditation on a 30-year friendship between Leonard Cohen and Irish writer John MacKenna. Through their letters, emails and MacKenna's exploration of his favourite Cohen songs, the book builds a picture of a comradeship that culminated in their creating Between Your Love and Mine.

On This Day In Mayo

Book launch by Máirtín Ó Maicín

Launch by Enda Kenny, Iar-Thaoiseach

7pm, Festival Dome at Bridge St

On This Day In Mayo seeks to tell the story of Mayo by connecting the 366 days of the year with an event of significance relating to the county, or with an event pertaining to a person from the county. 

There is a compelling story attached to every date – from the first time the iconic green and red of Mayo was worn to the kidnapping of a Ballina councillor which led to the election of his rival. 

Other well-known events such as the landing of the French in Killala, the apparition at Knock and the discovery of the Céide Fields are also examined.

Tá scór de na scéalta scríofa trí mheán na Gaeilge fresin.

Stretching from the 12th century all the way up to April 2023, it is a timeless collector’s item for anyone from or with a grá for Mayo.

There are stories of triumph and tragedy, politics and pugilists, revolution and renewal. Learn about Mayo’s pioneering men and women, fighting men and women, resilient men and women. On This Day In Mayo masterfully conveys the richness of Mayo and those from the county in a riveting read. 

About the author

Máirtín G. Ó Maicín is a retired national school principal who has been a columnist with The Connaught Telegraph for almost 30 years. He has a keen interest in local history and lore, and has written extensively on them in his newspaper column. He is a regular contributor to RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4 on cultural, historical and political matters, particularly pertaining to matters from his native county. 

He has been involved in Irish language and cultural organisations for half a century and continues to be an influential voice in its promotion and advancement. This is his third book, his previous two being published entirely as Gaeilge. 

Máirtín, a father-of-two, lives in Balla with his wife, Aingeal.

Bad Bridget – Crime, mayhem and the lives of Irish emigrant women

8.30pm, Festival Dome at Bridge St

Join authors and podcasters Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick as they discuss their captivating work of social history, uncovering the previously untold stories of generations of Irish female immigrants to the USA that history chose to forget.

About the book

The Number 1 Bestseller
'A captivating account of lives previously ignored' – Sunday Independent

Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was not a good place to be a woman. Among the wave of emigrants from Ireland to North America were many, many young women who travelled on their own, hoping for a better life. Some lived lives of quiet industry and piety. Others quickly found themselves in trouble - bad trouble, and on an astonishing scale.

Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick, creators of the celebrated 'Bad Bridget' podcast, have unearthed a world in which Irish women actually outnumbered Irish men in prison, in which you could get locked up for 'stubbornness', and in which a serial killer called Lizzie Halliday was described by the New York Times as 'the worst woman on earth'. They reveal the social forces that bred this mayhem and dysfunction, through stories that are brilliantly strange, sometimes funny, and often moving. From sex workers and thieves to kidnappers and killers, these Bridgets are young women who have gone from the frying pan of their impoverished homeland to the fire of vast North American cities.

Bad Bridget is a masterpiece of social history and true crime, showing us a fascinating and previously unexplored world.

About the authors

Elaine Farrell is Reader in Irish Social History at Queen's University Belfast. She researches and teaches on crime and punishment, and women's and gender history. She is particularly interested in the lived experiences of nineteenth-century Irish inhabitants.

Leanne is a Senior Lecturer in History at Ulster University. She researches and writes on Irish women's history, history of medicine, sexuality and crime.

The Journey To You – A Love Story Through Infertility

Book launch by Niamh Holleran-McGing, hosted by broadcaster Mary Kennedy

7pm, Festival Dome at Bridge St

A searingly honest memoir that lays bare the mental, physical and emotional challenges involved as Niamh and Tommy negotiated their way through the highs and lows of IVF.

Niamh and Tommy were head over heels in love and had their whole lives mapped out in front of them. The teenage sweethearts knew very quickly they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. They were married in their early 20s and were so excited about the next step – starting a family.

However, as time moved on, they realised their dream would be anything but simple. Fertility issues meant having children was going to be a battle against the odds.

Niamh takes us on that emotional rollercoaster as she and Tommy negotiated their way through the highs and lows of IVF. This searingly honest memoir lays bare the mental, physical and emotional challenges involved. There were challenges with their faith and financial challenges too. But their love never wavered; if anything, it became stronger.

The Journey To You is a no-holds-barred account of Niamh and Tommy’s experience. Ultimately, it is a story of their love and commitment to their dreams and to each other. In searching for a family, Niamh and Tommy found out so much about themselves.

About the author

Niamh Holleran-McGing is 44 years old. Brought up in a traditional Irish family, the middle child of seven children born to Mary and John Joe Holleran, Clonbur, County Galway, Niamh has been writing non-fiction for ten years.

Writing started as a way of coping – a means of expressing her and her husband’s life-changing journey. Niamh uses her words to give life to all the embryos that they lost during their treatment years and sees this book as a tangible tribute to those embryos.

She hopes this book can give solace to others, especially women who are going through something similar, whether it involves infertility or another form of crisis.

Katriona O’Sullivan, the inspirational best-selling author of ‘Poor’ in conversation with broadcaster and trailblazing entrepreneur Áine Kerr

8pm, Festival Dome at Bridge St

‘One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty… one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet’ – The Guardian

As far as I’m concerned, the book of the year! – Pat Kenny, Newstalk

About the author

Dr Katriona O’Sullivan is a psychologist and memoirist. Her first book, Poor, debuted at #1 on the Irish Non-Fiction bestseller list. The book, a memoir of growing up in extreme poverty, describes the far-reaching impact of childhood poverty. As one of 5 children in a home shaped by her parents' heroin addiction, Katriona's story chronicles her journey from poverty, teenage pregnancy, homelessness to graduating with a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and becoming an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education. Poor is her stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids' futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.

Katriona is Senior Lecturer in the Assisting Living & Learning Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University. She is the Principal Investigator on the STEM Passport for Inclusion project, featured recently on RTE Changemaker series. She has held research grants from the Irish Research Council and Science Foundation Ireland leading an initiative to tackle digital inequality in education.  She also successfully led the largest HEA PATH funded programme entitled Turn to Teaching which focused on diversifying teacher education. She has been invited speaker at the World Education Forum, the European Gender Action Workshop on Women and Digitalization and most recently at the UN gender equality workshop. She has worked with Irish policy makers to develop policies around education and inclusion. She has published research on equality, gender, education, inclusion and STEM.  

Áine Kerr, broadcaster and entrepreneur

Named as part of '100 women changing Ireland in 2021' – The Irish Examiner
Named as one of ‘Ireland’s rising stars: the 50 ones to watch in 2023’ – The Irish Independent

Áine was co-founder and COO of Kinzen; a technology company helping platforms detect and disrupt misinformation and disinformation. Kinzen was acquired by Spotify in October 2022. She is now a director at Spotify, heading up its Content Safety Analysis team.

Previously, Áine led global journalism partnerships at Facebook, overseeing a team in New York focused on building products, tools and services for journalists and also working to improve news literacy for news consumers. She was instrumental in helping to create and execute on the Facebook Journalism Project and led the creation of the News Integrity Initiative (NII).

Before Facebook, she spent five years at Storyful, where she served as head of content and political editor before being appointed managing editor in December 2011 at the time of the company’s acquisition by News Corporation. Áine spent over 7 years working as a political correspondent and news reporter with The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and The Irish Examiner.

Áine is a member of the Gaisce council; the organisation overseeing the President of Ireland's Award, chair of the Shona Project and chair of Rethink Ireland.

In 2018, she graduated as a Fellow of the Sulzberger Leadership Program in Columbia University in New York City. She has a Bachelor of Education (B’ED) and a Masters of Journalism (MAJ) with Dublin City University [DCU]. She has certificates with Cornell University and Harvard University in financial accounting and project management, completed an Advanced Diploma in Leadership and Executive Coaching with Kingstown College and two Professional Diplomas in Management and Organisational Transformation with Institute of Management (IMI). She is currently completing a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with an expected graduation in Autumn 2023.

She was awarded Woman of the Year in Media 2018 by Irish Tatler Magazine, the VIP Eir Power of Women award in 2022 for digital and technology and a Woman of Vision award for business and technology in 2023. Her Alma Mater DCU recognised her with an Alumni Award in 2020.

She has spoken at major conferences and events world over. She is host of RTÉ's Reignite on RTÉ Radio One (four seasons - 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and is the occasional stand-in host of RTÉ's The Business and RTÉ's Saturday With. Áine is also a judge with News Brands Ireland, Local Journalism Awards and UCD Business Awards.

‘The emergence of Magdalene Asylums in Co. Mayo in the 19th century’ – a talk by author Michael O’Connor

(From a collection of histories published in September 2023 under the title, Criminal Conversation with My Wife)

7pm, Upstairs at Bridge St

About the author

Michael O’Connor is a lawyer, independent researcher, and author. He holds first-class honours degrees in law from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cambridge, and a Doctorate in Philosophy (law) from Trinity College Dublin. He is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales and the High Court of Ireland. He was a partner in Matheson, one of Ireland’s largest law firms, for many years. His research interests include legal history, public institutions, slavery, women and the laws of men, and the history and lives of ordinary people.

Recent publications include Anatomy of a County Gaol, County Mayo, A History of Imprisonment, Capital Punishment & Transportation (2020), Caribbean Slave Owners & Other Lesser-Known Histories from County Mayo (2021), and Criminal Conversation with My Wife (2023).

Michael has travelled extensively and lived for five years in the Middle East. A native of County Mayo, he now lives in Murrisk.

Sunday Morning Coming Down – Hosted by John Healy

Coffee and chat with a panel of hometown writers in a relaxed, informal setting, outdoors in the Festival Dome. Short presentations followed by lively banter and free-flowing audience input. Featuring Ursula Kilkelly, Ken Armstrong, Mark Mellett and Sean Lyons.

Time: 12 noon

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Book launch: 'Second Chance & Other Stories' by Liam Horan

The event will include a reading by Liam Horan and an interview with the author, conducted by Pat Conway

About the author

This is Liam Horan’s debut collection of short stories. He lives in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, with his wife Noreen and their dog Harris. He is a former journalist who worked in a variety of publications, including as Gaelic Games Correspondent of the Irish Independent (1995 to 2000). He is the creator of the Championship Man series of essays on RTÉ Radio One (Drivetime and Countrywide programmes).  He is currently employed by the Western Development Commission on the ConnectedHubs.ie project, and is also the proprietor of Slí Nua Careers, a career training agency.

About the collection

In this collection of 15 stories, the concerns of someone moving through the rough and the smooth of middle age come to the surface – the loss of central figures in your life, the effort to place in context your existence thus far, the nostalgia for days that can’t return and the looming shadow of your own mortality.

Horan’s engaging characters range from the mild to the provocative. They nudge you with their messages of self-realisation, optimism and quiet acceptance as they navigate real-life dilemmas: the Spanish man returning to the Irish city where he met the love of his life, the journalist retracing old steps after the death of a long-lost friend, the woman breaking free of a coercive partner to rediscover her self-worth, the sports star redefining her relationship with her sport and herself, the father for whom the break-up of his daughter’s marriage sunders his fulfilling friendship with his son-in-law and the widower venturing out into the world again.

It is a collection that deals with change. In prose that is thoughtful and measured, and in west of Ireland settings, the journeys the characters make are both real and metaphorical.

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Time: 8pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

The Wild Atlantic Fringe at the Festival Dome presents Dome Yoga with Noreen O'Grady of Noga Yoga.

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar F23 PN20

Times: Kids’ Session: 3pm–3.30pm. Non Kids: 4pm – 4.45pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a spot. All events are free of charge.

Mayo County Council is holding a major seminar on the Civil War on Saturday, October 8th  as part of its Decade of Centenaries Programme. This will be a day-long series of talks on various aspects of the Civil War, held in Castlebar Courthouse. This seminar is part of the Wild Atlantic Words literary festival.

There will be talks by historians on various aspect of the war throughout the day – the national picture, the local aspects, the role of women, reconciliation etc. Speakers will include Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor Linda Connolly, historian and author Dominic Price, Éamon Ó Cuív T.D., and former Minister for Justice Nora Owen. The seminar will be moderated by broadcaster, writer, lecturer and former senator Marie Louise O’Donnell, a great friend of the Wild Atlantic Words, and opened by Vice-Admiral (retd.) Mark Mellett DSM, who will also partake in Sunday Morning Coming Down (on Sunday at 12 noon in the festival dome).

Professor Diarmaid Ferriter is Professor of Modern Irish History in UCD and a weekly columnist with The Irish Times. His books include Between Two Hells: The Irish Civil War, which is a fascinating exploration of the Civil War and its impact on Ireland and Irish politics in the following half-century, rich in insights into how women and men experienced and responded to the calamity of the split and the tawdry violence that followed.

Professor Linda Connolly is Professor of Sociology and Director, Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute. She was the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies Visiting Scholar during the Lent Term 2022. Her research interests include feminism, gender, family, conflict related violence, wars, migration, and Irish studies. She is the author of several recent publications including on the gender-based violence women experienced in the Irish Revolution (1919-23) and led the Irish Research Council funded 'Women and the Irish Revolution' project. She has published a number of books, The Irish Women’s Movement: From Revolution to Devolution (London and New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2003), Documenting Irish Feminisms: the Second Wave (with Tina O’Toole, republished in 2020, Galway: Arlen Press), Social Movements and Ireland (with Niamh Hourigan, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006), The Irish Family (London: Routledge, 2014), and Women and the Irish Revolution: Feminism, Activism, Violence (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 2020).

Historian Dominic Price, PhD student TCD, is the author of The Flame and the Candle, which is the definitive account of the War of Independence and Civil War in Mayo. Dominic grew up in Dublin’s Rathfarnham, close to Pádraig Pearse’s Scoil Éanna, and often visited his grandparents near Kilmainham Gaol. This sparked a lifelong interest in Irish history. He has served in the FCA, and is a member of Claíomh, a historical re-enactment group of the revolutionary period. A teacher of history, religion and music, he has a keen interest in traditional music and plays several instruments.

The final event will be a conversation between Éamon Ó Cuív T.D., grandson of Eamon De Valera, and former Minister for Justice Nora Owen, grandniece of Michael Collins, which will be a hugely symbolic event as we approach the end of the Decade of Centenaries commemorations.

The seminar will be accompanied by a display of rare items relating to the Civil War, which will be on loan from the Jackie Clarke Collection.

Austin Vaughan, Mayo Decade of Centenaries coordinator and member of the Wild Atlantic Words committee, explained, “The seminar will not seek to find a single agreed narrative on what was a very complex part of Irish history. Instead, it will try to find what the government's Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations describes as, ‘meaningful engagements with a difficult and traumatic time’. This will be our last Decade of Centenaries event and we hope it will be a very special affair.”  

The seminar is free to the public but spaces will be limited.

Location: Castlebar Courthouse

3pm: Opening of seminar – Vice-Admiral (retd.) Mark Mellett DSM, PhD

3.15pm: Professor Diarmaid Ferriter – Between two hells – the Irish Civil War in context

4.15pm: Professor Linda Connolly – “Any man who takes revenge on a sister is not much”: Women’s experience in the Civil War

5pm: Author and historian Dominic Price, PhD Student TCD – The Civil War in Mayo

5.30pm: Éamon O’Cuiv T.D. and former Minister for Justice, Nora Owen – Reflecting on the Civil War

6.30pm: Close of seminar

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Cookbook author and influencer, Sarah Butler in conversation with Keith Bourke

Location: Festival Dome

Time: 1pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

The Wild Atlantic Words Fringe is delighted to announce that the hugely talented musical duo, James and Joe Garvey, will take to the stage in the Festival Dome following Paul Brady’s event on Friday evening.

'Crazy Dreams' – Paul Brady in conversation with Liamy McNally

Crazy Dreams is the compelling and highly anticipated autobiography from Paul Brady, a musician whose remarkable career has spanned six decades and who is indisputably one of Ireland’s greatest living songwriters.

This evocative memoir chronicles Paul’s many years at the forefront of the Irish folk scene, from The Johnstons and Planxty through to his seminal work with Andy Irvine and onwards to his own vaunted solo career.  Along the way are the many encounters and collaborations with such musical luminaries as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Carole King, Tina Turner, Mark Knopfler and Bonnie Raitt to name but a glittering few.

From such celebrated tracks as ‘The Island’, ‘Nobody Knows’ and ‘The World is What You Make It’ to his interpretations of traditional folk songs like ‘Arthur McBride’ and ‘The Lakes of Pontchartrain’, Paul has carved out his own unique place in Irish musical history. In Crazy Dreams he tells how it was done and regales the reader with remarkable stories of life on the road and the journey from small-town Tyrone to the world’s stage.

About the Author
Paul Brady, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is one of Ireland’s most enduringly popular artists. Born in Belfast and raised in Strabane, close to the border with the Irish Republic, he was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age. Brady joined the Irish ballad group, The Johnstons, with whom he recorded seven albums. He is renowned as one of Ireland’s best interpreters of traditional songs. Paul Brady continues to push out the boundaries not only of his own talent but of Irish contemporary music in the new millennium.

'Crazy Dreams' – Paul Brady in conversation with Liamy McNally

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Time: 8pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Readings and presentation of prizes to the winner and runner-up in the annual Wild Atlantic Words short story competition, judged this year by Elizabeth Reapy. Sponsored by Bridge St and Mayo Books Press.

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane (off Bridge St), Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Time: 6.30pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Book launch: Noel Campbell & John Healy, 'The History of Castlebar'

Geographically located in the centre of County Mayo, Castlebar has been at the heart of the county’s affairs for centuries and has been the scene of major events in Irish history. From prehistory to the twenty-first century, The History of Castlebar tells the county capital’s story, and that of its inhabitants, through a series of glimpses into the past.

About the authors

Noel Campbell is a Castlebar native and resides in the town. He attended Saint Patrick’s NS and Saint Gerald’s College, and is a graduate of NUIG and UCD. He is employed as a curator in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, where he has worked since the branch opened in 2001. Noel has written frequently about the history of Castlebar and County Mayo. He is the author of A History of Castlebar: Municipal Government 1613–2014 and also wrote the weekly history column, ‘Old Mayo’ in the Mayo Advertiser. As a presenter of Community Radio Castlebar’s flagship programme, Saturday Forum, Noel discussed local history with many guest contributors. Noel is a former elected member of Castlebar Town Council and has volunteered with several organisations in his home town.

John Healy is a native of Castlebar and has been associated with journalism for nearly 50 years, originally with the Mayo Post. He has been a columnist and contributor to the Mayo News for 25 years, and was an original board member of Community Radio Castlebar. A founding member of Wild Atlantic Words Literary Festival, he has been active in a wide range of voluntary and community bodies over many years.

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Time: 7.30pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

A Poem & A Pint

Hosted by Ken Armstrong

With contributions from local poets and anybody who feels like reciting their favourite poem in the outdoor tent at one of our local pubs. A very popular, laidback and fun event for everybody!

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20
Time: 8.30pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

***Please note change of venue – this event will now take place in the Festival Dome ***

Strolling Through Ulysses! is a one-man show that tells the fun-filled story of Bloomsday – 16 June 1904 – the iconic day around which James Joyce’s Ulysses is based.

Ulysses was 100 years old this year, so we’ll be celebrating this great novel’s 100th birthday in the Festival Dome!

Written and performed by Robert Gogan, Strolling Through Ulysses! guides you through the curious events and quirky characters of Ulysses — humorous, entertaining and revealing!

Joyce, speaking about Ulysses once famously declared, ‘there is not one single serious line in it.’ Strolling Through Ulysses! certainly proves that!

Bawdy, irreverent and great fun!

So hold on to your hats and take a deep breath as Robert Gogan takes you on a 75-minute whistle-stop tour through the fun and laughter which is the backbone of James Joyce’s extraordinary and celebrated novel.

Over 16s only.

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 PN20

Time: 7pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Book launch: Tommie Gorman, 'Never Better'

With Christy Loftus at Six One on Wednesday, October 5th

‘Money is handy for doing messages’ was a phrase the young Tommie Gorman heard from his father, growing up in Sligo in the 1960s. Struggle was never far away but their household had a surplus of love and warmth. From modest beginnings as a local reporter at the Western Journal, where his deadlines were dependent on the bus schedule, Tommie landed at RTE, taking up the post of North-West correspondent in 1980. Over the next four decades he became a familiar presence in Irish homes, known for his coverage of Europe and Northern Ireland, as well as his unforgettable interviews with controversial figures including Gerry Adams, Roy Keane, Ian Paisley and Arlene Foster. While revelling in his life as a journalist, he was also coping with the cancer diagnosis he received in 1994 and seeking ways to access life-saving treatments for patients who shared his rare form of the disease.

In this insightful and generous book, Tommie takes readers behind the scenes and shares some of his memories from Sligo to Stormont, via Brussels and Sweden, as he recounts forty extraordinary years of Irish history from his front-row seat and looks at what may lie ahead for the island.

Time: 6.01pm

Location: Festival Dome

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Book launch: Geraldine Lavelle, 'Weathering The Storm'

Hosted by Michael D. McAndrew

In 2013, while out for a routine cycle, Geraldine Lavelle’s life changed in an instant when she was involved in an horrific road accident. The Castlebar woman suffered a spinal cord injury that left three-quarters of her body paralysed. Overnight, Geraldine had to adapt from being an independent, physically-active young woman to a new world where she required assistance to perform the most basic tasks.

Weathering The Storm is Geraldine’s honest and inspirational account of her journey over the last nine years – from those dark, bleak early days when she struggled to accept the cruel fate visited upon her to her emergence as a powerful and articulate voice for people with disabilities in Ireland. This is a story of resilience, a story of a courageous young woman’s determination to survive the harshest of life’s storms.

Castlebar native Geraldine Lavelle holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Neuroscience from NUI Galway. Since acquiring her disability, she has worked at Abbott Diagnostics, lectured in health science and physiology at IT Sligo and qualified as a special needs assistant. She is also a passionate advocate for people living with disabilities and has contributed regular articles to the Western People, Sligo Champion and several national media outlets.

Time: 7.30pm

Location: Festival Dome, Bridge Lane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo F23 PN20

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.

Tom Crean – Ireland’s Unsung Hero 

Michael Smith, Tom Crean’s biographer, discusses the Antarctic explorer’s remarkable adventures and the creation of an iconic figure in Irish history.  

Michael Smith is the best-selling author whose book, An Unsung Hero, the biography of Tom Crean, stimulated widespread interest in Ireland’s role in Polar exploration. Crean’s story is now included on the curriculum in all Irish schools and a new Irish naval vessel has been named in honour of Tom Crean.  Michael’s books have sold over 250,000 copies around the world, he has appeared on TV and radio and lectured extensively at literary festivals and prestigious venues such as the National Library of Ireland, Royal Society of Irish Antiquarians, National Maritime Museum and Royal Geographical Society London and the Princess Grace Memorial Library, Monaco.  Michael is a former award-winning journalist with The Guardian and The Observer.

Location: Mayo County Library, Pavilion Road, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 H330

Time: 7.30pm

Booking info: All events at this year’s festival are on a first come, first served basis. As some venues have limited availability, we'd recommend arriving early to secure a seat. All events are free of charge.