CULTURE NIGHT IN KILCULLEN TOWN HALL

Join Kilcullen Drama Group and friends TONIGHT for Culture Night 2026, Friday 18 September from 6.30pm.

Enjoy an engaging evening filled with live music, storytelling, and artistic expression, reflecting the unique spirit of our community. 

Admission: Free.

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CULTURE NIGHT IN KILCULLEN TOWN HALL

Kilcullen Drama Group invites everyone to an inclusive Culture Night event on Friday next, from 7pm to 9pm, celebrating local talent, heritage, and diversity, writes Eilis Phillips. Enjoy live music, storytelling, and artistic expression in Kilcullen Town Hall that capture the community’s spirit. 

This event brings people together to share stories and culture, highlighting Kilcullen’s warmth and connection. 

Join us in honouring old friends, welcoming our evolving community, and upholding values of openness, respect, belonging, and creativity.

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LAUNCH OF PARACHUTE PROJECT

Riverbank Arts Centre and Kildare County Council Arts Service have launched The Parachute Project, a six-week collaboration led by Brian Cregan with TY students from Curragh Community College. 

Combining art, science and engineering, the programme included workshops, off-site sessions and Dublin gallery visits. Students explored photography’s origins, cyanotype printing and the Curragh’s heritage, experimenting with light and materials while shaping the parachute design and choosing individual prints on T-shirts and tote bags. 

Cregan said: “Growing up between Newbridge and the Curragh, I’ve always felt connected to this landscape; the project weaves local heritage and cyanotypes with young energy.” Watching Curragh Community College’s Transition Year students take ownership of their designs and collaborate was a highlight; their parachute became a shared canvas of teamwork. “I am proud of their achievement and grateful to textile designer Aideen Cross, Riverbank Arts Centre and Kildare County Council Arts Service for realising it.”  Cross spent three weeks guiding pattern cutting, sewing and reinforcement for a safe launch. 

Kildare filmmaker Richard Lennon documented the project; his short film, featuring interviews and the Newbridge Town Hall launch, will be screened privately at Riverbank on 16 September for students, families and guests. 

Éilis Lavelle, Arts Officer for Kildare County Council, praised the initiative as a meaningful, skill-building journey. 

During Culture Night 2026, the parachute will be displayed in Riverbank’s foyer and the film screened from 4–8 pm; all are welcome.

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SAVE DATE FOR KILCULLEN'S CULTURE NIGHT

A reminder that Kilcullen Drama Group will host a Culture Night on 18 September at the Town Hall, starting at 7pm. 

Doors open at 6.30pm, featuring a performance by the Kilcullen Gospel Choir in the Heritage Centre foyer. The evening will include a wide range of musical, variety, and drama presentations by local performers.

Admission is free.

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Set your calendar for Culture Night 2026

Some of the entertainment from last year.

Tremendous interest has been shown in Culture Night 2026, and the organising committee now has a full programme of events, which will be held in Kilcullen Town Hall and Heritage Centre on Friday, September 18th, writes Esther Reddy.  

A wonderful night's entertainment of dance, song, poetry, and sketch is promised, with something of interest for all tastes. Doors open at 6:30pm and entertainment will be available to patrons from the moment the hall is entered. 

Admission is free. Put the date in your diary now!

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38th Gerard Manley Hopkins International Festival

The 38th Gerard Manley Hopkins International Festival is set to return to Newbridge College from Friday, 24 July, to Thursday, 30 July 2026. The week-long event celebrates the life and wide-ranging interests of poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, including poetry, music, philosophy, and conservation.

The festival will officially commence with a Grand Opening and Reception on Friday, 24 July, at 7:30pm in the Newbridge College Theatre. The ceremony will be performed by HE David Gill, Ambassador of Germany, with Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon TD, and representatives of Kildare County Council in attendance. Music at the event will be performed by Conor Mahony and Flamenco guitarist John Walsh.

A highlight of this year’s cultural programme is once again a concert by the legendary Swedish pianist Hans Pålsson on Saturday, 25 July, at 8pm. Pålsson will perform a repertoire featuring works by Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert. A Poetry Ireland Reading will take place in the Walker Building on Monday, the 27th, featuring Dermot Bolger, Donald Gardner, and Desmond Egan.

Other events in a comprehensive schedule include:

Academic Lectures and Workshops — Sessions on "Practical Prosody," creative writing, and a translation workshop focused on Hopkins's poem "Binsey Poplars".

Art Exhibitions — A group exhibition curated by Artistic Director Desmond Egan, featuring artists such as Brian Bourke and Jay Murphy.

Youth Programme — A parallel programme for young people directed by Derek Egan.

Community Events — Daily "Festival Club" gatherings at local venues like Cummins’s and O’Rourke’s, as well as a field trip to Moone High Cross.

For further information and registration, visit gerardmanleyhopkins.org.

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Book your slot at Culture Night 2026

Last year's Culture Night crew.

A reminder that Culture Night 2026, a nationwide event, will be held this year on Friday, 18 September, writes Esther Reddy. Last year's event in Kilcullen Town Hall was an evening of great entertainment, including poetry, dancing, drama excerpts, and song, and the steering committee hopes that this year's event will be even better! 

Culture Night will be held again in Kilcullen Town Hall, in a supportive and friendly atmosphere. If you would like to be involved — recite a poem, read a piece, sing a song, share a dance, showcase a talent — whatever you can bring to the event, you will be so welcome. Culture Night encompasses all cultures which make our town such a lovely place in which to live; please contact us to get involved. Text or call 087 4707652 to log your interest or contact any of the organising committee: Ray Kelly, Colette Fitzgerald, Joan Murphy, Gerry O'Donoghue, Letitia Hanratty, Eilís Phillips, Fiona Kelly, or Esther Reddy. 

Looking forward to celebrating the strength of our community at a warm, welcoming, and inclusive event!

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First call for Culture Night

Culture Night 2026, a nationwide event, will be held this year on Friday, September 18th, writes Esther Reddy. Although this seems like a long time away, Kilcullen Drama Group and Friends are already planning a programme for Culture Night. 

Last year's event in Kilcullen Town Hall was an evening of great entertainment, including poetry, dancing, drama excerpts, and song. However, to organise an event for this coming September, Kilcullen Drama Group and friends need to hear from you now! They are calling on anyone who would like to get involved. 

Text or call 087 4707652 to log your interest so that a programme can be put in place. Don't leave it to someone else — text or call to make this year's Kilcullen event another resounding success.

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Open Mic night for Woodbine

Woodbine Books will host an Open Mic Night on Wednesday, 10 June, at 7:30pm, offering local writers and musicians a platform to share their work. 

Organised by the shop’s Creative Writing Group, the event invites performers to present poetry, short stories, essays, flash fiction, or music, with each slot limited to five minutes. 

Those interested in performing can contact Woodbine Books in advance to be added to the lineup. Attendance is open to all, and participation is optional, with audience members and supporters welcomed.

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National Museum expansion at Collins Barracks

The public spaces at the National Museum of Ireland's Collins Barracks location in Dublin feature an expanded exhibition called Changing Ireland Galleries, which includes several objects from County Kildare, writes Brian Byrne. These include Can’t lose Cant, created by writers, artists, and children from the Mincéirí/Traveller Community in the county, and the Full and Plenty cookery book by Maura Laverty from Rathangan (1960 edition). 

It is the largest expansion of the public galleries at this location in twenty years, with exhibits that will be regularly changed and rotated. The new galleries represent a complete refurbishment of a section of Collins Barracks that had remained untouched since the Defence Forces left nearly thirty years ago. The initiative displays hundreds of political, social, and cultural objects from the Museum’s collections of the 20th and 21st centuries — extraordinary and everyday artefacts from the past 150 years. Visitors are encouraged to reflect on these objects and consider the question “Cad Is Ann Éire Dar Leat?” – “What Is Ireland to You?” 

New artistic commissions, including poetry by Paula Meehan, are integrated across 426 square metres of interconnected rooms, providing an additional dimension for visitors. 

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence, Simon Harris, TD, officially opened the new galleries recently. Admission is free.

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Camphill Choir in Culture Night

Members of the Camphill Choir in rehearsal for their debut last Christmas.

The Camphill Choir will make a special appearance in the Town Hall for Culture Night tonight, writes Brian Byrne. They will be among up to 20 performances in the variety show organised by Kilcullen Drama Group. 

The choir comprises members from both the Bridge Community and Camphill Grangebeg and gave their public debut last Christmas at Kilcullen Parish Church with the Carols by Candlelight concert. 

The theme of this evening is celebrating diversity, and there will be dancing, singing, music, poetry, and storytelling in the programme. The show features acts from all age groups and abilities. 

The show starts at 7pm and is free. All are welcome.

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Culture Night tomorrow in Town Hall

A reminder that on Culture Night, tomorrow, Friday the 19th, Kilcullen Drama Group and Friends are presenting a variety evening where the spotlight shines on diversity and inclusion. 

The show will bring together drama, comedy, dance, and music from all age groups and abilities. 

The evening promises to be a powerful blend of performances reflecting diverse voices and experiences.

Performances from 7pm. Entry is free. All are welcome.

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Diverse and inclusive Culture Night in Kilcullen

On Culture Night, Friday next the 19th, Kilcullen Drama Group and Friends are presenting a variety evening where the spotlight shines on diversity and inclusion and the beauty in differences, writes Eilis Philips. The show will bring together drama, comedy, dance, and music from all age groups and abilities. The evening promises to be a powerful blend of performances that reflect the richness of diverse voices and experiences.

Inclusion: Because every voice matters, our differences weave a stronger, more compassionate community.

Drama and Comedy: Thought-provoking monologues from plays performed over the years that explore themes of identity and belonging.

Music: Music celebrates the voices that often go unheard and the stories that deserve to be sung. The wonderful Bridge Community Choir will take part.

Dance: Traditional Irish Dancing and Ballroom Dancing from local award-winning dance schools. Each performance is a tribute to heritage, expression, and the universal language of rhythm.

Performances from 7pm. Entry is free. All are welcome.

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Culture Night in Kilcullen

A special celebration of diversity and inclusion will be held for Culture Night in Kilcullen Town Hall on Friday, 19 September.

The free event will include drama, music, dance, art, storytelling, literature and more.

Doors open at 7pm.

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Culture Night at Riverbank

An extended evening of attractions will feature at the Riverbank Arts Centre for Culture Night 2025, on Friday 19 September. The evening starts at 4pm with Blue Skies, directed by Kasia Eliasz and performed by Purple Door member Sinéad Reid. 

Broadcaster, writer, Gaeilgeoir, creative producer and workshop facilitator Ola Majekodunmi hosts a Fighting Words Workshop for adults as Gaeilge at 5pm. Emerging Visual Artist Bursary Award recipient Fiyin Oluokun will be in the McKenna Gallery from 6pm for drop-in exhibition tours of their solo art exhibition, Family Trees hang over Property Lines. 

Karen McCartney hosts an acting workshop, Shakespeare’s Signposts, at 7pm in Newbridge Town Hall. Then, at 8pm, an evening of spoken word performances and conversations, Things We Carry: Expressions of Black-Irish Identity, will be chaired by Ola Majekodunmi with Fiyin Oluokun, Samuel Yakura and Sekera Mohamed Besta.

All events are free, but advance booking is essential as places are limited. 

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A packed programme for GM Hopkins International Festival

The 37th Gerard Manley Hopkins International Festival will be opened by Kildare South TD and Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon on Friday, 18 July, writes Brian Byrne. Based in Newbridge College, the event will run until Thursday, 24 July.

The Festival celebrates the life and interests of the 19th-century poet, artist, and philosopher, GM Hopkins. A packed programme will include talks and lectures, a piano recital by Hans Pålsson, an art exhibition, a creative writing workshop, and a celebrity concert by legendary traditional Irish musicians Frankie Gavin and Noel Hill. A nightly festival club in O'Rourke's pub will feature performances from a number of highly talented local musicians.

The Artistic Director of the Festival is its founder, poet Desmond Egan, and the whole event is organised by the Gerard Manley Hopkins Society with support from Kildare County Council, Newbridge College, Newbridge Silver, and Poetry Ireland.

Further information and booking for events from the Conference Office between 9 am and 6pm at 085 2732568.

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