Bloomsday celebrates Thursday 16 June 1904, the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning. Celebrations often include dressing up like characters from the book and in clothes that would have been the style of the era. One of the hallmark fancy dress items of Bloomsday is the straw boater hat. Celebrations come in many differen

The Dublin plein air festival is Ireland’s premier outdoor painting festival. The festival is the perfect painting holiday in Ireland and offers many painting courses during the week. Whether you are an experienced plein air painter, a novice or have never painted out doors before; we hope you will join us and we look forward to meeting you. Community and friendship is the basis of our festival so even if you come to our festival by yourself, you will leave having met friends who share your passion for art, while enjoying the beautiful landscapes, charming coastal villages and friendly

Static is a world premiere production written by Jimmy McAleavey and directed by John King, a former Abbey Theatre Resident Director. A veteran US astronaut is about to land back on Earth after completing his very last space flight. A lonely ham radio operator in Donegal is surfing frequencies in want of some company. This unlikely pair of conversationalists collide with life altering consequences. Static is a lyrical, searching play about isolation and the painful contradictions that surface when people try to connect.

It’s time to go beyond the headlines to tell one of the most important Irish music stories of the last 50 years. “Moonlight” is an expansive rock / theatre production that explores the early life of Philip Lynott who rose from the streets of Dublin to influence and inspire a generation of musicians around the world. Philip Lynott would have been 75 years old on August 20th, 2024 had he won his battle with fame and fortune. He was a true innovator as a songwriter and showman who paved the way for a whole generation of musicians and bands around the world. He was complex, driven to over

A summer afternoon in 1964. Two great playwrights… Beckett and Pinter. One very sticky wicket! Before Samuel Beckett became the playwright universally known for Waiting for Godot, he was a cricketer. He is still the only Nobel prize-winner to feature in the pages of Wisden as a first-class player. His friend and fellow Nobel prize-winner, Harold Pinter, whose best-known works include The Birthday Party and Betrayal, described cricket as ‘the greatest thing that God created on earth’. Stumped is a brilliant absurdist comedy, which explores the friendship between these two grea

Balally Players Theatre Company is delighted once more to bring you Shakespeare in the Park this summer, co-directed by Gerard Bourke and Karen Carleton. Enter the enchanting world of ‘Twelfth Night,’ where love knows no bounds and identity is both a mask and a revelation. Set in the mythical land of Illyria, this timeless comedy unfolds with wit, mischief, and mistaken identities. When Viola, shipwrecked and disguised as a young man, finds herself entangled in a web of love triangles, it sets the stage for the delightful confusion at the heart of Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare