GALLERY: Another fantastic few days at Dromineer Literary Festival

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The Dromineer Nenagh Literary Festival 2024 committee pictured after the last event on Sunday evening at the Abbey Court Hotel, back row, Catherine Lahiff (Secretary), Carol O'Meara (Assistant Treasurer), Margaret Folan, Kate O'Meara, Ellen Whelan. Front row, Geraldine Cronin (Treasurer), Geraldine McNulty (Chairperson) and Virginia O'Dowd. PHOTO: ODHRAN DUCIE

Last weekend saw the return of the ever-popular Dromineer Literary Festival in Nenagh and the surrounding areas.
The festival kicked off in the Nenagh tourist office on Thursday evening where poets Helen Hutchinson, Linda McKenna and Michael Dooley were joined by local musician Bríd Kenny for an hour of discussion on poetry and performance. The audience enjoyed readings and music from the various artists.

The festival kicked off in the Nenagh tourist office on Thursday evening where poets Helen Hutchinson, Linda McKenna and Michael Dooley were joined by local musician Bríd Kenny for an hour of discussion on poetry and performance. The audience enjoyed readings and music from the various artists.

Later that evening Professor Diarmaid Ferriter took to the stage in the Nenagh Arts Centre for a sold out discussion with acclaimed journalist Justine McCarthy.

The two discussed Professor Ferriter’s new book The Revelation of Ireland which demonstrates the ways in which we live in a very different country now compared to the one it was in the mid-1990s.

Day two began with the panel discussion in the Nenagh tourist office between authors Sinead Gleeson, Niamh Mulvey and Fiona McPhillips, facilitated by writer Anna Carey. They read from and discussed their respective books, Hagstone, The Amendments and When We Were Silent. Each is a multi-hyphenate, having had careers that span publishing, editing, screenwriting and journalism, they discussed their journeys that led them to writing their novels as well as topics that included motherhood, femininity and the cliché of the ‘best under 30’ lists.

‘I loved him from the day he died’, the title of writer Michael Harding’s new memoir was the topic of Friday evening’s discussion in the arts centre. Michael was joined by Dr Sarah Moore Fitzgerald as the two discussed how he travelled back in time to the Ireland of his youth, to the Holy Wells and pubs he visited in a search for a sense of connection and he begins to unpack the long ago trauma of losing a father he never really knew.

Saturday had the busiest schedule on offer, kicking off the day with author Niamh Mulvey returning for a workshop titled ‘Dilemma and Delusion: An introduction to the short story form’.

Prizes were handed out to local budding poets in the Nenagh library later that morning with recipients from 3rd to 6th class in primary schools in Nenagh.

The play ‘Fred & Alice’ took place next in the Nenagh arts centre, which saw audience members entertained by the story of 2 amazing mischievous characters who meet in a home.

A second workshop titled ‘Wonders & Realities : Poetry Writing Workshop’ took place over the course of three hours in the afternoon in the Nenagh tourist office with poet Jane Clarke. Jane taught attendees how poetry helps us fine-tune our senses and pay attention to the wonders and realities of the world.

At the same time, the Nenagh heritage centre hosted Suzy Byrne, daughter of Gay Byrne, in conversation with Evelyn O’Rourke for a conversation about Suzy’s tribute to her father.

The start of the evening’s main events kicked off with media personality Hector Ó’hEochagáin discussing his new book The Irish Words You Should Know at Nenagh castle with music from Laoise Kennedy.

Local food champion and co-owner owner of Nenagh’s ‘Country Choice’, Peter Ward, hosted the next event ‘Chefs for Seasons’ with celebrity chefs Mark Moriarty and Denis Cotter.

For the final event of the day, Nenagh-man and bestselling author

For the final event of the day, Nenagh-man and bestselling author Donal Ryan was joined by writer and radio producer Paula Shields for a conversation about his latest book, the event also opened with a reading by Geraldine Mitchell from her latest book ‘Naming Love’.

was joined by writer and radio producer Paula Shields for a conversation about his latest book, the event also opened with a reading by Geraldine Mitchell from her latest book ‘Naming Love’.

On Sunday morning, poet Jane Clarke returned for a discussion with nature writer Eoghan Daltun about how the two explore the connecting themes of restoration and hope in their work.

A special talk aboard the Ku-Ee-Tu in Dromineer came next where Irish open water swimmer Nuala Moore and local author Nathan O’Donnell discussed Nuala’s adventurous life and how she has made a career for herself out of it.

Nenagh’s Solsborough House played host to the next talk ‘Beauty of Ruins’ which saw writer Robert O’Byrne joined by art critic and author Cristín Leach to discuss his book The Irish Aesthete: Buildings of Ireland, Lost and Found.

The final event of the weekend was ‘Remembering Leonard Cohen’ where Irish writer John MacKenna discussed his long friendship with Cohen. He was joined by music Katie Jacques who perfomed a number of Leonard Cohen’s songs for the audience.

The festival was once again, very well attended and incredibly well organised by the festival committee. The variety of talks on display offered something for everyone and each one was as rewarding as the next. Nenagh and Tipperary are very lucky to have such a fantastic event so close by.