National Library of Ireland

14/10/2026

‘My Father's Shade Appearing’: Reflections on Patrick Heaney

📅 Saturday, 31 October at 2pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/my-fathers-shade-appearing-reflections-patrick-heaney

"This is how Death would summon Everyman."

In Crossings, written after his father’s death, Heaney states that he cannot face water crossings ‘without my father’s shade appearing to me.

This Halloween, we will examine how the presence of Heaney's father haunts his work and how Heaney reflects and takes stock of their relationship. Join us at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again on Saturday 31st October at 2pm where we shall explore this spectral theme from Heaney's earliest works where he foresees the aging of his father, his father gifting him a harvest bow as a sign of affection, to his memories of him after his passing.

‘My Father's Shade Appearing’: Reflections on Patrick Heaney Date Saturday, 31 October 2026 | 2.00pm - 3.00pm Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, Westmoreland Street, Dublin, D02 VR66 Category Event Price Free Book now Book now Date Saturday, 31 October 2026 | 2.00pm - 3.00pm Location Seam...

14/10/2026

Online Book Club | Over Nine Waves

Join us on Teams for a chat about this month's book, 'Over Nine Waves', by Marie Heaney.

📅 Friday, 30 October at 1pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/online-book-club-over-nine-waves

This book club is for everyone, you don't need to be a poetry expert!

There will be an opportunity to read our favourite poems from this collection, chat about themes and inspirations and ask questions about anything we didn't understand.

Online Book Club | Over Nine Waves Date Friday, 30 October 2026 | 1.00pm - 2.00pm Location Online via Teams Category Event Price Free. Booking Required. Book now Book now Date Friday, 30 October 2026 | 1.00pm - 2.00pm Location Online via Teams Category Event Price Free. Booking Required. Book now On...

14/10/2026

Lots of smiling faces in this wedding group, commissioned by Mr Lattimer of Johnstown, Waterford, and photographed on 14 October 1930. A wonderful glimpse of a wedding party nearly a century ago; https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000594387.

14/10/2026

Calling our followers in Mayo! Did you know that you can visit our new travelling banner exhibition, Strangers to Citizens, in your local area?

People, ideas and goods have always moved over and back between Ireland and Continental Europe. That exchange quickened after 1600 as profound social, religious and economic upheaval pushed successive waves of Irish migrants to the continent. The banner exhibition explores the story of the Irish in Continental Europe. Entry is free.

📍North Mayo Heritage Centre
📅 Until 29 October
⏰ Opening hours: https://northmayoheritagecentre.ie

This banner exhibition is part of the official Cultural Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

13/10/2026

🚨 TICKET UPDATE: ON THE HUNT IN THE NATIONAL LIBRARY

Due to nationwide public-sector industrial action affecting the National Library of Ireland, tickets for On the Hunt in the National Library National Library of Ireland 📚 will no longer be released on Wednesday 14 October as previously advertised.

We are awaiting confirmation that the event, scheduled for Saturday 24 October, can proceed and will share a further update on ticket release date as soon as possible.

Other festival events at the National Library of Ireland (In Stoker’s Footsteps: A National Library Walking Tour and Bram Stoker’s Influences: Jarlath Killeen in Conversation with Jason McElligott) are unaffected.

Thank you for your understanding.

13/10/2026

The next chapter in ‘Reimagining the National Library’ is beginning.

Minister for the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan announced that the National Library of Ireland (NLI) can proceed to tender for a contractor for the redevelopment of our West Wing and Reading Room gallery.

🏛️ Learn more about the spaces at the heart of the redevelopment:
https://youtu.be/vuLmJNCmid4

In this short video, NLI Director Dr Audrey Whitty and Deputy Director Brian share more about the plans and what they will mean for our collections, our visitors and the generations to come.

The redevelopment will open up more of the National Library of Ireland and create new ways for people to discover and engage with our national collections.

The project is funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and delivered in partnership with the OPW - Office of Public Works.

The next chapter in ‘Reimagining the National Library’ is beginning.

13/10/2026

The National Library of Ireland’s second annual 'Ballybeg Goes Global' event explored how one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights continues to inspire audiences around the world.

On 2 October 2026, scholars and performers gathered at the Library to explore how Brian Friel’s work has travelled across languages, cultures and theatrical traditions.

➡️ Learn more:

Ballybeg Goes Global: Brian Friel’s Work Around the World A celebration of Brian Friel Tuesday, 13 October 2026 Brian Friel at his boathouse, County Donegal. Photograph by Bobbie Hanvey; courtesy of Boston College The National Library of Ireland’s second annual 'Ballybeg Goes Global' event explo...

13/10/2026

Dublin By Dusk | Twilight Talks
Scholarship, creativity and discovery emerging from NLI Collections

🌙 Thursday, 29 October | 7.10pm - 8.10pm
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/dublin-dusk-twilight-talks-0

Discover how NLI collections inspire, shape and transform research in three fascinating 15-minute talks exploring the depth of scholarship and discovery sparked by the Library’s collections.

📚 On the programme:

Novels, smelling salts, and “Sympathetic Ink for Secret Correspondence” — Dr Karen Wade explores Dublin’s Apollo circulating library and the reading culture of the early 19th century.

The Paradoxes of a Life: the Eleanor Wicklow Papers at the National Library of Ireland — Olivia Frehill examines the complex life and legacy of Eleanor Wicklow in mid-20th-century Ireland.

Masculinity, Subjectivity and S*x in Post-Independence Ireland, c.1920–1942 — Dr Shannon Freegrove explores masculinity, respectability and male emotional life through an NLI-held diary and historical sources.

Join us for an evening of fresh perspectives, fascinating research and unexpected discoveries! ✨

Scholarship, creativity and discovery emerging from NLI Collections

13/10/2026

We recently acquired this 1913 transcription of the travel diary of George Henry Moore, covering his travels from 1834 to 1837: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000939940

Between 1834 and 1839, Moore travelled extensively, visiting Russia, Syria and Palestine, where he explored the Dead Sea. This transcription records many of his journeys and experiences.

The NLI holds Moore’s original diaries from 1836–1837, but this acquisition provides new material relating to the other years covered by the transcription.

13/10/2026

Due to ongoing industrial action across the public sector, the National Library of Ireland wishes to advise of the following changes to opening hours and services: https://www.nli.ie/news-stories/news/opening-hours-and-service-updates

📅 Wednesday 14 October 2026

The Kildare Street buildings will be closed to the public. This includes all reading rooms (Main, Microfilm, Manuscripts and Family History), the Reader Registration Office, the Front Hall, and the WB Yeats Exhibition.

Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again will be closed. The exhibition is located at the Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre on Westmoreland Street.

🎶 The Live Aid exhibition will remain open. The exhibition is in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar.