Event Guide for free Events in Greater Dublin

A weekly car boot sale, one of less than a handful that is still reliably taking place, has up to 200 cars/sellers. The stadium is just a few minutes walk from the Red LUAS line stop and numerous bus stops. For traders the Car Boot Sale opens at 06:30 for buyers from 08:00. If you are interested in selling, check the details and register on their website.

“Dublin Goes Country” is a celebration in Dublin of “everything country”. :-O

There will be a country market, crafts, bbq & other food and live music with more than 16 bands and performers in various venues.

The market is on Smithfield Plaza on Sunday only, but the music will be in the Grand Social and The Underground on Saturday AND Sunday. Admission is free to all events

Here is the line-up:

Saturday 14 July
—————–
The Grand Social: 20:00 Lucky Bones / 21:00 Whistle / 22:00 The Oxo Boys

The Underground: 20:15 Dublin City Rounders / 21:00 Aaron Nestor / 21:45 Pull the Wool / 22:30 Kerry Fearon music & media with The Dublin City Rounders

+++++

Sunday 15 July
—————

The Grand Social: 20:00 Jamie Stanton / 21:00 The Sick and Indigent Song Club / 22:00 Atlantic String Band

The Underground: 20:15 The Remedy Club / 21:00 Moylan Music / 21:45 Colm Swwirbat Music / 22:30 Alice Lynskey Music

Smitfield Plaza: 13:00 Alice Lynskey Music / 14:00 Sina Theil / 15:00 Homebrew and the Bad Examples / 16:00 Dublin City Rounders

The weekly Honest2goodness food market in Glasnevin has fresh meat, vegetables, fish, baked goods, and wines. It is open from 09:30-16:00. It is behind Lidl in the Industrial Estate just after the Glasnevin Cemetary coming from the City Centre.

Parkrun Ireland is organising free weekly runs in parks. It is a timed run over 5km and participation is completely free, but registration before your first parkrun is required.

A whole range of Parkruns take place every week:
+ Malahide Park, Dublin Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin
+ Cabinteely Park, Old Bray Road, Cabinteely, Dublin 18
+ Shanganagh Park, Shankill, Co. Dublin
+ Marlay Park, Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, Co. Dublin
+ St. Anne’s Park, Raheny, Dublin 5
+ Father Collins Park, Donaghmeade/Clongriffin, Dublin 13
+ Tymon Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24
+ Bushy Park, Terenure, Dublin 6
+ Corcagh Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
+ Tolka Valley Park, Finglas South, Dublin 11
+ Porterstown Park, Castleknock, Dublin 15
+ Bricksfield Park, Crumlin Road, Dublin 12

The SuperNatural Food Market is taking place every Saturday from 09:30-15:30 in St. Andrews Resource Centre in Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

The Green Door Market is an indoor food/Farmer’s Market that many know from when it was located at Newmarket Square. Due to the redevelopment at Newmarket Square it had to move and is now on the Old Naas Road, opposite the entrance to the Royal Liver Retail Park. At the new location they are also open on Sundays.

Opening hours are Tue-Fri 12:00-19:00, Sat 09:30-16:00 and also Sunday 11:00-17:00.

The Belgard Weekend Market is an indoor market with stalls with handcraft (incl. designer jewellery, aran jumpers and wool, christening robes and shawls, cards and cross stitch), household items, bric and brac, furniture, flowers, make-up, clothes, shoes, showers, upholstery, toys, kitchens, cafe, army memorabilia, collectors items, sweets, handbags books, blinds, party shop, tools and more.

It is open every Saturday and Sunday and is located in the Glen Abbey complex (opposite Jacobs) on Belgard Road.

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale takes place every Sat+Sun from 10:00-17:00. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on the red Luas line. There is free parking.

The County Council Market (CoCo) in Marlay Park is taking place every Saturday and Sunday. You will find a wide range of products. There will be food to eat there and food to cook at home but also crafts and arts and books and lots more.

Peter McCallum will teach an outdoors pilates class in Clondalkin.

Admission is free and some additional information can be found via the Facebook Page below.

St. Anne’s Park in Raheny is the venue for the yearly Rose Festival on Saturday and Sunday. On a nice day, this is a great festival for the whole family. Don’t expect to see too many roses, I would expect that there peak blossoming time is already over, but the festival is still worth a visit.

There will be stalls selling plants and gardening equipment, crafts, food and treats. Childrens’ entertainment, free horse and carriage rides, a library tent and mobile library, the Wooly Ward Petting Zoo, Big Bear Planetarium, a climbing tower, a living history display of weapons, a Tai Chi demonstration and the Big Dig Archaeology workshop will all be features of the festival. In the Red Stables is a Art & Craft Exhibition and on the music stage you will be able to listen from 12:00-17:30 to the following performers:

Dysfunktional, Brian Boru, Dublin Bluegrass Collective, The Medine, Tropical Storm, The Rats Deppers, David Bowie Tribute Band. Unfortunately the timings are nor listed.

Admission is free, but parking on site will cost a fee (in 2017 it was EUR 3 per car).

(The information Dublin City provides is – as it is unfortunately often the case – quite superficial and lacks a LOT of detail. Not event the fee for parking on site is mentioned. The downloadable PDF with a map is very big in size and very thin in details.)

It would have been great if Dublin City had created a public viewing zone for the World Cup Final at 16:00 on Sunday, but unfortunately that opportunity was missed.

The Temple Bar Markets (Food Market on Meeting House Square, Book Market on Temple Bar Square and the Designer Mart near Cow’s Lane) are taking place every Saturday from 10:00-16:30.

The Terenure Bushy Park Market is taking place every weekk. The market has more than 30 stalls, offering a whole variety of foods and crafts.

Admission is free.

Dublin City Hall has a museum/exhibition in the basement, called “The Story of the Capital”, it is an exhibition that you should definitely check out at some stage.

To celebrate the Easter Rising Anniversary, admission to that exhibititon was free in 2016, but lucky for us, Dublin City decided to also waive the admission charge for 2018.

Opening hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:15.

Áras an Uachtaráin is the residence of the President of Ireland in the middle of Phoenix Park. It started as a modest brick house for the Phoenix Park Chief Ranger in 1751, was then turned into th ‘occasional residence’ for the Lords-Lieutenant and gradually evolved into a huge mansion. After Ireland gained independence it was turned after 1937 into the residence of the Irish president.

Every Saturday a number of public tours take place and admission is free. Tickets will be issued at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on the day, on a first come, first served basis. Group and/or advance booking is not possible.

The tours will be at 10:15, 11:30, 12:45, 14:00 and 15:15 and take approx. 1 hour.

The Drumcondra Village Market is now the “Art, Bites, Crafts Drumcondra Market”. And as you guessed it, it is an arts and crafts fair in the centre of Drumcondra. :-) There will also be some food and music.

The market is open on Saturday and Sunday from 10:30-15:30.

Admission is free.

The Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Arts Office invites to a Day of Dance. There will be two dance sessions on the day, but not in the same location! The first one from 10:30-12:00 is in Cabinteely Park and the second from 14:30-16:00 is in the Grainstore, dlr’s Youth Arts Facility, which is in Cabinteely Park.

Enjoy Modern / Hip Hop Dance for all ages in Cabinteely Park from 10:30-12:00. Learn some modern moves and a routine that you can do with your family and friends. With a great warm up designed to stretch, strengthen and improve your flexibility; with Robert Connor from Dance Theatre of Ireland.

———

Then from 14:30-16:00 “A Life of Play” By Emma O’Kane for CoisCéim BROADREACH will be a creative dance and play workshop for children aged 5 -10 and their older family members. Grandchildren bring your Grandparents! Come and take part in A LIFE OF PLAY where everyone can create, anyone can dance and all can play. Use your body, move to music, dress up and explore in a playground of the imagination. This second event is in the Grainstore.

There are limited spaces available and booking is required via www.eventbrite.ie/e/day-of-dance-a-life-of-play-tickets-47715991816

The Ashbourne International Baseball Festival 2018 is taking place from Thursday 12 July – Sunday 15 July. Ashbourne is not THAT far away from Dublin and for special events you sometimes have to travel a little further.

Games will be at 13:00 and 18:00 on Thursday and Friday, at 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturday and the Final will be at 13:00 on Sunday. The full schedule is here: www.ashbournebaseball.com/?sports_team_schedule_type=ibf

Admission is free.

At the Blackrock Market in the centre of Blackrock, you’ll find 50 stalls selling collectibles, antiques, handmade goods, books, food & there’s free popcorn, ballons & facepainting for the kids.
Open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-17:30, and Sundays: 12:00-17:30.

Hotter than July is a family-friendly festival on Sunday 29 July on Smithfield Plaza and at that festival, the Discovery Gospel Choir will lead an intercultural choir performance. If you are interested in singing, you are invited to participate and a number of choir workshops will prepare you for the performance on 29 July.

The workshops are on Sat 14 July, Sat 21 July and Sat 28 July (11:00-13:00) and the performance is then on Sunday 29 July.

Participation is free, but there are limited spaces available and you need to book your place via hello@improvisedmusic.ie

Find the event poster here.

This “Storytime at the Gallery Shop” is happening on Saturday.

“Join some of our cuddly colleagues for this month’s Storytime with our resident storyteller Ruth. This month’s theme is Fairytales…with a twist and will be followed by some colouring activities, inspired by Ruth’s stories.”

Admission is free.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

Artfully is a new movement and YouTube channel to promote the importance of art, innovation and creativity as forces for positive global change in Ireland and beyond.

To celebrate the launch of Artfully, there will be a Art, Dance & Music festival in the Bernard Shaw pub. There will be an art exhibition, Salsa Dancing, DJs and a number of talks.

The line up and outline schedule is

Art exhibition (12:00-17:00) with art from Michael Kellner, Nathanael Roman, Rachel O’Regan, Fellipe Lopes, Clara Dudley, Mot Collins, Claire O’Hagan, Laura Matthews, Ashwin Chacko, Emma O’Reilly, Eva Kelly, Sean O’Reilly, Holly Pereira, Lucas Miojo, Akos C0p Varga, Claire Prouvost, Hazel & Davi’s Farm, Karen Harte

Dance Workshop (13:00-14:00) with Dublin Salsa Academy

Music (15:30-23:00): with Meruteria – Dj Pablo & Dj Kixx, Bodytonic Music – Dj Conor & Dj Ian, Marcelo Vinhas

Wall Painting (12:00-17:00): Drink & Draw

Live Talk (14:30-15:30): Hopfully Brewing Co, The Joy & The Affray, Fierce Pole Fitness and Special Guest

Admission is free.

The weekly Ha’penny Flea Market is an indoor market in the Grand Social Pub, which offers vintage Men and Women’s clothing, contemporary crafts, books, DVDs, vinyl records, vintage and handmade jewellery, vintage hair styles, art, photography and much more. Grand Social’s Bar and Gourmet Coffee options are available.

The current exhibition in the Science Gallery is called “Life at the Edges” and it will run from 22 June until 30 September,

The exhibition is looking at space travel, Mars exploration and it also looks at other hostile or difficult environments like antarctica, volcanoes and living in a floating city.

Some of the most interesting exhibits are:

+ Habitat of a simluated Mars mission
+ Creating souvenirs from Lava
+ Process of creating an iron ring from grass that grew on iron polluted soil
+ Animals that travelled to space
+ A plant growing in Mars atmophere
+ A planet to be built from dead bodies

It is a fascinating exhibition, but take your time to understand the exhibits and think a little more about some of them! It is worth it!

The website below lists all exhibits and provides some explanation so that you can either before or after your visit check further details.

All Science Gallery exhibitions are suitable for ALL ages, even younger children will be able to take part/follow. Some of the exhibits need a bit more of an age-appropriate explanation for younger kids than others, but nearly everything can be simplified for kids.

I strongly suggest to use the help of the amazing mediators, who can explain everything you see, especially if you don’t want to read all the explanations that are next to every exhibit.

The Science Gallery has very visitor friendly opening hours of Tue-Fri 12:00-20:00 and Sat+Sun 12:00-18:00.

Admission is free.

“The Dead Zoo Tour” on Saturday will take place at 12:00 and at 14:00.

Join Educator Sarah Sarsfield for an introductory tour of the galleries and catch highlights from the 10,000 specimens on display at the Dead Zoo. Learn about the animal with the largest antlers in the world and hear the infamous story of how we got our polar bear.

Admission is free, but places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis 15 minutes before the tour starts. Suitable for ages 8+

Dundrum Town Centre’s Summer events are called “Dundrum Summer Safari” and part of this programme of events are the Afro-Eire Dance Sessions on Saturday.

They will run from 1pm-1:30pm, 1.45pm-2:15pm, 2:30-3pm, 3:45pm-4:15pm, 4:30pm-5:00pm, 5:15pm-5:45pm and you can participate.

Admission is free, but places are limited.

Archive at Lunchtime screenings take place Saturdays (Double Bill), Mondays and Wednesdays. The programme is changing weekly now (instead of monthly as in the past). To find out what film(s) will be screened go to www.ifi.ie/whatson/now-showing-coming-soon/ and look for “Archive at Lunchtime” on the right. Admission is free.

“The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever” is a mass dance performance of the Wuthering Heights Dance routine from Kate Bush’s song. The performance will happen in St. Anne’s Park as part of the Rose Festival on Saturday from 13:00.

You can still participate OR you can watch it in St. Anne’s Park.

Admission is free. Details are on the Facebook page below.

The Guided tour “The National Library’s History & Heritage” will explore the Library’s rich architectural history and heritage. The tour begins in the main hall of the Library and includes a visit to the Library’s iconic reading room.

Admission is free.

This is a Sketching tour to explore the Gallery’s collection and architecture. Sketching is an intense but relaxing way of appreciating all that the Gallery has to offer. No artistic ability required. All materials provided.

Admission is free.

Every Saturday a free guided tour will take place in the Chester Betty Library. The tour starts at 14:00.

In addition there is another free tour every Wednesday at 13:00 and one on Sundays at 15:00

“How to Catch your Dinner” is a Drop-in Activity for families with children aged 8+.

During the Stone Age in Ireland, people had to go exploring to find their dinner. Take a look at the prehistoric handling collection and see if you can figure out how each of the objects were used by people to hunt, collect and fish for their dinner.

Admission is free. Located in the Kildare Room, Ground Floor.

“Tunes for Garech: an Irish Traditional Music Summer Session” is an heritage music event in Farmleigh House on Saturday.

Bring an instrument or just your voice and come and enjoy an open-invitation Irish traditional session in Farmleigh Estate. Performers of all ages and experience are welcome to pay their personal musical tributes to the memory of the late Garech Browne, founder of Claddagh Records and life-long supporter of Ireland’s traditional musical heritage.

Admission is free.

The Drop-by Demo “Edible Flowers” will take place on Saturday. Find out how you can feast on flowers. Learn how to fill your garden with easy-to-grow edible flowers that you can put in salads and drinks, adding colour and flavour.

Admission is free. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centre.

A tour of “World War Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience” in Irish will take place. Find all details via the link below.

Admission is free.

The Church Bar & Restaurant is the headquarter for all French Bastille Day celebrations.

It all kicks off at 16:00 and there will be Family Entertainment, Live French Music and Dancers, French Cuisine, DJs and next door, there will be games on Wolfe Tone Square.

Admission is free,

The line up for the gigs in the Grand Social during the “Dublin Goes Country” festival is

Saturday: 20:00 Lucky Bones / 21:00 Whistle / 22:00 The Oxo Boys

Sunday: 20:00 Jamie Stanton / 21:00 The Sick and Indigent Song Club / 22:00 Atlantic String Band

Admission is free.

The line-up for the “Dublin Goes Country” gigs in The Underground is

Saturday: 20:15 Dublin City Rounders / 21:00 Aaron Nestor / 21:45 Pull the Wool / 22:30 Kerry Fearon music & media with The Dublin City Rounders

Sunday: 20:15 The Remedy Club / 21:00 Moylan Music / 21:45 Colm Swwirbat Music / 22:30 Alice Lynskey Music

Admission is free.

The Stillorgan Orchard has live music every Friday and Saturday. Many of the performers are established and very good bands. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below. Admission is always free.

Performers SENU and Dig Deep and band PAJ will perform at a night of synth, electro, pop and jazz.

Admission is free.

Rock band Scathed will play a gig in the midnight hour at Whelan’s. They will be supported by Stone Sea.

Admission is free before 22:30.

The Rock Tribunal will be back in the Porterhouse in Temple Bar for a gig.

Admission is free.

In addition to the Saturday Car Boot Sale in Tallaght, Irish Car Boot Sales run a weekly Sunday Car Boot Sales in Ballymun.

Admission for buyers is free.

“Dublin Goes Country” is a celebration in Dublin of “everything country”. :-O

There will be a country market, crafts, bbq & other food and live music with more than 16 bands and performers in various venues.

The market is on Smithfield Plaza on Sunday only, but the music will be in the Grand Social and The Underground on Saturday AND Sunday. Admission is free to all events

Here is the line-up:

Saturday 14 July
—————–
The Grand Social: 20:00 Lucky Bones / 21:00 Whistle / 22:00 The Oxo Boys

The Underground: 20:15 Dublin City Rounders / 21:00 Aaron Nestor / 21:45 Pull the Wool / 22:30 Kerry Fearon music & media with The Dublin City Rounders

+++++

Sunday 15 July
—————

The Grand Social: 20:00 Jamie Stanton / 21:00 The Sick and Indigent Song Club / 22:00 Atlantic String Band

The Underground: 20:15 The Remedy Club / 21:00 Moylan Music / 21:45 Colm Swwirbat Music / 22:30 Alice Lynskey Music

Smitfield Plaza: 13:00 Alice Lynskey Music / 14:00 Sina Theil / 15:00 Homebrew and the Bad Examples / 16:00 Dublin City Rounders

Tasha Bryant will run a free outdoors Yoga Shred class in Clondalkin.

Find more information on the Facebook Page below.

The Belgard Weekend Market is an indoor market with stalls with handcraft (incl. designer jewellery, aran jumpers and wool, christening robes and shawls, cards and cross stitch), household items, bric and brac, furniture, flowers, make-up, clothes, shoes, showers, upholstery, toys, kitchens, cafe, army memorabilia, collectors items, sweets, handbags books, blinds, party shop, tools and more.

It is open every Saturday and Sunday and is located in the Glen Abbey complex (opposite Jacobs) on Belgard Road.

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale takes place every Sat+Sun from 10:00-17:00. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on the red Luas line. There is free parking.

The Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park was for a long time completely neglected, but it is hugely rich in history. Many have seen it as a barred off concrete fortress in a corner of Phoenix Park and even more don’t even know or have forgotten that it exists. The old Phoenix House, the home of the British Viceroy, was on the site where the fort was built from the early 17th century and then in 1734 the Fort was built and extended in 1801.

In 1916 the Fort was raided by the rebels who expected to find a lot of explosives there, but found the Fort nearly empty. In 1939 the IRA raided the Fort and stole more than a million rounds of ammunition, but most of it was recovered over the following weeks.

Since 1988, the Irish Army doesn’t use the Fort anymore and gave it back to the Office of Public Works (OPW), but not much good has happened to the Fort in the last 30 years (!!) and there were numerous speculations about the reasons for that.

Finally since 2016, guided tours are provided and this year from April until end of October there will be three tours every Sunday at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00. Only 20 places are available on each tour and if there is a big event in Phoenix Park the tour will be cancelled.

Tickets are available at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on a first come, first served basis and can not be pre-booked. A shuttle bus will bring the ticket holders to the Fort.

The County Council Market (CoCo) in Marlay Park is taking place every Saturday and Sunday. You will find a wide range of products. There will be food to eat there and food to cook at home but also crafts and arts and books and lots more.

Every Sunday, the Merrion Square Open Air Art Gallery takes place. Up to 200 artists exhibit their paintings on the railings on three sides (West, North and East) of Merrion Square and you can just enjoy the exhibition or even buy.

St. Anne’s Park in Raheny is the venue for the yearly Rose Festival on Saturday and Sunday. On a nice day, this is a great festival for the whole family. Don’t expect to see too many roses, I would expect that there peak blossoming time is already over, but the festival is still worth a visit.

There will be stalls selling plants and gardening equipment, crafts, food and treats. Childrens’ entertainment, free horse and carriage rides, a library tent and mobile library, the Wooly Ward Petting Zoo, Big Bear Planetarium, a climbing tower, a living history display of weapons, a Tai Chi demonstration and the Big Dig Archaeology workshop will all be features of the festival. In the Red Stables is a Art & Craft Exhibition and on the music stage you will be able to listen from 12:00-17:30 to the following performers:

Dysfunktional, Brian Boru, Dublin Bluegrass Collective, The Medine, Tropical Storm, The Rats Deppers, David Bowie Tribute Band. Unfortunately the timings are nor listed.

Admission is free, but parking on site will cost a fee (in 2017 it was EUR 3 per car).

(The information Dublin City provides is – as it is unfortunately often the case – quite superficial and lacks a LOT of detail. Not event the fee for parking on site is mentioned. The downloadable PDF with a map is very big in size and very thin in details.)

It would have been great if Dublin City had created a public viewing zone for the World Cup Final at 16:00 on Sunday, but unfortunately that opportunity was missed.

The Drumcondra Village Market is now the “Art, Bites, Crafts Drumcondra Market”. And as you guessed it, it is an arts and crafts fair in the centre of Drumcondra. :-) There will also be some food and music.

The market is open on Saturday and Sunday from 10:30-15:30.

Admission is free.

Every Sunday a free Children’s Art Cart Workshop will take place in the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. They are for kids aged 6-11 and the children must be accompanied by an adult.

This week’s workshop is entitled “Exploring Science”.

Admission is free. More details are in this PDF: phoenixpark.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/OPW-F-A-2018_9xWEB.pdf

The Dublin Goes Country Festival will take place this weekend and in addition to a market on Smithfield Plaza, there will also be a music stage.

The line-up is 13:00 Alice Lynskey Music / 14:00 Sina Theil / 15:00 Homebrew and the Bad Examples / 16:00 Dublin City Rounders

Admission is free.

A weekly market with lots of food, but also many other products (art & crafts, books, etc) takes place every Sunday in the beautiful People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire. It is a very popular market and with around 50 vendors also one of the bigger markets.

The well known Palestrina Choir sing every Sunday at the mass in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral. They sing complete masterworks by Mozart, Haydn, Dvorak, Palestrina, de Victoria, usually accompanied by Prof. Gerard Gillen on the organ, who often also plays a solo piece.

The Green Door Market is an indoor food/Farmer’s Market that many know from when it was located at Newmarket Square. Due to the redevelopment at Newmarket Square it had to move and is now on the Old Naas Road, opposite the entrance to the Royal Liver Retail Park. At the new location they are also open on Sundays.

Opening hours are Tue-Fri 12:00-19:00, Sat 09:30-16:00 and also Sunday 11:00-17:00.

At the “Drop-in family workshop: Colourful Circus Characters and Creatures” join Eimear Murphy for a free art-making workshop inspired by the exhibition Circus250: Art of the Show.

Children and their parents/guardians/carers are encouraged to work together on creative projects. Drop-in and stay for as long (or as little!) as you wish. Suitable for children of all ages.

The National Gallery invites to “EALAÍN – a celebration of Irish women artists” on Sunday and there will be plenty of different activities throughout the day. Ealaín is a special day celebrating Irish art and culture and this year Ealaín will focus on the vibrant lives of women artists and their great contributions to Irish art. There will be tours, family-friendly activities, a display of leading craft makers, demonstrations and live music in the gallery.

Admission is free.

11:30-12:15 Public Tour – A tour taking in works by Irish women artists, and the Circus250 exhibition (Meet at Merrion Square)

11:30-13:30 Family Workshop – Drop-in family workshop with artist Eimear Murphy, on the theme of ‘Circus Characters and Creatures’ in Maples and Calder Creative Space in Atrium

12:00-16:00 Meet the Makers: Irish Craft Pop-Up Display – Display of works by seven women designer-makers representing the highest standards of Irish design and craft. Courtyard

12:30-13:15 Family Tour – A tour specially aimed at younger visitors, and taking in works by Irish women artists, and the Circus250 exhibition – Meet at Merrion Square

12:00-14:00 Craft Demonstration – Live demonstration by expert basket maker Alison Fitzgerald in Courtyard

13:30 Public Tour – A tour taking in works by Irish women artists, and the Circus250 exhibition. Meet at Merrion Square

15:00-16:00 Music – Artists’ Choice – A special Artists’ Choice concert in partnership with Royal Irish Academy of Music: Talented RIAM musicians will perform pieces selected by some of Ireland’s most prominent female artists in the Shaw Room.

Admission to all events is free and if you read “Meet at Merrion Square”, don’t go across to Merrion Square! It is my guess that this means “Meet at Merrion Square reception”, which refers to the reception at the National Gallery entrance facing Merrion Square.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

At the Blackrock Market in the centre of Blackrock, you’ll find 50 stalls selling collectibles, antiques, handmade goods, books, food & there’s free popcorn, ballons & facepainting for the kids.
Open on Sundays: 12:00-17:30. Open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-17:30.

Every Sunday, the National Botanic Gardens invite to two guided walks. The first one is at 12:00 and the second one at 14:30.

Admission is free.

The current exhibition in the Science Gallery is called “Life at the Edges” and it will run from 22 June until 30 September,

The exhibition is looking at space travel, Mars exploration and it also looks at other hostile or difficult environments like antarctica, volcanoes and living in a floating city.

Some of the most interesting exhibits are:

+ Habitat of a simluated Mars mission
+ Creating souvenirs from Lava
+ Process of creating an iron ring from grass that grew on iron polluted soil
+ Animals that travelled to space
+ A plant growing in Mars atmophere
+ A planet to be built from dead bodies

It is a fascinating exhibition, but take your time to understand the exhibits and think a little more about some of them! It is worth it!

The website below lists all exhibits and provides some explanation so that you can either before or after your visit check further details.

All Science Gallery exhibitions are suitable for ALL ages, even younger children will be able to take part/follow. Some of the exhibits need a bit more of an age-appropriate explanation for younger kids than others, but nearly everything can be simplified for kids.

I strongly suggest to use the help of the amazing mediators, who can explain everything you see, especially if you don’t want to read all the explanations that are next to every exhibit.

The Science Gallery has very visitor friendly opening hours of Tue-Fri 12:00-20:00 and Sat+Sun 12:00-18:00.

Admission is free.

The Ashbourne International Baseball Festival 2018 is taking place from Thursday 12 July – Sunday 15 July. Ashbourne is not THAT far away from Dublin and for special events you sometimes have to travel a little further.

Games will be at 13:00 and 18:00 on Thursday and Friday, at 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturday and the Final will be at 13:00 on Sunday. The full schedule is here: www.ashbournebaseball.com/?sports_team_schedule_type=ibf

Admission is free.

The St. James’ Brass & Reed Band will play from 13:00 in the bandstand of Farmleigh House.

Admission is free.

The Film Screening of “We Were There” (2014, Dirs. Laura Aguiar and Cahal McLaughlin, 61 mins) will take place.

We Were There features the unique experiences of women in the predominantly male world of the Maze and Long Kesh Prison during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The film includes stories of a prison officer’s wife, prisoners’ relatives, Open University tutors, Probation Service staff and the visual artist Amanda Dunsmore. This film will be introduced and followed by Q&A led by the film’s directors Laura Aguiar and Cahal McLaughlin.

Admission is free.

The “Dublin Sketchers” is an informal group of (hobby) artists who go somewhere different in Dublin every Sunday (e.g. National Museum, Maritime Museum, Dublin Flea Market, Farmleigh, Botanic Gardens, Dublin Castle, Science Gallery, …), sketch for one to two hours and then meet up for coffee afterwards and discuss their sketches.

There are some hugely talented people among them and it is a great idea to meet up with others who have the same hobby. Find out on their website below or on their Facebook Page where they will meet and join them if you do some sketching/drawing yourself. I know that the Dublin Sketchers often use the Dublin Event Guide to find interesting free events and I am delighted to be able to help!

Every Sunday a free tour takes place in the Hugh Lane Gallery.

Admission is free and booking is not required, but places are limited, so early arrival is recommended.

An Intercultural Tour in Japanese Language with Community Ambassador Hiromi Anzai will take place.

Admission is free. Meeting point is in the atrium of the Library.

The Lourdes Brass Band will play in the bandstand at Bray’s seafront. The Wing Food Festival is also taking place there in Sunday.

Admission is free.

The film “Big Fish” will be screened in the Lecture Theatre.

Admission is free, but booking is required via the link on the website below.

The film is Tim Burton’s magical film Big Fish (2003). The screening will be preceded by “Women in Circus”, a 10-minute film about female circus artistes, past and present, created by Circus250 as part of this year’s celebrations.

Every Sunday a free guided tour will take place in the Chester Betty Library. The tour starts at 15:00.

In addition there is another free tour every Wednesday at 13:00 and one on Saturdays at 14:00

“Hands on Design: Symbols of Ireland” is a Drop-in activity on Sunday.

Explore and learn about some of the hidden meanings behind the Irish symbols. Join the Museum educators at this drop-in handling session for all ages, using the Museum’s collection of objects for handling.

Admission is free.

Unlike the three branches of the National Museum, the National Print Museum is normally not free, but every Sunday there is a free public tour for the next few weeks. Every visit begins with a short audio-visual presentation where the audience can observe active retired printers providing practical demonstrations of machines from the Museum’s collection.

“Victorian Gardening” is the topic of a talk about the history of the Victorian kitchen walled garden at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. This will be followed by a tour of the walled garden.

Admission is free. More information can be found in the PDF brochure here phoenixpark.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/OPW-F-A-2018_9xWEB.pdf

After a month of football and some exciting games with plenty of surprising results, the FIFA World Cup Final will happen on Sunday at 16:00. France will play against Croatia and the match will be shown life on TV and in every pub in Dublin.

The High Leeson is a Bluegrass band that plays every Sunday in the Leeson Longe.

Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

The Dixeland Jazzmen play a weekly gig in Sin E. Admission is free.

At the Jawbone Gig night in Arthur’s Pub, Acoustic Folk & Blues will be performed every Sunday. Admission is free.

www.facebook.com/pages/Jawbone-Dublin-Acoustic-Folk-Blues-Commune/724102984268967

The line up for the gigs in the Grand Social during the “Dublin Goes Country” festival is

Saturday: 20:00 Lucky Bones / 21:00 Whistle / 22:00 The Oxo Boys

Sunday: 20:00 Jamie Stanton / 21:00 The Sick and Indigent Song Club / 22:00 Atlantic String Band

Admission is free.

The line-up for the “Dublin Goes Country” gigs in The Underground is

Saturday: 20:15 Dublin City Rounders / 21:00 Aaron Nestor / 21:45 Pull the Wool / 22:30 Kerry Fearon music & media with The Dublin City Rounders

Sunday: 20:15 The Remedy Club / 21:00 Moylan Music / 21:45 Colm Swwirbat Music / 22:30 Alice Lynskey Music

Admission is free.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy downstairs in Stag’s Head, Dame Lane from 21:00 every week on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of that there is some free ice cream. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

Proteus will play a Jazz gig in the Harbour Bar.

Admission is free.

The Dublin Blues Cartel will be in Whelan’s again and will perform mostly a version of New Orleans R’n’B with a classic Rock twist, sandwiched with Swing, Rock’n’Roll, Soul, Funk, Blues and Rap of all eras.

Admission is free.

“Teens Lab – Cross-stitch patterns” is a Creative Teen Workshop.

The workshop for 12 – 14 years will take place at 10:30 and the one for 15 – 17 years will follow at 14:00.

Admission is free, but booking is required by clicking on the relevant link above.

During this workshop you will create an old-fashioned book of cross-stitch designs. Meet Maker-In-Residence Vicky Twomey-Lee and learn how to change an image from the Coetivy Hours into a pattern suitable for stitching. All works will be included in a booklet which can be presented as a gift.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

Archive at Lunchtime screenings take place Saturdays (Double Bill), Mondays and Wednesdays. The programme is changing weekly now (instead of monthly as in the past). To find out what film(s) will be screened go to www.ifi.ie/whatson/now-showing-coming-soon/ and look for “Archive at Lunchtime” on the right. Admission is free.

Dublin City Public Libraries invite to Jill Anderson’s drama workshops that encourages children to act and participate in many different activities specially designed to stimulate creativity and confidence.

Admission is free. Booking is required via 01-4533793

The theme is “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. – Suitable for children aged 5 to 10 years.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears. One day while Baby Bear was out with his friends, he walked into a tree and hit his head. He now finds himself in your library but he can’t remember anything. He needs your help to make him remember his story and where he comes from so he can find his way home.

Song Cycle is a weekly Singer/Songriter showcase in Wheelan’s.

Admission is free.

The Circle Sessions is an “Open Mic” that provides an opportunity for up and coming musicians, spoken word artists, poets and comedians to perform.

Come to this weekly show to perform or to simply watch a great mix of music, poetry, spoken word and comedy.

Admission is free.

Every Monday a Jazz Jam Session will take place in the Grand Social and you are invited to listen or even to participate. Admission is free for musicians and audience.

Instruments are supplied (drums (no cymbals), double bass, guitar amp, bass amp, PA system) and ideas and themes will be proposed prior to the session to the musicians who join the event on Facebook (see Facebook Page below).

Every Monday the Woolshed Bar hosts “The Comedy Shed”, usually with 3 headline acts.

Admission is free.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

Guitarist Jimmy Smyth will play a gig on Monday in the Leeson Lounge with band Organised and guests.

Admission is free.

An Open Trad Music Session is taking place every Monday in Mother Reilly’s. Admission is free.

That’s It Recordings is an open mic every Monday at Sin E. Just turn up and play. Sign up before 22:00 to ensure you get a slot. Bring a USB stick along and you will get a recording of your music to take home.

Admission is free.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is inviting to a family workshop “Stained Glass Windows”. It will take place at 10:30 and again at 12:30.

Admission is free, but booking is required via the website below.

“Teens Lab – E-Textiles” is a Creative Teen Workshop.

The workshop for 12 – 14 years will take place at 10:30 and the one for 15 – 17 years will follow at 14:00.

Admission is free, but booking is required by clicking on the relevant link above.

Meet Maker-in-Residence Vicky Twomey-Lee to discover the world of e-textiles used for fashion, textile design and as an art form. You will be introduced to e-textiles materials and simple LED circuit schematics to create your own e-textiles circuit and bring one of the Coetivy characters to life.

The National Botanic Gardens run “Kids Drop by Activities” every Tuesday until 28 August.

There will be fun activities in the dedicated Children’s Garden. Sow seeds, make seed bombs, design bug hotels and re-use everyday items to create your own piece of eco art. Suitable from age 4. All children must bring their own grown up.

The event times are: 11:00, 11:30, 15:00, 15:30

Admission is free.

Neil Dowling of Drum Nature hosts this interactive music workshop featuring different drums and percussion instruments from around the world. Children will play several different instruments as well as learning about rhythm composition and working as an ensemble. No previous music experience is necessary.

Admission is free, but booking is required. The upcoming workshops are

Tuesday 17 July at 11:00 in Coolock Library. Suitable for children age 5 to 7 years. Book via 01-8474481
Tuesday 17 July at 2.30pm in Raheny Library. Suitable for children age 8 to 11 years This is now booked out.
Wednesday 18 July at 2.30pm in Rathmines Library. Suitable for children age 8 to 11 years. Book via 01-4973539
Wednesday 1 August at 2.30pm in Ballyfermot Library.Suitable for children age 5 to 7 years. Book via 01-6269324

The Boy Who Cried Wolf – Puppet Show will come to Charleville Mall on Tuesday at 11:00 and to Cabra Library at 14:30 on the same day.

Presented by Marting Cahill from No Strings Theatre Company, the unique performance of the classic tale is sure to entertain all the family. So hurry hurry and book your place. Family show, suitable for children age 3-7.

Tuesday 17 July at 11am in Charleville Mall Library. Book via 01-8749619
Tuesday 17 July at 2.30pm in Cabra Library. Book via 01-8691414

Admission is free.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

If you regularly or occasionally buy books online, you can help the Dublin Event Guide hugely even without having to pay cent directly. In fact you even save money this way:

Buy your books from The Book Depository and get better prices and free (!!) delivery for all orders independent from the volume and when you click on the picture here before you buy, then 5% of what normally The Book Depository would get, they give back to the Dublin Event Guide. Everybody wins!

www.bookdepository.com?a_aid=dubevg

If you prefer Amazon to buy your books (for free postage you need to order a minimum of GBP 25), then use this Amazon link to help the Dublin Event Guide. Thanks!

The Pop-up talk “The Golden Calf” will take place in Room 27 in front of the painting by Pieter Pourbus.

Admission is free.

“Writing Lyrics Using the Cut-Up Method for young adults” is a Drop-in Workshin the Music Library.

Do you want to try out writing lyrics or the first time? Or maybe you’re an experienced lyricist looking for some new techniques and inspiration. Come along to this lyric writing workshop. Ríona Sally Hartman, Musician in Residence with Dublin City Public Libraries will guide on the cut-up lyrics writing technique famously used by many songwriters including David Bowie and Radiohead. No experience necessary just bring along a pen and paper. Suitable for young adults aged 15 – 17 years.

Admission is free.

The Terns (birds!) have returned to the Dalkey Island for another season and the Tern Warden is inviting to a Tern Watch from Coliemore Harbour. It will happen on 03+10+17+24+31 July from 18:30-20:00.

Admission is free.

EveryTuesday at 19:00, The Dublin Language Exchange takes place in the Czech Inn. It is the biggest free meeting of people from all around Dublin that are interested in learning languages and communicate with speakers of other languages.

Admission is free and the meetup is completely informal. No booking required.

Rumours have it that the Bluegrass Collective will perform in Sin É on Tuesday and there might even be an open Bluegrass Jam! Admission is free.

Jesters is a weekly open mic comedy event where a lot of comedians do 5 minutes of material.

Admission is free. If you would like to perform then send a message to the Jesters Facebook Page via the link below.

Every Tuesday an informal sing along with Ukulele and Toy Musical Instruments takes place in the Stag’s Head. Just bring your instrument and come along. Beginners are welcome. Admission is free and further details (and a big book of songs) are available on the Facebook Page below.

Ben Prevo will be for his weekly gig in the Bowery. Expect Blues, Funk, Jazz and even Country.

Admission is free.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

The Lounge Quintet plays this gig every Tuesday: Jazz Standards, Latin and Bebop. Often guest musicians and singers join them. Admission is free, donations are welcome.

Every Tuesday and Thursday the International Bar invites to a Jazz night in the Lounge.

Groups led by Cote Calmet, Sean Maynard Smith, Dominic Mullan, Paddy Groenland, Georgia Cusack & Alex Mathias are performing regularly with occasional guest players, but there are also other bands from all over.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of EUR 5. The website clearly says that there is no entry fee, but – and that makes a lot of sense – that your donations are very much appreciated (Musicians need to pay for rent and food too!) Be generous after the gig if you liked it, but if someone wants to charge an admission charge, please point out that the “rules” as described on their website are like I have explained.

Every Tuesday, a pub quiz is taking place in the Woolshed.

Admission is free. Max team size is 6 people.

The Liberties Festival 2018 will take place from 18-22 July. It is the 48th festival this year (!) and there will be five days of music, comedy, opera, yoga, stories, song, dance, coffee, conversation, football, cinema, poetry, art, walking tours, discovery, gardening, printing, family fun & more.

Nearly all events over the five days are free, but most require registration on the website here and it seems as if all events that need free tickets on the first three days of the festival are already booked out.

“Teens Lab – Board Games” is a Creative Teen Workshop.

The workshop for 12 – 14 years will take place at 10:30 and the one for 15 – 17 years will follow at 14:00.

Admission is free, but booking is required by clicking on the relevant link above.

Calling all gamers: let’s get together to create board games inspired by hybrids and animals of Coetivy Hours. Give your characters special abilities and powers so they can combat each other in the story created by you!

Did you ever want to give drawing a go? Or maybe you are a budding artist looking for like-minded people to draw with? The Drawing Group for Adults in Rua Red runs free weekly drawing sessions on Wednesdays from 11:00-12:00. Materials are provided.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

On 18 July 1918 Nelson Mandela was born, which means that this year we celebrate the Centenary of his birth.

The organisation All Together in Dignity Ireland (www.atdireland.ie) and other community groups will celebrate this day, which also is the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a ceremony at the Famine Statues from 17:30-18:30.

Before that, from 12:00-19:00, a number of workshops will take place.

From 11:00-19:00 ‘Make Poverty History’ quotes will be on display on the Liffey railings at Custom House Quay.
From 12:00-17:00 two free workshops will happen close to the Human Rights and Poverty Stone. The topics are “From Dublin to Mandela: Write your message to Mandela” and “Your Rights Are Written in Stone” about the Make Poverty History Message at the Custom House Quay monuments.

The formal ceremony from 17:30 will be a symbolic “Long Walk to Freedom” from the Famine Statues to the Human Rights and Poverty Stone. The participants will be invited to walk together the 40 meters from the Statues to the Stone while singing some songs and listening to readings from Nelson Mandela’s book ‘A Long Walk to Freedom”. The event will end with the broadcast of Mandela’s “Make Poverty History” speech.

Admission is free.

“Prehistory Mysteries – Humans and the Natural World” is a Drop-in Activity for all ages on Wednesday.

“Pop in and have a chat with our Museum Educators who will have an array of replica artefacts and raw materials which you can pick up and examine. Discover how humans cleverly used antler, wood, and clay in centuries past – long before there was plastic.”

Admission is free. Located in the Prehistoric Ireland exhibition, Ground Floor.

Archive at Lunchtime screenings take place Saturdays (Double Bill), Mondays and Wednesdays. The programme is changing weekly now (instead of monthly as in the past). To find out what film(s) will be screened go to www.ifi.ie/whatson/now-showing-coming-soon/ and look for “Archive at Lunchtime” on the right. Admission is free.

The talk “Introduction to Roderic O’Conor and the Moderns” with Brendan Rooney( Head Curator and co-curator of “Roderic O’Conor and the Moderns. Between Paris and Pont-Aven” will introduce the new exhibition and the curatorial process behind it.

Admission is free.

This is a Sketching tour to explore the Gallery’s collection and architecture. Sketching is an intense but relaxing way of appreciating all that the Gallery has to offer. No artistic ability required. All materials provided.

Admission is free.

The children’s fun workshop “Catchy Captions – Capturing Newspapers at the National Library” will happen on Wednesday.

There are lots of newspapers in the library and you will be looking at the cartoons. You will learn a little about this library and then become a newspaper cartoonist and create your own catchy caption and cartoon.

Suitable for all ages. Admission is free.

A free guided tour will take place at the National War Memorial at Islandbridge every Wednesday at 14:00 from March until the end of October.

The tour will focus on World War I, in which nearly 50,000 Irish soldiers died. You will also hear about the main features of the gardens at this tour.

Meeting point is the car park at 14:00 (next to the Trinity College Boat Club). For further information and to check that it is taking place, contact 01-6770095 (Phoenix Park Visitor Centre).

Neil Dowling of Drum Nature hosts this interactive music workshop featuring different drums and percussion instruments from around the world. Children will play several different instruments as well as learning about rhythm composition and working as an ensemble. No previous music experience is necessary.

Admission is free, but booking is required. The upcoming workshops are

Tuesday 17 July at 11:00 in Coolock Library. Suitable for children age 5 to 7 years. Book via 01-8474481
Tuesday 17 July at 2.30pm in Raheny Library. Suitable for children age 8 to 11 years This is now booked out.
Wednesday 18 July at 2.30pm in Rathmines Library. Suitable for children age 8 to 11 years. Book via 01-4973539
Wednesday 1 August at 2.30pm in Ballyfermot Library.Suitable for children age 5 to 7 years. Book via 01-6269324

The Spanish Language film “Chico y Rita” (Directed by Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Toño Errando (2010) 90 min) will be screened on Wednesday.

In the Cuba of the late 1940s, Chico and Rita live a passionate love story. Chico is a young pianist in love with jazz, and Rita dreams of being a great singer. Since they met at a dance in a club in Havana, fate unites and separates them, as the characters of a bolero.

The film will be screened in Spanis with English subtittles.

The Dwarf Jar House Trio (Daniel Rorke (sax), Cormac O’Brien (bass) and Matthew Jacobson(drums)) will play a weekly Jazz gig every Wednesday in Dwarf Jar Cafe and they usually have one or more guest musicians or singers supporting them.

Admission is free.

Jesters is a weekly open mic comedy event where a lot of comedians do 5 minutes of material.

Admission is free. If you would like to perform then send a message to the Jesters Facebook Page via the link below.

The Roots Band “Brand New Switcharoo” will perform in the Harbour Bar. Admission is free.

The Dublin Jam Session is an open Jam with full back line. It is open to all levels of musicians and singers and all genres of music and the only rule is that you must jam with others (not all your own band).

It takes place every Wednesday and admission is free.

The Anseo Comedy Club takes place every Wednesday in Anseo (upstairs).

Admission is free, donations are welcome.

“The Zodiac Sessions” is a regular open mic event from 20:30 in Bruxelles (between Grafton Street and Westbury Hotel) for unsigned musicians. Admission is free and there is a different line-up every week.

Dance Forro every week at this “Forro Wednesday” in the Woolshed for free.

Los Paradiso are playing Rockabilly, Tex Mex, Western Swing, Surf in the Leeson Lounge. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Traditional Irish Music Session in Hedigan’s (The Brian Boru) in Phibsborough from 21:30 every Wednesday. If you play an instrument you are especially welcome (all levels are welcome).

The Harleys are a popular coverband and they will be in the Mezz every Wednesday at midnight.

Admission is free.

The Dublin Quays Festival from 19-23 July will take place in six venues along the Liffey. The venues are The Wiley Fox, The Grand Social, The Workman’s Club, Sin E, Liquor Rooms and the Sound House.

There is no real common thread or link-up between the venues. They all do their own thing, but the common aspect of this Dublin Quays Festival is that all gigs are free and who could complain about that.

Where possible, I will list the different events separately in this and the next Dublin Event Guide… at least for all the pubs that are on my radar.

The Liberties Festival 2018 will take place from 18-22 July. It is the 48th festival this year (!) and there will be five days of music, comedy, opera, yoga, stories, song, dance, coffee, conversation, football, cinema, poetry, art, walking tours, discovery, gardening, printing, family fun & more.

Nearly all events over the five days are free, but most require registration on the website here and it seems as if all events that need free tickets on the first three days of the festival are already booked out.

Susie and the Story Shredder …a work in progress is a show/workshop that will happen in a number of libraries in July. The event will be in Walkinstown Library at 10:30 and at 13:30.

Bombinate Theatre have created this performance and workshop. Admission is free but booking is required via 01-8421890

“All children’s stories are banned in the Kingdom of Levitas. King Levi says they make your brain go fuzzy and your hands turn green. Susie and Shredder works for the King, shredding stories from dusk ‘til dawn. But today, Susie will read a story for the very first time. Perhaps stories aren’t so scary after all…”

The workshops are designed for families and will involve the visual arts and activities to explore the themes identified in the play. Parents / Guardians are asked to remain with their children during the workshop.

Each session lasts 1hr 45 minutes – Performance (45 minutes) / short break (15 minutes) / Post Show Workshop (45 minutes). The performances and workshops are suitable for children aged 7 to 10 years.

Every Thursday in July, a Battle of the Books storytelling session followed by fun activities and arts & crafts will take place. Families welcome, most suitable for children age 4+.

Admission is free. To book, ring 01-8734333

The next Culture Club event, organised by Dublin’s Culture Connects Project, will take place at Richmond Barracks. There will be a tour of the barracks, followed by tea&chats.

Culture Club events are free, but booking is required via cultureclub@dublinscultureconnects.ie

Every Thursday a free tour of Grangegorman Military Cemetery on Blackhorse Avenue takes place. Meet inside the cemetery gates.

Admission is free and everybody is welcome. Ring 01-6770095 for more information.

Grangegorman Military Cemetery is in Blackhorse Avenue just outside Phoenix Park. It is the largest military cemetery in Ireland. It was first opened in 1876 to serve as a graveyard for the soldiers of what was then Marlborough Barracks, now McKee Barracks, and their families. Specific zones were laid out for English, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian service men. The cemetery’s pedestrian gate is open from 10:00-16:00 seven days a week.

The “Inspectorium: Catch me if you can” is a Drop-in Activity for Families.

Some animals hide to conceal themselves from predators and others hide to sneak up on their prey. During this drop-in session at the Discovery Zone, find the animal that is hiding in its environment.

Admission is free.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

If you regularly or occasionally buy books online, you can help the Dublin Event Guide hugely even without having to pay cent directly. In fact you even save money this way:

Buy your books from The Book Depository and get better prices and free (!!) delivery for all orders independent from the volume and when you click on the picture here before you buy, then 5% of what normally The Book Depository would get, they give back to the Dublin Event Guide. Everybody wins!

www.bookdepository.com?a_aid=dubevg

If you prefer Amazon to buy your books (for free postage you need to order a minimum of GBP 25), then use this Amazon link to help the Dublin Event Guide. Thanks!

The Wood Quay Summer Sessions is a lunchtime gig at the Amphitheatre at Wood Quay (between Dublin City Council offices and Christ Church Cathedral). The four events will cover trad/classical music, Jazz, contemporary “classical” music and funk/rock.

The upcoming concerts are:

On 19 July, the Contemporary Music Centre (CMC) will feature the Kirkos Ensemble with Sebastian Adams (viola), Jane Hackett (violin) & Siún Milne (violin), playing contemporary “classical” music.

On 26 July First Music Contact will present Super Silly and Pillow Queens, playing funk and rock.

Admission is free.

The Temple Bar Craft Market during the week is back and it has moved to Thursdays in 2018. Organised by the Temple Bar Company the market will bring handcrafted jewellery, wood design, handmade soaps, original art, photography, fashion, specialised cards and stained-glass crafts.

The market starts at 14:00 and finishes at 20:00, but is still carrying the totally nonsensical and completely misleading name “Temple Bar NIGHT Market”. I will just ignore this unsuitable and incorrect name and will rename it to “Temple Bar Craft Market”. ;-)

At the next meetup of Dublin’s Event Professionals, the speakers will be Vicky Lee (Diversity, an important ingredient for your events) and Dylan Schiemann (Breaking all the rules and not losing your shirt: How he and his team organised and delivered TSConf in just 2 months from concept to delivery).

Admission is free but registration is required via the link below.

A weekly Jazz Club event with live band is taking place at J.W. Sweetman’s.

Admission is free.

Every Thursday the Little Museum of Dublin waives their admission charges for two guided tours thanks to sponsorship from Guinness. The first tour is at 18:00 and the second tour is at 19:00. Make sure that you are there at least 10 minutes before the start of the tour to get one of the limited places.

The Little Museum of Dublin has a fascinating collection of artefacts from the last 100 years Dublin’s history.

On other days and other times, admission is EUR 10 for adults and admission is by guided tour only.

An expatriate or expat is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of their citizenship.

And this is a weekly meeting for all Expats in Dublin (new and old!). If you are new to the city, this is an excellent way to meet people.

Admission is free (no booking required!), but you are asked to give the same kind of welcoming to new members as is given to you.

The Thursday Night Board Gaming event is running for more than 10 years already and it is a weekly event for all Board Game enthusiasts. But even if you are a Board Game newbie, you are welcome. Just come along! More information can be found here: www.meetup.com/IrishGamesAssociation/

Admission is free.

The yearly “Street Traders vs Garda Football Match” will take place from 19:30 at the Oliver Bond Football Pitch

Come along and watch the Guards battle it out with the Street Traders of the Liberties. This is the 30th year of the competition between Kevin Street Garda Station and the Street Traders.

Admission is free.

“Rhythm and Brews Craft Beer Club” is a monthly meet-up and beer review in Sin E. The next event is on Thursday and you will be able to try the beer of the month, talk about it with other beer enthusiasts and listen to live music.

The live band this month will be indie electro-pop trio “Tanjier”.

Admission is free. For more info contact: gerard AT mentorpitch.com The event will be part of the Dublin Quays Festival.

Word Up is a Hip Hop and Spoken Word event and the performers are Evans Junior, Sean X, Jake Hurley and Natalia O’Flaherty. Find out more about them on the website below.

This event is part of the Dublin Quays Festival.

Admission is free.

Hold Up will play Funk/Soul/Pop in the Harbour Bar in Bray.

Admission is free.

Every Thursday a Singer Songwriter Night will take place in Mother Reilly’s in Rathmines. This is YOUR chance to show everyone what you can do, alternatively you can just listen to the talented Singer/Songwriters. Admission is free.

A Fun Pub Quiz takes place in Brady’s in Terenure on Thurs. The quiz will be on every Thursday night in the Lounge at Brady’s. Keith McLoughlin is the Quiz Master.

There will be six rounds of the quiz with picture questions, audio questions and general knowledge questions. Admission to the quiz is free and therr will be free drink vouchers for the winning and runner up teams. (No phones to get answers allowed.)

Every Tuesday and Thursday the International Bar invites to a Jazz night in the Lounge.

Groups led by Cote Calmet, Sean Maynard Smith, Dominic Mullan, Paddy Groenland, Georgia Cusack & Alex Mathias are performing regularly with occasional guest players, but there are also other bands from all over.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of EUR 5. The website clearly says that there is no entry fee, but – and that makes a lot of sense – that your donations are very much appreciated (Musicians need to pay for rent and food too!) Be generous after the gig if you liked it, but if someone wants to charge an admission charge, please point out that the “rules” as described on their website are like I have explained.

A weekly Trad Music Night is taking place in McLoughlin’s in Dun Laoghaire. It is an acoustic night and all musicians are welcome. Admission is free.

Every Thursday a free Trad Session takes place in McNeills and often there are high profile Trad musicians performing.

The Woolshed Karaoke is happening every Thursday from 21:30. Anyone can participate! Admission is free.

The BIMM Music College is organising the Midnight Hour on Thursdays in Whelan’s. The line-up has not yet been announced.

Admission is free.

The Dublin Quays Festival from 19-23 July will take place in six venues along the Liffey. The venues are The Wiley Fox, The Grand Social, The Workman’s Club, Sin E, Liquor Rooms and the Sound House.

There is no real common thread or link-up between the venues. They all do their own thing, but the common aspect of this Dublin Quays Festival is that all gigs are free and who could complain about that.

Where possible, I will list the different events separately in this and the next Dublin Event Guide… at least for all the pubs that are on my radar.

The Liberties Festival 2018 will take place from 18-22 July. It is the 48th festival this year (!) and there will be five days of music, comedy, opera, yoga, stories, song, dance, coffee, conversation, football, cinema, poetry, art, walking tours, discovery, gardening, printing, family fun & more.

Nearly all events over the five days are free, but most require registration on the website here and it seems as if all events that need free tickets on the first three days of the festival are already booked out.

Dublin City Hall has a museum/exhibition in the basement, called “The Story of the Capital”, it is an exhibition about Dublin’s History and you should definitely check it out at some stage.

To celebrate the Easter Rising Anniversary, admission to that exhibititon was free in 2016, but lucky for us, Dublin City decided to also waive the admission charge for 2018.

Opening hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:15.

The “Youth Symposium Public Discussion: The Future of Education and Employment” will take place in the Science Gallery on Friday at 11:15.

The Youth Symposium, open to all members of the wider Youth Community. Representatives and young leaders from Science Gallery International, Science Gallery London, Science Gallery Venice and Science Gallery Dublin will transform the Science Gallery in Dublin into a hub of cross-cultural collaboration and engagement.

Admission is free, but booking is required via the link below. IF you can’t make it but are insterested, check the same website for links to a live stream.

The “Older Bowls” is a seniors bowling competition at the Donore Avenue Community Centre.

Admission is free.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

The Tour “The Bog Bodies” on Friday is suitable from age 14.

Join this tour to examine Iron Age finds from Ireland’s wetlands including bog butter and learn about the discovery of the 2,000-year-old bog bodies which are of international scientific significance.

Admission is free. Places will be allocated on a first come first-served basis. Meet at the Reception.

The Pop-up talk “Under the Big Top at a Circus” will take place in the Hugh Lane Room (Room 31).

Join Fala Buggy for an informal pop-up talk about Mainie Jellett’s watercolour “Under the Big Top at a Circus”.

Part of our summer programme of events inspired by the exhibition Circus250: Art of the Show.

Meet in front of the artwork in the Hugh Lane Room (Room 31).

The Cemetery at Arbour Hill is the last resting place of 14 of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. Among those buried there are Pádraig Pearse, James Connolly and Thomas Clarke. This tour every Friday introduce the Cemetery and will also explain the background and the event of the Easter Rising.

Admission is free and no booking necessary. The meeting point is inside the cemetery gates.

Every Friday in July, Spooky Stories for children who love a scare will be told by Ruth, the Reader-in-Residence. It is a fun and (slightly) scary session. Suitable for children aged 7+

Admission is free. To book, ring 01-8734333

As part of the Festival of Curiosity a party will take place at the current LIFE AT THE EDGES exhibition on the Science Gallery. It will feature music, talks and live performances that take a deep dive into the exhibition and probe what taking it to the extremes could be like.

The RISO print studio from OR STUDIO will be present, HOMEBEAT DJs will provide the musical backdrop to the exhibition and podcast duo SEKSY BEASTS (intentional wrong spelling in this listing to avoid trouble with spam filters replace the ks with an x) will present their first live show exploring what life might really be like for an extraterrestrial on Titan. Dreamcycles and Cli Ø will play music as well.

Admission is free but booking is required via the link below. This event is only for ages 18+.

This Wings Food Fest in Bray is back from Fri-Sun 20-22 July. There will be chicken wings and live music and the event starts at 18:00 on Friday and 10:00 on Saturday and Sunday. 15 chicken wing outlets will sell their wings.

Wing Competitions and BBQ Demonstrations will also take place.

Admission is free.

Cornucopia Café & Restaurant host live music three evenings a week (Thurs, Fri and Sat). The restaurant is a Wholefood & Vegetarian Restaurant and is open until 22:15.
+ Every second Thursday N.C Lawlor, a songwriter, session player and troubadour plays a mix of country, bluegrass & blues from 19:30-21:30.
+ Every Friday (19:30-21:30) Junshi Murakami plays Irish Harp.
+ Every Saturday (19:30-21:30) Nollaig Mann plays a collection of popular and jazz classics.

Irishmusicparty presents a gig with the bands/performers Powpig, Grainne Hunt, Lavengro, Laura Mulcahy. Find more details on the website below.

Admission is free. The gig is part of the Dublin Quays Festival.

Summer Watch is a 3-day music festival in Whelan’s with over 30 bands on Fri, Sat and Sun (20+21+22 July) in association with Hop House 13.

The first set of performers are announced, but a schedule is not available yet. Have a look at the website below a few days before the festival. Admission is free for all gigs on all three days.

The announced performers are:
L?wli, A Great Quiet, SHIVS, Susie blue, Cult Called Man, Pecking Party, Galants, Sub Motion, HAYPARK, CHERYM, Contemplenta, Buí, Painted Skies, Darce, Pale Rivers, Motions, KARMS, St. Bishop, Lowlight Gathering, Exiles, Laura Ryder, Overlockers. Runway Lights more will be announced soon.

The three bands “FXY”, “The Stasi” and “Elly D” will perform a gig in the Grand Social.

The event is part of the Dublin Quays Festival (DQF).

Admission is free.

Ben Prevo will play Blues at this gig in Bray.

Admission is free.

Claire Z is an Irish R&B/Soul Singer Songwriter and she will play a gig in the Liquir Rooms on Friday.

Admission is free. The event is part of the Dublin Quays Festival.

The Stillorgan Orchard has live music every Friday and Saturday. Many of the performers are established and very good bands. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below. Admission is always free.

The Unelectables are playing a gig in the Leeson Lounge. Unfortunately I can’t detect from the description what music style you should expect.

Admission is free.

Experimental electronic music producer “Why Axis” will perform his music at this event. His guest will be author Emmet O’Brien.

Admission is free. The event will be part of the Dublin Quays Festival.

The great band “Attention Bebe”, who are always in super party mood, will be in the Grand Social for a gig.

Admission is free. The gig is part of the Dublin Quays Festival.