Four times this year the “People’s Art 2012″ exhibition will take place. It is an art exhibition on the rails/fence of St. Stephen’s Green. If you want to exhibit at one of the events in the future, check the website for cost and conditions. Visiting the People’s Art Exhibition is free. Specific start and end times are not defined, but exhibition space has to be occupied by 11:00, so 11:00 is the latest start time. The event runs from Friday until Sunday, but Sat+Sun will most likely be the main days. The June exhibition is the second this year and you see a wide range of paintings and other “hangable” art for sale.

People’s Art Dublin is a voluntary, part time, non profit making group, brought together by Dublin City Council to promote the visual arts to the public of Dublin. A huge variety of art/paintings are displayed and if the weather is nice it is a great art-filled stroll around Stephen’s Green. Definitely recommended!

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

Tower Records are celebrating their 19th birthday and have a number of bands performing for the celebrations. The line up is: 15:00: The Bambir, 16:00 I’m Your Vinyl, 17:00 Roisin O, 18:00 The Pale.

As part of the Discover New Arts (DNA) Festival, the people from Creative Freedom Singing are running a workshop in the Axis Art Centre in Ballymun.
“The workshop will focus on non-judgmental singing, which means enjoying singing no matter how it sounds. This workshop connects us to our own unique voice and reminds us of how it feels to express ourselves through singing. The workshop is designed in such a way that even if you haven’t sang in years, or if you think you feel a bit shy about singing, it is really easy and enjoyable to open up and enjoy singing again and exploring a very primal and important part of yourself.”
Sounds interesting! Pity that it is early on a Friday and that I only found out this week, but maybe you can make it!

The Discover New Arts Festival in the Axis Arts Centre is a 2-day pop-up festival for children and adults in Ballymun. Unfortunately I didn’t find out earlier, but maybe you can catch the last few events today. Admission to all events is free and is on a first come first served basis. The Family Film Screening of Toy Story will start at 17:00. The full programme is here www.axis-ballymun.ie/_fileupload/DNA%20Fest%20Poster.pdf ..and hopefully I will find out next year a bit earlier about the DNA Festival.

“Writer’s Circle: An evening of readings” is the last event of the Discover New Arts Festival in Ballymun. www.axis-ballymun.ie/_fileupload/DNA%20Fest%20Poster.pdf

The Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival will take place from Fri 17 – Sun 19 August and it sounds VERY interesting. Over 3 days, more than 40 Live acts will play in 7 venues. On Friday the venues and performers will be

+ Button Factory: Prison Love, I Draw Slow and Twin Headed Wolf
+ Grand Social: Groove, Wyvern Lingo, Lights Camera Sundown, Sarah Red, Lisa McLaughlin, The Blue Cedar Project
+ Workman’s Club: The Hot Sprockets, The Eskies, Gypsy Rebel Rabble
+ Sweeney Mongrel: The Bambir, The Boo Box, Blood Red Mountain, Ukeristic Congress, Jethro, Slick Hicks, Tin Box Company, Junah, The Ragmen, Joe Lynch, Clara Rose, Connor Linnie
+ Mercantile: 9Bars, Well Enough Alone, Stefan Galt and the Way Back When Band, Homebrew, The Bog Frogs, Niall Lawlor
+ Stag’s Head: Lynched, Sister Abigail, Greasy Coat Stringband

Admission to all gigs is free.

Sounds like a super line-up and this is just the first day. I would love to go to the gig in the Button Factory, but instead will be myself on stage in the Olympia Theatre. There will be more gigs on Saturday and some as well on Sunday, but check through the line-up and make sure that you don’t miss some of the great bands on Friday.
On Saturday there are also some (not free) workshops for Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin and Blues Harmonica playing for which you need to pre-book on the website.

The Bambir, an Armenian band that combines hard rock, Armenian traditional music and poetry, pulsing beats and whirling trances, ancient tales and pagan wails into their own unique sound. Admission is free. www.youtube.com/TheBambir

Need to wind down after a tiring week? Free Sahaja Yoga Meditation (not physical yoga, but “yoga meditation”!) classes every Friday at 19:30 at 4/5 Eustace Street, Temple Bar (next to IFI, ring bell no. 3)

A drop in class, with newcomers welcome.

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.

Spoke is the an open mic night at the Irish Writers Centre, taking place on the third Friday of every month. Writers, spoken word artists and musicians are all welcome to perform. Doors open at 19:30. Free admission. If you’d like to perform, please be prompt, so that you can get signed up when the doors open. writerscentre.ie/spoke/ Every Spoke will feature a guest performer. This month’s guest will be announced shortly.

Grace Wilde are a 4-piece indie folk rock band from North County Dublin are playingrock, folk, indie, soul, jazz & blues. “Consisting of singer Audrey, guitarist Enda, bassist Avril and drummer David, Grace Wilde are a 4-piece band who are sure to sing straight to your soul, strum your heart-strings, and leave you feeling weak at the knees.” Admission is free.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are: Fri 17 Aug: Amigos, Sat 18 Aug: Superfly

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.

The National Heritage Week is full of amazing and interesting events. There are medieval fairs, night time bat walks, classical music, poetry, theatre, traditional music, storytelling, historical re-enactments, local history walks and talks, maritime and coastal events, food fairs, traditional skills workshops and archaeological digs. There’s something for everyone and most events are free.

Whether it is nature and wildlife, folklore, or built heritage, National Heritage Week aims to deliver messages and events that are positive, engaging and relevant in people’s day to day lives. Any person or organisation can actively take part in the Week and organise an event which educates people and promotes an aspect of Ireland’s Heritage.

Many attractions across Dublin are hosting Heritage Week events across the National Heritage Week such as National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History, National Museum of Ireland – Natural History, Natural Museum of Ireland – Archeology, Chester Beatty Library, National Botanic Gardens.

The National Heritage Weeks will run from Sat 18 Aug until Sun 26 Aug. I will include a number of events here, but it is just not possible to include all events. There are about 400 (!!) events in the Dublin City area only! So you have to check the website for all details.

A fascinating event is taking place this weekend. On Sat and Sun the Phoenix Park Motor Races take place and celebrate their 110 years of history. If you have never heard of the Phoenix Park Motor Races, this might be because it has been a bit of an unreliable event in recent years, with the races having been cancelled in 2010 and 2011. But this year they are back for definite to celebrate also the 350th anniversary of Phoenix Park. In the 1990s around 100,000 people attended and tens of thousands are expected again this year.
I was at the races in 2009 and it was odd to see historic and modern racing cars race in a park like Phoenix Park, but it was a good event with lots of cars taking part and a buzzing paddock in the car park of Farmleigh House.

The racing car classes competing in the Park this year are:
Formula Ford F2000, Formula Libre, Formula Vee, Formula Sheane, Historic Racing Cars, Fiat Abarth, Fiat Punto & Uno Strykers, Irish Touring Cars, GT racing class and FF1600. There will also be a sprint for Pre ’55 racing cars.

In addition to the races, there will be demonstration runs for Irish Kit Cars, AC Cobras, Ferraris. The Ginetta Junior Ireland racing class (a racing class for 14-17 year old competitors) will also be there. The RSA Shuttle and Roll-over Simulator will be at the event as well.

The “main” event will be the Dublin Grand Prix, featuring Historic Formula Ford 2000 cars. It will take place from 14:05 or from 14:30 on Sunday. The timetable is not entirely clear on that. I did put the word “main” in ” ” because all events/races/parades are scheduled to run for the same amount of time as the “main” event. Every sub-event will run for a duration of just 30 minutes. So in essence they are all more or less equal events. The detailed timetable (as a PDF) is here www.phoenixparkmotorraces.ie/competitor-info/func-startdown/289/ and some key times are:
Sat: 09:00-12:45 Practice Runs; 12:45-13:30 Parade (Cobra, Kit Cars and Classic Bikes); 13:30-17:45 Racing/Pursuit Sprints
Sun: 09:00-09:50 Practice Runs; 09:50-10:35 Parades (Classic Bikes+Ginetta); 10:35-12:15 Racing/Pursuit Sprints; 12:15-13:40 Parades (Ferrari, BMW, Supercars, TVRs, Ginetta); 13:40-17:30 Racing.

Admission to the event is free and you have full and free access to the paddock in Farmleigh House, so you can get very close to the cars and drivers. The race course is a triangle close to the Castleknock end of the park, so it is a long distance (i.e. long walk!) from the City side entrance of the park.

Because of the recent heavy rain, there will be no official visitor parking facilities in Phoenix Park and many streets and park gates will be closed, so expect a bit of mayhem if you come by car. There will, however, be a free shuttle bus from Heuston station for everyone with a valid Luas ticket. I checked with the nice people at Luas and they stressed that all they need to see is a valid Luas ticket. So I guess you can buy a ticket on the day, but don’t need to use the Luas …and the ticket doesn’t have to have a certain minimum value. The shuttle bus will be available from 11:00-18:00 on Sat+Sun. It will leave at Parkgate Street every 15 minutes. (www.luas.ie/phoenix-park-races.html)

The extensive road closures are listed here if you need to know or want to plan your motorised approach: www.phoenixpark.ie/newsevents/title,20899,en.html
The website for the Phoenix Park Motor Races has some information, for spectators you can find a tiny map and a Paddock Plan at www.phoenixparkmotorraces.ie/spectator-info/2012-Spectator-Info/

The Dublin Food Co-op is open every Saturday at Newmarket for organic wholefoods and sustainable household products, plus over a dozen producer stalls offering organic fruit and veg., baked goods, dairy produce, wines, hot and cold food, etc. The Co-op is also open on Thursdays 12:00-20:00.

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.

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

Every year since 2002, the Irish Sand Sculpting Team “Duthain Dealbh” is creating a sand sculpture exhibition in the courtyard of Dublin Castle. The sand sculpting team has 7 days to create the sculptures out of 80 tonnes of sand and after that the sculptures will be on show for another month. The carving took place from 30 July – 05 Aug and the exhibition runs from 06 Aug-02 Sept. The sculptures are truly impressive and I strongly recommend that you have a look when you are in town. If my memory is right, in previous years four sculptures were created, but this year the team seems to have lost a member and will create therefore three sculptures. “Bright Spark” is the title of the exhibition and it is inspired by the innovations of Irish scientists. www.irish-sand.com

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

The Merchants Market on East Wall Road is a relatively new weekly market on Saturdays and Sundays with more than 80 stalls. There is everything from furniture and antiques to paintings and mirrors, electronics and hot food to bicycles and buns. Sounds interesting and I will check it out over the coming weeks. It is just a few minutes walk away from the Point Theatre/O2 (walk in the direction of the Port Tunnel). www.facebook.com/merchantsindoormarket

An indoor market in Coolock with over 40 traders with a wide range of goods and a café on site as well.

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.

Every Saturday until 25 Aug, Colette Burke, a Zumba fitness instructor, is running free Zumba fitness classes on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire from 10:30-12:30 (weather permitting). If you want to take part you can contact Colette on 087-2476673 and find more information on her website.

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.

To celebrate the opening the new pop-up experiment to get people making stuff, MAKESHOP will run a weekend of free drop-in workshops. Just around the corner from Science Gallery, on Lincoln Place, MAKESHOP is a new collaborative workshop space where you can learn everything from cross-stitching to DIY robotics, from origami to 3D printing. It’s for everyone from novices to advanced makers and the only thing you need to get involved is a curious mind and a yearning to make stuff.

At the weekend of 18-19 August, the doors will get opened to air the tools – free free to drop by if you fancy a sneak peek at what is in store.

Then the following weekend (24-26th August) a number of drop-in workshops will be available for free, to celebrate the opening:

LED throwies, Paper Toys, Extract your DNA, 8 bit Cross Stitch, Drawing Robots, Learn to solder, T-shirt tote bags, Bristle Bots, Clockify, T-shirt necklace. Detailed explanations are available on sciencegallery.com/events/2012/08/free-workshops-makeshop-science-gallery and even more information about this interesting project will soon be here shop.sciencegallery.com/makeshop (currently the pages are still empty!)

Four times this year the “People’s Art 2012″ exhibition will take place. It is an art exhibition on the rails/fence of St. Stephen’s Green. If you want to exhibit at one of the events in the future, check the website for cost and conditions. Visiting the People’s Art Exhibition is free. Specific start and end times are not defined, but exhibition space has to be occupied by 11:00, so 11:00 is the latest start time. The event runs from Friday until Sunday, but Sat+Sun will most likely be the main days. The June exhibition is the second this year and you see a wide range of paintings and other “hangable” art for sale.

People’s Art Dublin is a voluntary, part time, non profit making group, brought together by Dublin City Council to promote the visual arts to the public of Dublin. A huge variety of art/paintings are displayed and if the weather is nice it is a great art-filled stroll around Stephen’s Green. Definitely recommended!

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

This will be the third year for “Yoga in the Park” and I think it is a brilliant initiative for a very worthy cause. From June until September, Fiona from www.twopalmsyoga.com invites to an hour of Yoga in Phoenix Park. No booking is required and you decide how much you give, the class is donation based. All proceeds go to the Dublin Simon Community, a charity that does invaluable work for the homeless people in Dublin. Just bring a mat or a towel, some water and (hopefully) even some sun protection to the class. Should the weather be bad, the bandstand will be shelter or even training location. The training is suitable for all levels, so even total beginners are very welcome.

Bad news from the Dublin City Liffey Swim: The 92nd Liffey Swim will take this weekend, but the route has changed and will turn the Liffey Swim into a less attractive event with less historic significance.
The First Liffey swim took place in 1920 and 1923 Jack B. Yeats painted the well known picture (www.bertc.com/subtwo/g108/yeats18.htm) of the Liffey Swim, which is now in the National Gallery. But imagine if not lots of people and the nice facades of the City Quays would line the Liffey, but hardly anybody would watch it and the skyline left and right is sterile office blocks!?
For 92 years the Liffey Swim started at Watling Bridge (near the Guinness Brewery) and went to Customs House. This year, however, the start is at Customs House and the finish is far out at the East Link Bridge. (Watch out for wrong information in other publications! The start is at Customs House NOT at Watling Bridge.)

The Men’s Race will start at 11:15 and the Ladies’ Race will start at 12:15. The distance is shorter this year with approx. 1,500m.

Guided Heritage tours of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham are available from 4 July – 2 September at the following times: Wed-Sat: 11:30, 14:00 and 16:00, Sun: 14:00 and 16:00. Tours are free and no booking is required.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

Emily Gallagher will run a weekly fun-filled Aerobics Fitness class every Saturday in Merrion Square. Meet Emily at the park gate opposite the National Gallery. You can contact her on 085-2725095 or on egaldog AT gmail DOT com

Two Childrens’ Art Workshops will take place in Farmleigh House this Saturday. One is for 5-7 year olds and the other for ages 8+. Be aware that there is NO access by car to Farmleigh House because of the Phoenix Park Motor Races!!

Dublin Mela is a big Indian carnival/fair and everybody (not only Indians) is invited to the Family Day which will be the highlight of the 5-day festival. The objective of the Dublin Mela is to showcase Indian culture and cultural diversity.
The Family Day will take place in Corkagh Park on the N7. There will be a World Stage with multi-cultural dance&music performances, Dance Workshops for kids and adults, an Ethnic bazaar, Taste of India, where unique and authentic Indian regional food will be available along with local Irish food, traditional Indian Sports workshops, Gully Cricket, Henna Tatoo Artists. The schedule for the day can be found here mela.unitasisac.ie/BroucherFortheDay.pdf Admission is free.

LocalExpo.ie are running a family day and local community support day in Glasnevin. But unfortunately they don’t share much information about what will take place apart from “Local Businesses and community groups will be offering free samples, discounts and a food market on the day.” It would have been interesting to know what businesses and which community groups will be there. Either way, if you are from the Glasnevin area, put your head in the door, it could be interesting. Admission is free.

Astronomy Ireland are continuing their weekly Sun Shows at the Astronomy Ireland Shop in Swords. Each Saturday, the staff of the Astronomy Ireland Shop will be showing you amazing views of our nearest star. Using special filters and some of the largest telescopes in Ireland you will get to see sunspots bigger than Earth and huge solar flare bursting from our nearest star. If it’s cloudy, there will be a telescope demonstration and you will find out how you can safely observe the Sun and undertake some daytime astronomy using your own telescope.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

The Ink Slingers Creative Writing Hour takes place every Saturday at the Irish Writers’ Centre. It is a free creative writing session that is organised and led by the Centre’s voluntary arts administrators. The hour includes writing exercises and prompts to get ideas flowing. It is open to everyone and is suitable for all levels of experience.

Google+ Local are organising a Photo Walk in Temple Bar on Saturday. Meeting Point is the Project Arts Centre and you will then walk/photograph your way through Temple Bar. The plan is to visit local galleries, coffee shops, and get a little history about the area on the tour guided by Googler Brian Herron. It’s free and everyone is welcome. You can find more info on the event page at plus.google.com/events/c1h2tthedg9vuae94eohcnnqukg/111100912907530049099

As part of National Heritage Week, a walk or more a gentle stroll in Phoenix Park will take place with guides to point out interesting historic features on the way. It is called “Not Just a Walk in the Park” and is suitable for the whole family. Meet at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre at 13:45, but keep in mind that access to the Visitor Centre car park will be restricted or at least very busy because of the Phoenix Park Races. Bring water and walking shoes. Admission is free. For more information contact Roy Barron, Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on 01-6770095.

A “Beggars Bush Barracks Walking Tour” will take place as part of Heritage Week. Admission is free , but booking is required via 01-6603770 or education@nationalprintmuseum.ie

The 6th Northside Music Festival will take place from 06-26 August. It has a much more varied programme this year than in previous years, which is great. Admission to all events is free. Some workshops require pre-booking, so have a look at the full brochure to check if you need to book.(Link at the end.)
+ Sat 18 Aug (14:00-18:00): Bipolar Empire, Solar Taxi, Rooftop Anthem in Fr. Collins Park, Clongriffin, Donaghmede, Dublin 13
+ Sun 19 Aug (11:00-16:00): Family Day with The Lace, TRAZ at The Red Stables, St. Annes Park, Dublin 3
+ Sun 26 Aug (11:00-14:00): World Music with Harry J & The Conspiracy, Dublin Gospel Choir, Craiceann at The Tall Ships Races, Georges Dock Stage, IFSC, Dublin 1

The Dublin Swing Scene is coming together for another Swing Picnic in St. Stephen’s Gree on Saturday. Bring some food for your picnic if you wish and enjoy the swing music and the swing dancing on the bandstand. It is free to watch and if you want to take part there is just a EUR 2 fee. The next Swing Picnics after this Sunday is on 09 Sept.

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

Come for a walk through the Botanic Gardens’ plant collections and discover the many rare and old trees that grow in the National Botanic Gardens. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centr.

For Heritage Week two Cemetery Tours at Glasnevin Cemetery are free of charge (normally EUR 6). The first one is on Sat 18 Aug at 15:30 and the second one takes place on Sat 25 Aug at 15:30. Admission is free, as I said, but booking is essential as places are limited. Contact the museum on 01 8826550 to make a reservation.

I did this tour some years ago and it is really interesting. So, if you get a chance to go to the cemetary, go for it.

The History Talk “Working by the Grand Canal Basin: The Industrial Heritage of the Grand Canal Basin” will take place for Heritage Week. Gerry Brown has been exploring the industrial heritage of the Docklands for many years and will talk about the heyday of the docks. Places are limited and booking is advisable on 01 677 75 10.

The Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival will take place from Fri 17 – Sun 19 August and it sounds VERY interesting. Over 3 days, more than 40 Live acts will play in 7 venues. On Saturday the venues and performers will be

+ Button Factory: Gavin Glass and the Tourettes, NC Lawlor, Arrow in the Sky
+ Grand Social: Saucy Jack and the Bang Bang Band, Blind Yackety, Louisiana, Cold Comfort, Tin Box Company
+ Workman’s Club: Raglans, Nathan Conway and the River Valley Band, Slim Pickins
+ Sweeney Mongrel: Chapters, Sons of Gingerbread, The Viking Project, Rufus Coates and the Blackened Trees, Fear of Folk, The Runaway Boys, Bucket of Bees Revival, Greasy Coat Stringband, Fusion Family, The Velvetonnes, The Ragmen, Joe Lynch, Russell
+ Mercantile: Stoney Brokes, The 68s, the Ghandis, Desert Aces, Sincop Hat
+ Stag’s Head: Johnny Moynihan, Marion McEvoy, Greasy Coat Stringband

Admission to all gigs is free.

Over the weekend you will hear every type of Rhythm and Roots, performed by the best bands from the Dublin Roots/Blues/Rockabilly/Bluegrass scene .

On Saturday there are also some (not free) workshops for Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin and Blues Harmonica playing. There is also a Busking Trail in different (unannounced) locations win co-operation with the Musical Youth Foundation.

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.

The 3rd Ukulele Festival is back in Dun Laoghaire. On Saturday a number of workshops and a Uke Bus Tour will take place. They are all inexpensive but not free.
From 19:30 an Open Mic event will take place at the Buskers Corner, at the new Metals Promenade, just outside the 40Foot Bar on street level. After the Fireworks at 22:00, a jamming session will take place in the Martello Room of the Kingston Hotel.

The mian event will be the concert in People’s Park on Sunday.

This is a weekly Saturday night residency of a Jazz Quartet, featuring Michael Nielsen (guitar), Sam Comerford (sax), Cormac O Brien (bass), James Mackin (drums) in the basement Wine Cave of KC Peaches wholefood restaurant/café. Food will be served until 22:00 and wine, minerals & music will be available until later. Admission is free and a donation into a hat at the end of the evening is appreciated.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are: Fri 17 Aug: Amigos, Sat 18 Aug: Superfly

Dun Laoghaire is inviting to a Festival Fireworks on Saturday. There is no specific festival that is celebrated with it, instead it is just a summer fireworks, for no immediate reason. Well, I enjoy fireworks, so no reason is reason enough for me.

The Urban Mojo Blues Band,is a Dublin based five piece band drawing influences from electric Chicago blues and rock to produce a lively uptempo grooving blues will be performing every Saturday in Oil Can Harry’s. www.facebook.com/pages/The-Urban-Mojo-Blues-Band/87569518524

A fascinating event is taking place this weekend. On Sat and Sun the Phoenix Park Motor Races take place and celebrate their 110 years of history. If you have never heard of the Phoenix Park Motor Races, this might be because it has been a bit of an unreliable event in recent years, with the races having been cancelled in 2010 and 2011. But this year they are back for definite to celebrate also the 350th anniversary of Phoenix Park. In the 1990s around 100,000 people attended and tens of thousands are expected again this year.
I was at the races in 2009 and it was odd to see historic and modern racing cars race in a park like Phoenix Park, but it was a good event with lots of cars taking part and a buzzing paddock in the car park of Farmleigh House.

The racing car classes competing in the Park this year are:
Formula Ford F2000, Formula Libre, Formula Vee, Formula Sheane, Historic Racing Cars, Fiat Abarth, Fiat Punto & Uno Strykers, Irish Touring Cars, GT racing class and FF1600. There will also be a sprint for Pre ’55 racing cars.

In addition to the races, there will be demonstration runs for Irish Kit Cars, AC Cobras, Ferraris. The Ginetta Junior Ireland racing class (a racing class for 14-17 year old competitors) will also be there. The RSA Shuttle and Roll-over Simulator will be at the event as well.

The “main” event will be the Dublin Grand Prix, featuring Historic Formula Ford 2000 cars. It will take place from 14:05 or from 14:30 on Sunday. The timetable is not entirely clear on that. I did put the word “main” in ” ” because all events/races/parades are scheduled to run for the same amount of time as the “main” event. Every sub-event will run for a duration of just 30 minutes. So in essence they are all more or less equal events. The detailed timetable (as a PDF) is here www.phoenixparkmotorraces.ie/competitor-info/func-startdown/289/ and some key times are:
Sat: 09:00-12:45 Practice Runs; 12:45-13:30 Parade (Cobra, Kit Cars and Classic Bikes); 13:30-17:45 Racing/Pursuit Sprints
Sun: 09:00-09:50 Practice Runs; 09:50-10:35 Parades (Classic Bikes+Ginetta); 10:35-12:15 Racing/Pursuit Sprints; 12:15-13:40 Parades (Ferrari, BMW, Supercars, TVRs, Ginetta); 13:40-17:30 Racing.

Admission to the event is free and you have full and free access to the paddock in Farmleigh House, so you can get very close to the cars and drivers. The race course is a triangle close to the Castleknock end of the park, so it is a long distance (i.e. long walk!) from the City side entrance of the park.

Because of the recent heavy rain, there will be no official visitor parking facilities in Phoenix Park and many streets and park gates will be closed, so expect a bit of mayhem if you come by car. There will, however, be a free shuttle bus from Heuston station for everyone with a valid Luas ticket. I checked with the nice people at Luas and they stressed that all they need to see is a valid Luas ticket. So I guess you can buy a ticket on the day, but don’t need to use the Luas …and the ticket doesn’t have to have a certain minimum value. The shuttle bus will be available from 11:00-18:00 on Sat+Sun. It will leave at Parkgate Street every 15 minutes. (www.luas.ie/phoenix-park-races.html)

The extensive road closures are listed here if you need to know or want to plan your motorised approach: www.phoenixpark.ie/newsevents/title,20899,en.html
The website for the Phoenix Park Motor Races has some information, for spectators you can find a tiny map and a Paddock Plan at www.phoenixparkmotorraces.ie/spectator-info/2012-Spectator-Info/

Every year since 2002, the Irish Sand Sculpting Team “Duthain Dealbh” is creating a sand sculpture exhibition in the courtyard of Dublin Castle. The sand sculpting team has 7 days to create the sculptures out of 80 tonnes of sand and after that the sculptures will be on show for another month. The carving took place from 30 July – 05 Aug and the exhibition runs from 06 Aug-02 Sept. The sculptures are truly impressive and I strongly recommend that you have a look when you are in town. If my memory is right, in previous years four sculptures were created, but this year the team seems to have lost a member and will create therefore three sculptures. “Bright Spark” is the title of the exhibition and it is inspired by the innovations of Irish scientists. www.irish-sand.com

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale. Every Sunday from 10:00-17:00 the Jamestown Market is taking place. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on red Luas line.

The Merchants Market on East Wall Road is a relatively new weekly market on Saturdays and Sundays with more than 80 stalls. There is everything from furniture and antiques to paintings and mirrors, electronics and hot food to bicycles and buns. Sounds interesting and I will check it out over the coming weeks. It is just a few minutes walk away from the Point Theatre/O2 (walk in the direction of the Port Tunnel). www.facebook.com/merchantsindoormarket

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.

The Brocante Market will take place on Sun. It is a collection of antiques, furniture, vintage jewellery, collectables and curiosities from the past and present, second-hand, refurbished, antique and hand-crafted stuff for your house and garden. If you are an interior designer or just have and eye for style and are looking for a special piece or maybe a bargain then this is the market for you. The market is held every 3rd Sunday of the month.

To celebrate the opening the new pop-up experiment to get people making stuff, MAKESHOP will run a weekend of free drop-in workshops. Just around the corner from Science Gallery, on Lincoln Place, MAKESHOP is a new collaborative workshop space where you can learn everything from cross-stitching to DIY robotics, from origami to 3D printing. It’s for everyone from novices to advanced makers and the only thing you need to get involved is a curious mind and a yearning to make stuff.

At the weekend of 18-19 August, the doors will get opened to air the tools – free free to drop by if you fancy a sneak peek at what is in store.

Then the following weekend (24-26th August) a number of drop-in workshops will be available for free, to celebrate the opening:

LED throwies, Paper Toys, Extract your DNA, 8 bit Cross Stitch, Drawing Robots, Learn to solder, T-shirt tote bags, Bristle Bots, Clockify, T-shirt necklace. Detailed explanations are available on sciencegallery.com/events/2012/08/free-workshops-makeshop-science-gallery and even more information about this interesting project will soon be here shop.sciencegallery.com/makeshop (currently the pages are still empty!)

Four times this year the “People’s Art 2012″ exhibition will take place. It is an art exhibition on the rails/fence of St. Stephen’s Green. If you want to exhibit at one of the events in the future, check the website for cost and conditions. Visiting the People’s Art Exhibition is free. Specific start and end times are not defined, but exhibition space has to be occupied by 11:00, so 11:00 is the latest start time. The event runs from Friday until Sunday, but Sat+Sun will most likely be the main days. The June exhibition is the second this year and you see a wide range of paintings and other “hangable” art for sale.

People’s Art Dublin is a voluntary, part time, non profit making group, brought together by Dublin City Council to promote the visual arts to the public of Dublin. A huge variety of art/paintings are displayed and if the weather is nice it is a great art-filled stroll around Stephen’s Green. Definitely recommended!

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

Guided Heritage tours of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham are available from 4 July – 2 September at the following times: Wed-Sat: 11:30, 14:00 and 16:00, Sun: 14:00 and 16:00. Tours are free and no booking is required.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

A cycling tour of the Rathfarnham Castle Demesne, visiting the Castle Grounds, Ely Gate, Badger’s Glen, the Ice House and other landscape features will take place on Sunday. Meet at 11:30 on the Castle Forecourt. The event is suitable for the whole family, but children need to be supervised as cycle paths and roadways are used. It is organised on behalf of An Taisce and is a Heritage Week events. Find out more by contacting Rebecca Jeffares on 087 9537959 or reb.jeffares@gmail.com Participation 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.

An indoor market in Coolock with over 40 traders with a wide range of goods and a café on site as well.

The main day of the Ukulele Festival will be on Sunday. The Ukulele Market opens at People’s Park at 12:00 and from 12:30-20:00 a free day long concert will take place with the following schedule (ukulelehooley.com/Pages/program.html):

12:30-14:00: Gypsy Rebble Rabble, The Uke Box, Andy Eastwood
14:00 Free Beginners Workshop with the Uke Box in People’s Park
14:00-16:00 Professor Peter & Doctor Dick, Winin’ Boys, The Hot Potato Syncopators
15:00 Kids Workshop with Captain Stephen in People’s Park
16:00-17:50 Ukulele Uff & Lonesome Dave, Aisling Out Walking, East River String Band
17:50-19:20 Ukulelezaza, Ukulele Red and Lil’ Mamie Brown, Ukeristic Congress
19:20 Final Raffle
19:30 Grand Finale with the Hot Potato Syncopators

Both the Beginners Workshop at 14:00 and the Kids Workshop at 15:00 will be free.

The weekly Food Market will take place in People’s Park in parallel to the Festival.

I don’t know about you, but Ukulele’s make me smile. Not in a disrespectful way, instead it is just the sound and the size and the happiness the musicians eminate that is positive throughout. So, I will definitely be in Dun Laoghaire on Sunday!

Brasserie Sixty6 is inviting to a Jazz Brunch every Sunday. The upcoming line-up is 19 Aug Michael McLennan, 26 Aug Kevin Morrow Duo. As you can imagine food and drinks are not free, but there is no cover or admission charge for the music.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

The “Dublin Sketchers” is an informal group of typically hobby artists who go somewhere different in Dublin every Sunday (e.g. National Museum, Maritime Museum, Dublin Flea Market, Farmleigh, Botanic Gardens, Dublin Castle), 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 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!

As part of National Heritage Week, there will be a “Fairytale Day at the Enchanted Wood” event for children at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. At this magical event for children, meet Snow White, Goldilocks and the Wicked Witch at the woods beside Ashtown Castle. Meet at the Visitor Centre at 13:45 (Please note that Phoenix Park at and around the Visitor Centre will be very busy because of the Phoenix Park Races). Admission is free and no booking required. Follow the pebble path to the gingerbread house, bring a teddy bear for a picnic with Goldilocks and watch Snow White at work at the seven dwarves’ house. For more information contact Terry Butler, Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on 01-6770095.

The 6th Northside Music Festival will take place from 06-26 August. It has a much more varied programme this year than in previous years, which is great. Admission to all events is free. Some workshops require pre-booking, so have a look at the full brochure to check if you need to book. (Link at the end.)
+ Sun 19 Aug (11:00-16:00): Family Day with The Lace, TRAZ at The Red Stables, St. Anne’s Park, Dublin 3
+ Sun 26 Aug (11:00-14:00): World Music with Harry J & The Conspiracy, Dublin Gospel Choir, Craiceann at The Tall Ships Races, Georges Dock Stage, IFSC, Dublin 1

The Dun Laoghaire Borough Historical Society are inviting to a Historic Guided Walk of Old Dun Laoghaire. Meeting Point is at the Purty Kitchen Pub. For more information cotnact the organiser Colin Scudds via annascudds@eircom.net or 087 9649659.

Afternoon Jazz in Café en Seine. The Stella Bass Jazz Trio play every Sunday from 14:00-16:00 in Café en Seine in Dawson Street. Admission is free. A video is here www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8aKqtOB5S8

The West Dublin Community Festival is a concert that has been put together by the Ballyfermot RAPID Area Programme and by the local community radio station West Dublin Access Radio. The event is to showcase local talent, community spirit and to create a positive atmosphere in the area.

There will be 16 acts on 2 stages:
Acoustic stage : Suzie Whelan, Wayne Redmond, El Grey, The Chase, Kasey Smith, Paula Flynn, Donnacha Toomey, Liz Seaver.
Band Stage : Clutching at Straws, Senakah, Medz, The Hype, Cash is King, Dem Fools, Slick Hippys, Donna Dunne & Band.

Come to the Family Drawing Sundays in the RHA. All children are welcome to use the RHA Art Cart, in the RHA Atrium. Admission is free. For further information, contact Ruth Carroll on 01 6612558 or via ruth@rhagallery.ie

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

Come for a walk through the Botanic Gardens’ plant collections and discover the many rare and old trees that grow in the National Botanic Gardens. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centr.

The Jack of Diamonds Rhythm & Roots Festival will take place from Fri 17 – Sun 19 August and it sounds VERY interesting. Over 3 days, more than 40 Live acts (the best in the Dublin Roots/Blues/Rockabilly/Bluegrass scene) will play in 7 venues. On Sunday the venues and performers will be

+ Grand Social (as part of the Regular Saucy Sundays): North Strand Kontra Band, Saint John The Gambler, Tujacques, The Annulments, Ross Breen

+ Sweeney Mongrel: Crow Black Chicken, Little As s Birds, PK and the Slidin Band, The Cravingz, G Star, Dixie Land Jazz Men, The Liffesy Banks

+ Mercantile (as part of the regular Sunday Roast): Bamboo Party, The Rockets

Admission to all gigs is free.

There is also a Busking Trail in different (unannounced) locations win co-operation with the Musical Youth Foundation.

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.

The Sage Gateshead Chamber Choir will perform pieces from Holst, Whitacre, Elgar, Stanford, Byrd, Kodaly, Biebl, Tchaikovsky, Purcell at a concert in St. Audeon’s Church. Admission is free. www.thesagegateshead.org/www.tsgcc.blogspot.com/ Oh, and you might not have known: The Church and Visitor Centre are open daily and admission is also free.

Saucy Sundays is a weekly free live music afternoon and evening in the Grand Social. This week it is part of the Jack of Diamond Rhythm & Roots Festival and therefore the line up is The North Strand Kontra Band, Tujacques, St. John The Gambler, The Annulments, Ross Breen, Shay Cotter.

Every Sunday a band will play from 21:00-22:30, a Latin Beat Club, Brazilian DJs and Salsa Classes (from 18:00) are additional features. Admission is free.

The weekly Sunday Roast is an event in the Mercantile where live music is combined with free roast potatoes. The next Sunday Roast is taking place in cooperation with the Jack of Diamond Rhythm & Roots Festival and the line up is Bamboo Party and the Rockets as part of the Jack of Diamond Closing Party. Before that the Sunday Roast Early Menu is The Treesleepers, The Little Smoke, The Holy Sparks, Andy Earley.

The Jam is a opportunity for all artists, musicians, singers, actors, comedians and creative people from every category and all varieties to perform and showcase their talents and to meet other like minded people. The first “Jam” will take place on Sunday in the Odessa Club and if you are interested to participate or perform on this or any subsequent night, check out the Facebook Page for contact details.

The line-up for the first Jam is
+ John Walsh & Pepe Rodriguez (Spanish songs)
+ Pierpalo Vitale & David Blaney (acoustic versions of songs from The Magpies)
+ Des Mchugh (Jazz/Blues guitar)
+ Robert Doyle (Irish songs)
+ Carol-Ann Flanagan (Jazz singer)

For more details and links to the websites of the performers go to the Facebook Page.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy downstairs in Stag’s Head, Dame Lane from 21:00 every week on Sun+Mon. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of that there is some free ice cream. This Sunday’s line up Ted Fest Champion Edwin Sammon who will be supported by Gerry McBride and Kevin Goldsmith.

Rogério from the Brazilian dance project “Forró de Lampião” in Dublin tells me: Forró de Lampião is Brazilian music that has the same roots as Samba and there is a whole culture that has developed around “forro”. Every Sunday, free dance classes take place in Sweeney’s Bar on Dame Street and if you are interested, just turn up one Sunday.

Jaime Nanci & The Blue Boys are playing a weekly gig in Whelan’s Front Bar on Sundays. Their music is swing, blues, bebop and doo wop. Admission is free. www.whelanslive.com

“Rhythm Rocker at The Globe” is a weekly event on Sunday night in The Globe in Sth Great Georges Street, Dublin 2. It is a Rockabilly, R’n’R, Roots night with alternating (week by week) live bands Pavement Kings, Donna & The Sazzy Catz, The Mosquitoes and The Pacifics from 21:00 and with DJs from 23:00-01:30. Admission is free.

Every Sunday (except at Bank Holiday weekends), the Ragtime, Roots and Country Blues Band “Cool Hand Dukes” play in the Porterhouse near Grafton Street.

From Mon 20 – Fri 24 Aug (10:00-17:00) the “IHTA exhibition: Ennis and Sligo – two Irish historic towns compared” will be available in the RIA. Ennis and Sligo are the two most recent subjects of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas. This exhibition uses many of the early maps, illustrations, views and photographs included in the atlas to help trace how both places evolved. Thematic maps and explanatory text help identify what features Ennis and Sligo have in common but also describe what is particular to each townscape and why. Admission is free.

A walk around the cathedral is followed by a sit down activity which involves creating a stained glass window (using craft material). Suitable for ages 6-12 years This workshop is free of charge and no booking is necessary. For more information contact Andrew on 01 453 9472 or email education@stpatrickscathedral.ie

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

A long list of Family History workshops will take place at the National Library in August. The workshops start at 13:00 and will last approximately 20 minutes. No booking required. Seats are on a first come, first served basis. Because there are so many and because they are soo short, you might have to plan well ahead, for that reason I list them all here, but won’t list them on every day they take place but only on Monday and Friday.

The remaining workshops are

+ Mon 20 Aug: “Using Valuation Office records to trace your family” with Carmel Gilbride, Eneclann
+ Tues 21 Aug: “Records of the RIC and DMP” with Jim Herlihy, author of “The Royal Irish Constabulary”
+ Wed 22 Aug: “Using Findmypast to trace your family history” with Cliona Weldon, Findmypast
+ Thurs 23 Aug: “Scots-Irish emigration, 17th – 19th centuries” with William Roulston, Ulster Historical Foundation
+ Fri 24 Aug: “National Archives of Ireland, sources online” with Catriona Crowe, National Archives
+ Mon 27 Aug: “A thousand years of Irish genealogy: how to use Gaelic pedigrees and family trees in your research” with Prof. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, NUIG
+ Tues 28 Aug: “The Registry of Deeds – records to trace your family history” with Mary Beglan, Genealogist
+ Wed 29 Aug: “Records for children in Care (pre-1952 adoptions)” with Fiona Fitzsimons, Eneclann

For Heritage Week, the National Print Museum invites to a free lunchtime tour to discover the fascinating history of printing. The tour will take place every day from Monday until Friday.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

For Heritage Week, free Organ Recitals given by the organists of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and guests will take place on 20+22+24 Aug. All events are free of charge.
+ Mon 20 Aug: Harry Meehan, organ scholar
+ Wed 22 Aug: Stuart Nicholson, organist & master of choristers (with Canon Charles Mullen)
+ Fri 24 Aug: David Leigh, assistant organist

The Chairman of Friends of the Earth International, Nnimmo Bassey, will be in Dublin on Monday to talk about “keeping the oil in the soil and the coal in the hole” and about Community Rights. He is an environmental activist and is best known for his organisation’s work to prevent and reverse the negative impacts of Shell’s activities in Nigeria. In Dublin he will be joined on the panel by activists Pat O’Donnell from Shell to Sea and Leah Doherty from No Fracking Ireland. The evening will be chaired by Oisín Coghlan and the activists on the panel will share their experiences and reflections of protecting their communities from destruction by multinational energy corporations.
Admission is free, but booking is required and spaces are limited. Go to the website to find a link to the booking site.

Need to wind down after a tiring week? Free Sahaja Yoga Meditation (not physical yoga, but “yoga meditation”!) classes every Monday from 19:00 in Blakestown Community Resource Centre (next to Lidl).

This is a drop in class, with newcomers are welcome.

St Patrick’s Cathedral is hosting a variety of talks and lectures during Heritage Week. All talks are free of charge, no booking is necessary. The schedule is:

Mon 20 Aug: Dr Eileen Kane: “Stained glass in the Cathedral context”
Wed 22 Aug: Brendan Twomey: “Swift, Dublin and Dubliners”
Fri 24 Aug: Denis Stefan: “Within these walls: Characters in the American and Irish Rebellions 1775-1802” (Themed tour)

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday and Monday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. This Monday’s line up is Jim Elliott and Kieran Lawless with support from David Reilly, Peter Dinneen & Darren Mahe.

Every Monday, a mix of musicians from bands like The Seven Deadly Skins / Animal Cracker / Upbeat Generation / Crete Boom & more come together to play a free night of Rock & Reggae.

A walk around the cathedral is followed by a sit down activity which involves creating a stained glass window (using craft material). Suitable for ages 6-12 years This workshop is free of charge and no booking is necessary. For more information contact Andrew on 01 453 9472 or email education@stpatrickscathedral.ie

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

As part of National Heritage Week, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland will open its historic building at 6 Kildare Street to the public on Tuesday. This year’s open day theme is “Doctors on the Ball: Sports and Medicine in Ireland”. Doctors on the Ball is a nostalgic exhibition celebrating Irish Medicine’s rich sporting heritage. Photographs, trophies and other rare memorabilia will provide a unique insight into the historical links between sports and medicine in Ireland.

There will be guided tours of the building at 12:30, 14:00, 15:30, 17:00, 18:30. Places on the tours are limited, so to guarantee your place book on 01 6698817 or heritagecentre@rcpi.ie.

For Heritage Week, the National Print Museum invites to a free lunchtime tour to discover the fascinating history of printing. The tour will take place every day from Monday until Friday.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

The concert “Traditional Irish music in the Gardens with Mick O’Brien and family with special guests Frioscaí” will take place on Tuesday. Mick O’Brien plays uilleann pipes, whistle and flute. He has recorded with many artists over the years. Mick will be joined by family and friends in an informal concert in the gardens to celebrate Heritage Week.

Film Maker Jake Murray and Maths Teacher Sean O’Brien will produce a series of video tutorials for LEaving Cert Maths students to help them through their exams and on Tuesday they are doing a first road test and provide in return for your particiaption a film and maths seminar. I better let them explain:
“At MathsHub we hope to provide an easily accessible, friendly and fun way of beginning to engage with mathematics. Rather than looking upon a lack of precedent as something scary, we should be encouraged to grow into the space afforded by these changes. There is a world of imagination, discipline, personal satisfaction and social interactions that can flourish from a genuine engagement with mathematics.
To this end we are creating a comprehensive set of video tutorials to help secondary school students through their exams. This night at the Exchange is our first recording session and we encourage members of the public to come down and engage with us and offer feedback and opinions. The event is free for students to attend and we are especially interested in hearing what students themselves would like to see from our service. There will also be some light, entertaining mini-lectures on film and the cinema in between recording for Maths Hub. These lectures are being recorded as part of a seperate project.”

If you are interested you can request tickets here. The tickets are free for students and a voluntary contributon is asked from adults, but you won’t be forced to donate: Go to mathssessions.eventbrite.com/

Student, Teachers, Parents of secondary students are all invited and welcome.

At MathsHub we hope to provide an easily accessible, friendly and fun way of beginning to engage with mathematics. Rather than looking upon a lack of precedent as something scary, we should be encouraged to grow into the space afforded by these changes. There is a world of imagination, discipline, personal satisfaction and social interactions that can flourish from a genuine engagement with mathematics.

To this end we are creating a comprehensive set of video tutorials to help secondary school students through their exams. This night at the Exchange is our first recording session and we encourage members of the public to come down and engage with us and offer feedback and opinions. The event is free for anyone to attend and we are especially interested in hearing what students themselves would like to see from our service.

There will also be some light, entertaining mini-lectures on film and the cinema in between recording for Maths Hub. These lectures are being recorded as part of a seperate project

“Finding Science in the NLI: The making of the Particles of the Past Exhibition” is the title of a Heritage Week event in the National Library. Join Aoife O’Connor, co-curator of the Particles of the Past Exhibition as she takes you through an intriguing selection of science-related gems that are included in this exhibition. Admission is free and no booking is required.

Open Mic Night with The Last Tycoons in O’Donoghue’s on Suffolk Street every Tues from 20:00. It’s free and anyone can get up, sing a song or do whatever they like.

The new weekly “Grand Folk Club” will feaure Trad, Ballads, Americana, Folk, World Music & More. This Tuesday, the line-up is: Lynched, performing Ballad, Trad and Urban Folk. Admission is free.

White Chocolate is playing Rock Covers from 23:30 in The Mezz in Temple Bar.

The City Architects and the City Archaeologist’s office will run two guided walking tours around the historic Aungier Estate (centred on Aungier Street) on Wed as part of Heritage Week. The first tour starts at 10:00 and the second at 12:00. Meeting point is on Great Ship Street and each tour will take approx 45 mins. Participation is free and to book contact Oiseen Kelly on oiseen.kelly@dublincity.ie

A walk around the cathedral is followed by a sit down activity which involves creating a stained glass window (using craft material). Suitable for ages 6-12 years This workshop is free of charge and no booking is necessary. For more information contact Andrew on 01 453 9472 or email education@stpatrickscathedral.ie

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

For Heritage Week, the National Print Museum invites to a free lunchtime tour to discover the fascinating history of printing. The tour will take place every day from Monday until Friday.

The RIA Lunchtime Lecture “R.J. Ussher and the RIA Cave Excavations Committee” with Nigel Monaghan, Natural History Museum will take place as a Heritage Week event. Admission is free and no booking is required.

Learn more about one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century on this guided tour. Admission is free, booking not required.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

As part of National Heritage Week, there will be a Medieval Workshop at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on Wed. This will be an interactive workshop for children relating to the Vikings and medieval Ireland. It is suitable for children from 6yrs+. Places are limited and booking is essential. Admission is free. For more information contact Maeve Rice, Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. Ph. 01-6770095. phoenixparkvisitorcentre@opw.ie

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

The “Havana International Language Exchange” is taking place every Wed from 16:30-19:30 in Havana Tapas Bar in George’s Street. There are many Spanish speakers and English-speakers are explicitly invited, but everyone else is certainly very welcome too, to meet for a chat to improve your Spanish or English.

For Heritage Week, free Organ Recitals given by the organists of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and guests will take place on 20+22+24 Aug. All events are free of charge.
+ Mon 20 Aug: Harry Meehan, organ scholar
+ Wed 22 Aug: Stuart Nicholson, organist & master of choristers (with Canon Charles Mullen)
+ Fri 24 Aug: David Leigh, assistant organist

St Patrick’s Cathedral is hosting a variety of talks and lectures during Heritage Week. All talks are free of charge, no booking is necessary. The schedule is:

Mon 20 Aug: Dr Eileen Kane: “Stained glass in the Cathedral context”
Wed 22 Aug: Brendan Twomey: “Swift, Dublin and Dubliners”
Fri 24 Aug: Denis Stefan: “Within these walls: Characters in the American and Irish Rebellions 1775-1802” (Themed tour)

The 4 Dame Lane Movie Club will feature a movie every Wednesday from 20:00. The upcoming movies are: 22 Aug: The Colour Purple, 05 Sept: Back to the Future 2.Admission is free.

“The Song Room” is another open mic event. It takes place in The Globe in George’s Street at 20:30 every Wednesday.

“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.

Bad Boy Jake, a band from Dublin that draws influences from all over the music spectrum including Rory Gallagher, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Deep Purple, blues rock and classic rock, is playing every Wednesday in Mother Reilly’s.

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).

Dublin will be the final host port for the 2012 Tall Ships Races, an event that will see over 42 Tall Ships sail into the capital for a four day festival and celebration from 23-26th August 2012. Ships from Chile, Mexico, Argentina, the US, Italy and Norway will be here and will bring over 5000 participants.

There will be lots of activities with free street entertainment, live music, parades, funfairs, treasure hunts, water sport activities, viewing opportunities on board of ships and lots more.

Every day an extensive events programme will take place and most events are free. For Thursday the detailed events list is at www.dublintallships.ie/festival/thursday-23rd/#r1-a
A free family programme with nautical-themed workshops, an interactive sea orchestra, an open-air trapeze and circus sideshow and an amazing watersports programme in Grand Canal Dock will take place from 13:00-18:00.
The Kings of Concrete event for Skateboard, Skate, BMX and break dance enthusiasts will take place from 13:00-21:00.
Talks and exhibitions will take place.
The live music stage will feature the follwing performers on Thursday: Foreign Slippers, The Riptide Movement, The Original Rudeboys, Scullion, Foy Vance, Duke Special, Cathy Davey, Jerry Fish.
You can download a map and programme overview here: www.dublintallships.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/DTS_PublicMap_Schedule.pdf

Learn how to use the NLI at this free workshop where you will be shown how to get a Reader’s Ticket, how to search the catalogues, how to order material and much more. You will learn about the range of material that the library holds and how to access the material that interests you. Admission is free and no booking is required.

A walk around the cathedral is followed by a sit down activity which involves creating a stained glass window (using craft material). Suitable for ages 6-12 years This workshop is free of charge and no booking is necessary. For more information contact Andrew on 01 453 9472 or email education@stpatrickscathedral.ie

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The Dublin Food Co-op is open every Thursday at Newmarket for organic wholefoods and sustainable household products, plus over a dozen producer stalls offering organic fruit and veg., baked goods, dairy produce, wines, hot and cold food, etc.
The Co-op is also opened on Saturdays 09:30 – 16:30. 12:00-20:00.

Lunchtime Market at Christ Church Cathedral from 12:00-15:00.

For Heritage Week, the National Print Museum invites to a free lunchtime tour to discover the fascinating history of printing. The tour will take place every day from Monday until Friday.

Dublin City has organised an Opera in the Open programme again for August. The series of lunchtime performances every Thursday in August at 1.00pm in the Amphitheatre, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 will go on tour on 23 Aug when Cosi Fan Tutti will be performed on Grand Canal Square at during the Dublin Tall Ships Festival. The performances are
23 Aug: Cosi Fan Tutti (Mozart) (Venue: Grand Canal Square)
30 Aug: Rigoletto (Verdi)
The performances are featuring: Janyce Condon, Deirdre Masterson, Simon Morgan, James Nelson, Brian Gilligan, Sandra Oman, Liz Ryan, Alison Doyle, Brendan Collins, Morgan Crowley, Cliona Cassidy, Declan Kelly, Alex Otterburn, Kay Lynch, Owen Gilhooly and Lawrence Thackeray. Musical Director: David Wray Director: Eoin Cannon.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

The Public Lecture “The Stuff That Reams Are Made Of: Innovations in 18th and 19th century papermaking in Europe” with Fiona McLees, Conservation Intern, Chester Beatty Library will take place.

A Lunchtime Recital with Stephen McCann (guitar) will take place. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

Betty Watson will be providing an introduction to the families and personalities who shaped the Docklands area. Places are limited and booking on 01 677 75 10 is advisable.

“Enjoy a fascinating walk around one of Dublin’s most historic villages with a history stretching back millennia. Discover ancient monuments, buildings and sites as you hear about some momentous events which took place in the area down through the centuries. This tour forms part of the programme for National Heritage Week which runs from 18-26 August.” The duration of the tour is approx. 90 minutes and is guided by historian Pat Liddy. Admission is free.

Dimestore Recordings run a weekly event in Sweeney Mongrel’s, Dame Street (formerly Le Cirk) with a variety of bands and performers. It starts at 20:00, follow the link for the line up.

Songs from a Café is a Dublin singer-songwriter showcase session, dedicated to the art of contemporary songwriting. 20:00-22:00 at Brick Alley Cafe in Temple Bar.

Jaime Nanci & The Blue Boys are playing a weekly gig in the Mercantile Hotel on Thursdays. Their music is swing, blues, bebop and doo wop. Admission is free.

The Max Zaska group and the Patrick Groenland group will perform on alternating Thursdays from 21:00 in the International Bar on 23 Wicklow Street.

A series of live events showcasing some of the best in Irish music, taking place every Thursday night at the Hard Rock Café, Temple Bar.
Thurs 23: Gascan Ruckus & Hunk
Thurs 30: Empty Lungs & Rachel Boyd (Eleven Eleven)

“Thirsty Thursday” Open Mic Night from 21:00 in the Bridge Inn in Chapelizod Village.

Every Thursday “Left Right & Centre” play a mix of blues & soul with a bit of rock&roll.

The Bionic Rats play live Reggae and Ska every Thursday in Turk’s Head from 22:00. Admission is free.

Dublin will be the final host port for the 2012 Tall Ships Races, an event that will see over 42 Tall Ships sail into the capital for a four day festival and celebration from 23-26th August 2012. Ships from Chile, Mexico, Argentina, the US, Italy and Norway will be here and will bring over 5000 participants.

There will be lots of activities with free street entertainment, live music, parades, funfairs, treasure hunts, water sport activities, viewing opportunities on board of ships and lots more.

Every day an extensive events programme will take place and most events are free. For Thursday the detailed events list is at www.dublintallships.ie/festival/friday-24th/#r2-a
A free family programme with nautical-themed workshops, an interactive sea orchestra, an open-air trapeze and circus sideshow and an amazing watersports programme in Grand Canal Dock will take place from 10:00-19:00.
The Kings of Concrete event for Skateboard, Skate, BMX and break dance enthusiasts will take place from 11:00-21:00.
Talks and exhibitions will take place.
The live music stage will feature the follwing performers on Friday: The Animators, Rams’ Pocket Radio, The Minutes, Lost Brothers, Mark Geary, Ryan Sheridan, Ash
You can download a map and programme overview here: www.dublintallships.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/DTS_PublicMap_Schedule.pdf

To celebrate the opening the new pop-up experiment to get people making stuff, MAKESHOP will run a weekend of free drop-in workshops. Just around the corner from Science Gallery, on Lincoln Place, MAKESHOP is a new collaborative workshop space where you can learn everything from cross-stitching to DIY robotics, from origami to 3D printing. It’s for everyone from novices to advanced makers and the only thing you need to get involved is a curious mind and a yearning to make stuff.

At the weekend of 18-19 August, the doors will get opened to air the tools – free free to drop by if you fancy a sneak peek at what is in store.

Then the following weekend (24-26th August) a number of drop-in workshops will be available for free, to celebrate the opening:

LED throwies, Paper Toys, Extract your DNA, 8 bit Cross Stitch, Drawing Robots, Learn to solder, T-shirt tote bags, Bristle Bots, Clockify, T-shirt necklace. Detailed explanations are available on sciencegallery.com/events/2012/08/free-workshops-makeshop-science-gallery and even more information about this interesting project will soon be here shop.sciencegallery.com/makeshop (currently the pages are still empty!)

A walk around the cathedral is followed by a sit down activity which involves creating a stained glass window (using craft material). Suitable for ages 6-12 years This workshop is free of charge and no booking is necessary. For more information contact Andrew on 01 453 9472 or email education@stpatrickscathedral.ie

Niamh from Puca puppets invites you to meet Mary Mary who is looking for help in finding clues co create and draw stories. Suitable for 6-10 year olds and their families. Admission is free, but places are limited and booking is advised on 01 677 75 10. (All children must be accompanied by adult.)

A long list of Family History workshops will take place at the National Library in August. The workshops start at 13:00 and will last approximately 20 minutes. No booking required. Seats are on a first come, first served basis. Because there are so many and because they are soo short, you might have to plan well ahead, for that reason I list them all here, but won’t list them on every day they take place but only on Monday and Friday.

The remaining workshops are

+ Mon 20 Aug: “Using Valuation Office records to trace your family” with Carmel Gilbride, Eneclann
+ Tues 21 Aug: “Records of the RIC and DMP” with Jim Herlihy, author of “The Royal Irish Constabulary”
+ Wed 22 Aug: “Using Findmypast to trace your family history” with Cliona Weldon, Findmypast
+ Thurs 23 Aug: “Scots-Irish emigration, 17th – 19th centuries” with William Roulston, Ulster Historical Foundation
+ Fri 24 Aug: “National Archives of Ireland, sources online” with Catriona Crowe, National Archives
+ Mon 27 Aug: “A thousand years of Irish genealogy: how to use Gaelic pedigrees and family trees in your research” with Prof. Nollaig Ó Muraíle, NUIG
+ Tues 28 Aug: “The Registry of Deeds – records to trace your family history” with Mary Beglan, Genealogist
+ Wed 29 Aug: “Records for children in Care (pre-1952 adoptions)” with Fiona Fitzsimons, Eneclann

For Heritage Week, the National Print Museum invites to a free lunchtime tour to discover the fascinating history of printing. The tour will take place every day from Monday until Friday.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in August and is extending them to daily screenings now. The films are short films from the Irish Film Archive. There are two programmes on alternating days www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-aug-2012/ and www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-aug-2012 and a double bill on Saturdays www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-discovering-ireland-amharc-eireann-eagran-16-23-blackwater-holiday/ Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

At this Heritage Week event, visitors will be guided through the rooms of this Victorian Hall – home of the headquarters of Irish Freemasonry since 1869.

Friends of mine have doen this tour at previous culture nights and were facinated by it, so try to make it to that tour!

For Heritage Week, free Organ Recitals given by the organists of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and guests will take place on 20+22+24 Aug. All events are free of charge.
+ Mon 20 Aug: Harry Meehan, organ scholar
+ Wed 22 Aug: Stuart Nicholson, organist & master of choristers (with Canon Charles Mullen)
+ Fri 24 Aug: David Leigh, assistant organist

Hidden Heritage is an evening of Irish food, live music and eclectic readings in the National Library’s Café Joly. The event is curated by Aoife Carrigy for National Heritage Week and will celebrate some lesser explored corners of the Irish national heritage. There will be a special evening menu available on the night. Admission is free but booking is recommended on 01 603 0257 (15:00-18:00) or 628food@gmail.com

St Patrick’s Cathedral is hosting a variety of talks and lectures during Heritage Week. All talks are free of charge, no booking is necessary. The schedule is:

Mon 20 Aug: Dr Eileen Kane: “Stained glass in the Cathedral context”
Wed 22 Aug: Brendan Twomey: “Swift, Dublin and Dubliners”
Fri 24 Aug: Denis Stefan: “Within these walls: Characters in the American and Irish Rebellions 1775-1802” (Themed tour)

The Bambir, an Armenian band that combines hard rock, Armenian traditional music and poetry, pulsing beats and whirling trances, ancient tales and pagan wails into their own unique sound. Admission is free. www.youtube.com/TheBambir

Last minute update: Just before sending this Dublin Event Guide, I found out that this great event is booked out! No wonder. However I was able to get some tickets for the Friday night for a competition. So check the competition section!!

In 1934 a campaign against Jazz music in Ireland was busy fighting against this terrible foreign noise and the organisers of this event, the Improvised Music Company, cleverly picked it up as a theme for their festival. Down with Jazz” is a 3-day Jazz Festival on Meeting House Square in Temple Bar and it is all free (but ticketed).
The line-up on Friday is The Swoo–Beh Project, Freefall, 3G, Jaime Nancy & The Blue Boys, Oko

On Saturday (from 19:30) the performers are Leafzang, Phisqa, Freefall, Christine Tobin, Umbra, Mixtapes from the Underground.
On Sunday (14:00-20:00) the line-up is Rhombus, Redivider, Buckley Standard Time, Sweeney’s Jazzmen, Max Zazka’s Groove, Hot House Big Band.

Get your tickets here entertainment.ie/show-/Meeting-House-Square/Down-With-Jazz/gig-2638172.htm and check out all other details and a short promo video clip on their website.