Dublin Event Guide 544: Dun Laoghaire Christmas Festival, Dublin Christmas Light Switch-on, Science Week, Dublin Gallery Weekend

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.

Science Week 2017 takes place from 12-19 November. There are hundreds of events all over Ireland and the main target group are children and teenagers. Approx. 80 events are in Dublin and 38 of them are free events in Dublin for adults and families. A good few of the events require pre-booking (and some are booked out).

The website provides an event search facility with ok filtering, so you can select the type of event, the target audience, the location etc.

There will be a number of events taking place this weekend and you will find them on the website at www.sfi.ie/events

There will be some free events separately listed here in this Dublin Event Guide, but they will only be a small proportion of all the ones that you might want to know about.

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 (and if you know some more, please tell me):
+ 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

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 a new indoor food/Farmer’s Market that takes place just a few doors down from the Dublin Food Co-op at Newmarket in Dublin 8. Admission is free.

Opening hours are Thu-Fri 12:00-19:00 and Sat 09:30-16:00.

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 Makeshop of the Science Gallery will be in The Junction in St Andrews Resource Centre from 10:00 on Saturday and Sunday for a wide range of free workshops: get a fun introduction to basic electronics and learn how to solder, or build your own DoodleBot or LED torch!

Pre-booking was possible but walk-ins are welcome and when there are slots available you can participate.

Admission is free.

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.

Science demonstrations and interactive workshops will take place as part of a Science Busking event in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.

Admission is free.

This Seminar in honour of Glenn Thompson is a one-day seminar that honours the former National Museum of Ireland employee Glenn Thompson. The talks will cover Glenn’s research interests including uniforms of 1916, 1798 and the Costume of Prince Milo of Monenegro, the day will conclude with the first annual Glenn Thompson Lecture by Dr. Christoph Hatchek, Austrian Military Museum.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-6777444

The event “Survival: Staying Warm” for children is organised by the Children’s Nature Charity OWLS.

Learn how primitive man would have stayed warm whilst living in the forest. A survival event were kids will be making small fires using natural material and trying different methods before finishing with toasted marshmallows and smoors.

Admission seems to be free. For more information and to book a place contact Mouse at info@owls.ie

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.

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 2017.

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

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.

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.

The Dun Laoghaire Christmas Market will open on 18 November and run until 23 December. The market will be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The market area is quite small along the “Metals”, which is from the Dun Laoghaire’s MarineRoad near the City Hall towards the LexiCon library along the Queen’s Road, along the harbour.

The market is open from 12:00-19:00 on Fridays and from 11:00-18:00 on Saturdays and Sundays.

Admission is free.

This is a conversation with actor Des Nealon and Dublin-based artist Gavin Murphy regarding the architectural and performance history of the now defunct Eblana theatre, located in the basement of Dublin’s central bus station Busáras. The conversation will include a visual display of images from Eblana Theatre Productions from the Irish Theatre Archive.

Admission is free, but places are limited.

An Intercultural Tour in Mandarin Language with Community Ambassador Vicky Wang will take place. Meeting point is in the atrium of the Library.

Admission is free.

The Science Week Inspectorium “What on Earth?” will look at the history of our Earth.

Life on earth began over 3.5 billion years ago, so over eons life has evolved, but how do we know this? Drop into the Discovery Zone this Science Week to find out more, inspect real fossils and even draw your very own Earth timeline.

Admission is free. Suitable for Age 8+.

This is a guided bird walk to look for winter bird species in the Phoenix Park. Target species on the day will include winter migrant species such as Fieldfare, Redwing, resident woodland species such as Jay and Treecreeper and a range of waterbirds on the ponds and lakes. You will also get useful tips and advice on feeding birds in gardens.

Admission is free. Meeting is at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. Booking is required via 01-6770095.

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.

Every Thursday (17:30-19:30), Saturday (12:00-16:00) and Sunday (12:00-16:00) the Dublin Library of Things will be open at the Food Co-op during National Re-Use Month (October) and November.

A Library of Things is a place where people can borrow items needed only on an occasional basis, or that are too bulky or costly to own. By sharing these items it reduces the need for material production and consumption and allows people to free up space in their homes and try new hobbies without the need to buy new supplies.

The Library of Things will work on a membership basis. Anyone can join and then take out items for up to one week. Borrowing items will be free however there will be deposits on items relative to the value of the item. The Library of Things will also act as a drop off and collection point for WeShare members (www.weshare.ie/), an online community where people can list items that have to share, or things that they need.

The items in the Library of Things will all be doanted or loaned and therefore it depends on individuals and businesses what the library will have available. Ideal items are sewing machines, kitchen appliances, DIY tools, halloween costumes, craft materials, games and sports equipment and gardening equipment. If you have any useful items in good working order that you would like to loan or donate to the library of things, or have other suggestions or questions for us, contact them at dublinlibraryofthings@gmail.com. Volunteers are also needed to man the library.

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 “IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” and it will run from 12 October until 11 January. The exhibition looks at doomsday and emergency scenarios. How can we prepare for such a worst case situation? It is a very interesting exhibition that I recommend. Some exhibits need you to think/reflect a little, but that is a good thing! :-)

Exhibits are for example
+ 22 Doomsday Clocks that show how close we got to the end of the world in the period from 1945-2017
+ a series of drawings teaching basic skills for challenging situations
+ Pandemic Spreading patterns in a globalised world
+ Microbiome Ark (a small satellite that carries human microbiome on board to kickstart life on earth again after a disaster)
+ a selection of Manuals for Civilisation
The website below lists all exhibits and provides their explanation so that you can either before or after your visit check further details.

There is also a Situation Room where you can partake in a Catastrophe Citizen Assembly to decide on complex questions that could affect the survival of humanity. The Situation Room assembly will convene every hour. Check with the mediators how you can take part.

All Science Gallery exhibitions are suitable for ALL ages, even younger children will be able to take part/follow. For this exhibition, though, younger kids might need your help to understand some of the context.

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 Bernard Shaw Urban Art Market is a yearly flea market for art from the artist themselves. There will be prints, tshirts, commissions, original sketches etc.

Admission 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.

Aérokorda is a folk band from Belgium that plays energetic folk music with Celtic and Slavic influences.

A Flashmob is announced before their gig on Saturday evening. That Flash Mob will probably involve some Folk Dancing, because it is organised by Bal Folk Dublin. But I am not sure how the busy Meeting House Square where on Saturdays the Temple Bar Food Market takes place can serve as a suitable venue for a Flashmob. Either way, 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

Every Saturday a kid’s book will be read in 27 Eason’s stores all over Ireland. In O’Connell Street the reading takes place at 14:00. In the other Eason Stores, the times vary between 11:00 and 15:00 (see website below). Suitable for age 0-6 with their parents.

Admission is free.

“Portraying Ireland’s Garden Plants” is a talk by Dr Charles Nelson (former taxonomist at the National Botanic Gardens and author of numerous books, including An Irish Florilegium and An Irish Flower Garden Replanted). Nelson’s illustrated talk outlines the rich heritage left by Irish botanical artists from the early eighteenth century to the present. The event is organised with the Irish Society of Botanical Artist.

Admission is free.

The “YARN Storytelling Festival Bray 2017” will run from Sat 11 – Sun 19 November 2017 and will consist of 24 different events. Many of the events are free and there are storytelling and other events for kids of all ages, for families and for adults.

Find the full list of events via the link below.

Some of the remaining free events are:

+ Tour of Stained Glass Windows at Christ Church, Bray (Sat 18 Nov – 14:00) for adults
+ Youth Orchard Tales in Fassaroe Community Centre (Sat 18 Nov – 16:00) for Age 5+
+ Family Storytelling at Killruddery House with Joe Brennan (Sat 18 Nov – 14:00) for Age 5+
+ Town Hall Tales – Whispering Waves in Bray Town Hall (Sun 19 Nov – 14:00) for Age 6+

In addition to the free events listed above, there are a number of non-free events and you will find them all on the website below.

He is back again! Santa will arrive in Ilac centre today and there will be a music and dance programme from 14:30-16:00. Admission is free.

At this Printmaking Demonstration learn more about the mysteries of the printing processes used by artists of the Graphic Studio during their exhibition “Another Bite of the Cherry”. Join Clare Henderson to see how the flora, fauna and landscape of the Botanic Grdens have inspired the artists and how they employ the ancient skills of copperplate etching and woodcut, as used by artists such as Rembrandt and Dürer, to share their vision.

Admission is free.

This is Workshop with Dublin City Council Historian In Residence, Maeve Casserly to examine some of the beautiful conserved Wide Street Commission maps and exploring how these can be used to understand the impact the Wide Street Commission had on the fabric of Dublin City.

The Wide Street Commission was established in 1757, and was Ireland’s first planning authority. Over its 94-year existence, it had a major impact on the development of Georgian Dublin. The records of Wide Street Commission are preserved by Dublin City Archives, and include over 900 manuscript maps of Dublin dating from 17-19th century which are subject to an ongoing conservation project.

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

The Dun Laoghaire Christmas Festival will be launched on Saturday (on 18 November! Sigh!!) and will run until 23 Dec.

Santa will launch the festival at 17:45 on Harbour Plaza and switch on the Christmas Lights. This will be followed by a Firewoeks display over Dun Laoghaire at 18:00.

“Let The Right One In” is the newest play in the Abbey Theatre and on Saturday a Preview takes place where 400 free tickets will be given out.

And here are the rules:
Tickets can not be booked in advance, but have to be collected in person (only one ticket per person!) and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis from 18:30. Before this, a long queue will form outside the theatre. If you get a ticket, be happy! If you don’t get one, come earlier next time! ;-) The show starts at 19:30.

Bru Beers & Jack of Diamonds Productions are running the “BRUGRASS – Roots Music & Craft Beer Weekend” in Sin E with a great line-up of live bands and free admission to all gigs. The festival will run from Friday 17 – Sun 19 November and the line-up is

17 Nov: Prison Love, Niall Lawlor, The Dublin Bluegrass Collective
18 Nov: Homebrew, Leila Jane and the Healers, The Dublin Bluegrass Collective
19 Nov: The Des Hopkins Dixieland Jazzband

The David Bowie Tribute Band “Heroes from Mars” are playing a gig in the Mezz.

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.

The band Pop Life will play a gig with hits from the 70s/80s/90s and 00s.

Admission is free.

The Dublin Blues Cartel will be the Harbour Bar this weekend. They 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.

The brilliant Wedding and Party Band The Ratzingers are playing a gig in the Mint Bar.

Admission is free and I guarantee that you will enjoy it. I know The Ratzingers well. ;-)

Van Panther, an Experimental Electronic/Garage-Rock band from Limerick is playing their debut gig in Dublin and they will be supported by Psych-Ambient 5 piece Wichita from Dublin.

Admission is free before 22:30.

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.

Science Week 2017 takes place from 12-19 November. There are hundreds of events all over Ireland and the main target group are children and teenagers. Approx. 80 events are in Dublin and 38 of them are free events in Dublin for adults and families. A good few of the events require pre-booking (and some are booked out).

The website provides an event search facility with ok filtering, so you can select the type of event, the target audience, the location etc.

There will be a number of events taking place this weekend and you will find them on the website at www.sfi.ie/events

There will be some free events separately listed here in this Dublin Event Guide, but they will only be a small proportion of all the ones that you might want to know about.

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 Makeshop of the Science Gallery will be in The Junction in St Andrews Resource Centre from 10:00 on Saturday and Sunday for a wide range of free workshops: get a fun introduction to basic electronics and learn how to solder, or build your own DoodleBot or LED torch!

Pre-booking was possible but walk-ins are welcome and when there are slots available you can participate.

Admission is free.

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.

The children’s workshop “Talk Like an Animal” will take place on Sunday in two different locations:

+ 10:00-11:30 Poppintree Park, Ballymun, Dublin 9
+ 12:30-14:00 Lucan Demesne. Lucan, Co. Dublin

Learn how different animals communicate and try out some fun games as you attempt to chat like animals. Can you do a waggle dance like a bee, heed warning calls to avoid danger or follow a trail of smells to find food? Come along and find out!

Admission is not free, but the fee is just EUR 1. Book your place via Turtle at education@owls.ie

A Vintage Clothes Kilo Sale will take place where you can buy a kilo of clothes for EUR 20. Admission is not free, but it is just EUR 1 so I will let them get away with it. ;-)

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.

A Bray Beach Flea Market will take place in Bray. There will be food, frink, crafts and vintage.

Admission is free.

The Brocante Market will take place on Sunday. 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.

Admission is free.

Every Sunday (with a few exceptions) an art workshop takes place for children from 6-11 years of age. Admission is free and children must be accompanied by an adult.

The topic for the workshop on Sunday is “Science Week Fun”. Discover the fun of Science Experiments.

The Dun Laoghaire Christmas Market will open on 18 November and run until 23 December. The market will be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The market area is quite small along the “Metals”, which is from the Dun Laoghaire’s MarineRoad near the City Hall towards the LexiCon library along the Queen’s Road, along the harbour.

The market is open from 12:00-19:00 on Fridays and from 11:00-18:00 on Saturdays and Sundays.

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 Kilkenny Shop Cafe is inviting to a Jazz Brunch Sunday every Sunday from 11:00-14:00 and from 14:30-16:30 a Bluegrass Band is taking over. Unfortuantely they don’t specify who the bands are.

Admission is free.

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 Tara Buddhist Centre in Rathgar is inviting to a guided meditation “Prayers for World Peace” on Sunday.

Admission is free.

The Rumble in the Jumble Market is back this weekend. There will be Arts, Crafts, Vintage and Vinyl.

Admission is free.

The National Gallery is running a series of free themed family drop-in workshops from 11:30-13:30 every Sunday.

Inspired by the collection and the exhibitions in the National Gallery, these workshops are suitable for all ages from approx. 18 months to age 8. You can choose to stay for as long or as short a time as works for you.

Admission is free and no booking required. Numbers are limited to 40 people at any one time but you can drop in and out whenever it suits you and as long as there is still space. Children have to be supervised at all times. The event takes place in the Atrium.

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 Thursday (17:30-19:30), Saturday (12:00-16:00) and Sunday (12:00-16:00) the Dublin Library of Things will be open at the Food Co-op during National Re-Use Month (October) and November.

A Library of Things is a place where people can borrow items needed only on an occasional basis, or that are too bulky or costly to own. By sharing these items it reduces the need for material production and consumption and allows people to free up space in their homes and try new hobbies without the need to buy new supplies.

The Library of Things will work on a membership basis. Anyone can join and then take out items for up to one week. Borrowing items will be free however there will be deposits on items relative to the value of the item. The Library of Things will also act as a drop off and collection point for WeShare members (www.weshare.ie/), an online community where people can list items that have to share, or things that they need.

The items in the Library of Things will all be doanted or loaned and therefore it depends on individuals and businesses what the library will have available. Ideal items are sewing machines, kitchen appliances, DIY tools, halloween costumes, craft materials, games and sports equipment and gardening equipment. If you have any useful items in good working order that you would like to loan or donate to the library of things, or have other suggestions or questions for us, contact them at dublinlibraryofthings@gmail.com. Volunteers are also needed to man the library.

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 “IN CASE OF EMERGENCY” and it will run from 12 October until 11 January. The exhibition looks at doomsday and emergency scenarios. How can we prepare for such a worst case situation? It is a very interesting exhibition that I recommend. Some exhibits need you to think/reflect a little, but that is a good thing! :-)

Exhibits are for example
+ 22 Doomsday Clocks that show how close we got to the end of the world in the period from 1945-2017
+ a series of drawings teaching basic skills for challenging situations
+ Pandemic Spreading patterns in a globalised world
+ Microbiome Ark (a small satellite that carries human microbiome on board to kickstart life on earth again after a disaster)
+ a selection of Manuals for Civilisation
The website below lists all exhibits and provides their explanation so that you can either before or after your visit check further details.

There is also a Situation Room where you can partake in a Catastrophe Citizen Assembly to decide on complex questions that could affect the survival of humanity. The Situation Room assembly will convene every hour. Check with the mediators how you can take part.

All Science Gallery exhibitions are suitable for ALL ages, even younger children will be able to take part/follow. For this exhibition, though, younger kids might need your help to understand some of the context.

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 Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park is unusually neglected and at the same time unusually 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 28 years (!!) and there were numerous speculations about the reasons for that.

Finally since last year, guided tours are provided with four tours on Friday and Sunday over the Summer and a reduced schedule in the winter. From 01 October until March 2018, the only tour is on Sundays from 12:00 and 20 places are available on that tour.

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 Sundays at Noon Concert Series continues in the Sculpture Gallery at the Hugh Lane Gallery. This series of free (mainly classical) concerts continues to present the best of Irish and International music and musicians. Concerts run from September to June.

The next concert will feature “Dublin Song Series 2017-2” with Clodagh Kinsella and Leah Redmond, sopranos, Robert McAllister, bass-baritone and Dearbhla Collins, piano. They will perform songs by Faure, Strauss and Mahler

A Family Tour will take place in the National Gallery and will be especially tailored for families and younger people.

Admission is free.

The children’s workshop “Talk Like an Animal” will take place on Sunday in two different locations:

+ 10:00-11:30 Poppintree Park, Ballymun, Dublin 9
+ 12:30-14:00 Lucan Demesne. Lucan, Co. Dublin

Learn how different animals communicate and try out some fun games as you attempt to chat like animals. Can you do a waggle dance like a bee, heed warning calls to avoid danger or follow a trail of smells to find food? Come along and find out!

Admission is not free, but the fee is just EUR 1. Book your place via Turtle at education@owls.ie

At this Drop in Drawing Session, learn drawing techniques, including line drawing, shading perspective and decoration. Suitable for ages 13+. Materials are provided but feel free to bring your own sketchbook; dry materials only.

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.

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

Sunday Sketching for the whole family takes place every Sunday in the Hugh Lane Gallery and admission is free.

Families are invited to explore and respond together the gallery’s collection and temporary exhibitions through discussion and drawing. Bring your own sketchbook along or use the drawing materials provided. There will be a different topic every week and all topics until 28 Jan are listed on the website below.

Admission is free and no booking required, although numbers may be limited. Suited for ages 6+.

The “YARN Storytelling Festival Bray 2017” will run from Sat 11 – Sun 19 November 2017 and will consist of 24 different events. Many of the events are free and there are storytelling and other events for kids of all ages, for families and for adults.

Find the full list of events via the link below.

Some of the remaining free events are:

+ Tour of Stained Glass Windows at Christ Church, Bray (Sat 18 Nov – 14:00) for adults
+ Youth Orchard Tales in Fassaroe Community Centre (Sat 18 Nov – 16:00) for Age 5+
+ Family Storytelling at Killruddery House with Joe Brennan (Sat 18 Nov – 14:00) for Age 5+
+ Town Hall Tales – Whispering Waves in Bray Town Hall (Sun 19 Nov – 14:00) for Age 6+

In addition to the free events listed above, there are a number of non-free events and you will find them all on the website below.

The Science Week event “Them bones, them bones need archaeologists! Ancient Animal Bones” with Animal Osteologist Dr Ruth Cardenis a Science Week workshop in the Kildare Room of the National Museum in Kildare Street.

You will see some animal bones from Viking Dublin and find out about animal bones and teeth along with the scientific techniques and experiments that archaeologists use to tell us about animals in the past and how people interacted with them. Then, have a go at being an animal osteologist and see if you can figure out what happened to our animal bones.

Admission is free. Suitable for families with children 8+

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

The talk “Frederic William Burton’s directorship of the National Gallery, London” with Elena Greer (art historian) is part of a series organised to complement the exhibition “Frederic William Burton: For the Love of Art”.

This event is free. No booking necessary.

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.

Travel around European traditional dancing culture without a ticket at the weekly Bal Folk Dance Sessions.

And if you don’t know how to dance, don’t worry! Workshops are provided and admission is free. Donations are appreciated.

The event takes place every Sunday in the Cobblestone Pub.

Blues Got Soul, a four-piece blues band from Dublin is performing the music of the founding fathers of blues and blues masters in the International Bar every Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

Last year the Christmas Light Switch-on in Grafton Street was a disaster when TOO many people arrived for the event and it was so bad that it had to be cancelled. SO this year things had to be changed dramatically. Instead of having a Switch On ceremony in Grafton Street and another one in O’Connell Street, all will happen in the same day, this Sunday.

Two processions will go through the streets and you are asked to line the streets instead of to assemble in one place. The two processions will start at 17:30 and the first route one will go from
+ Grafton Street to College Green to Westmoreland Street to O’Connell Bridge to O’Connell Street
the second route will go from
+ Mary Street to Henry Street to Moore Street to Parnell Street to O’Connell Street.

The idea is that the lights will be switched on at SOME stage during the parade. The consequence of this new approach seems to be that there are no gigs with choirs and sometimes even pop performers anymore.

If you go to the Christmas Light Switch-on Event, let me know what you will think about this year’s way of doing it.

A map and more details can be found on the website below.

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

Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

Every Sunday evening from 18:00-20:00, the Wiley Fox is hosting a trad session, where some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians will play for you.

Admission is free.

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 Gardiner Street Gospel Choir sings every Sunday from September to June at their “Gig in God’s Gaff”, a Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church at the top of Gardiner Street near the junction with Dorset Street.

The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir, one of the best known gospel choirs in Ireland will give you a chance to experience a mass with a difference. It is uplifting and inspiring and everybody is welcome independent from your level of religiousness or your relationship with the Catholic Church in other contexts.

Disclaimer: I am involved with the Gardiner Street Gospel Choir, so the description above MIGHT not be totally unbiased. But just take it from me, they are brilliant! ;-)

Every Sunday this singer-songwriter night takes place in the Bleeding Horse in Camden St. from 8.30pm. It is an Open mic night and performers can just turn up and put their name on the list for that night.

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).

“Rhythm Rocker at The Globe” is a weekly event on Sunday night in The Globe with live music (Rockabilly) and DJs. Admission is free.

The Tolka Hot Club is a Hot Swing Group that will play a gig in the Harbour Bar.

Admission is free.

The Rock ‘n’ Rock and Swing Band “The Jive Cats” will perform in the Mercantile every Sunday from 22:00.

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.

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.

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!

“Telling the story of the Irish revolution through the collections of Dublin City Library and Archives” is a talk by Donal Fallon, DCC Historian in Residence in teh Central Library on Monday (13:!0) and in Cabra Library on Tuesday (18:30).

“Archives are our window into the past, but just what can the collections of Dublin City Archives tell us about the Irish revolution, and how can researchers access and avail of these materials? Drawing from materials that include the ‘Birth of the Republic’ collection, the Jacob’s Biscuit Factory Archives, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive and the Dublin Fire Brigade insurance maps of 1916, historian Donal Fallon will explain to potential researchers and the generally curious just how these items can be used in studies of the period.”

Admission is free, but booking is required. Central Library: 01 8734333 / centrallibrary@dublincity.ie and Cabra Library: 01 8691414 / cabralibrary@dublincity.ie

“The Politics of Minority Religions in the Russian Empire, from Peter the Great to Nicholas I” by Christopher Korten (Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza, Pozna?) is the next lecture in the talk series of the Trinity Centre for Early Modern History.

Admission is free. More information via the link below.

The last talk in the Concepts of American Freedom talk series is “The Civil Rights Movement: Integration and American Identity”

Admission is free.

This seminar “Oral History: Let’s Hear it for the Projects!” is part of the Certificate of Oral History course and is organised every years by the Dublin City Archives.

Participants on this 70 hour course are equipped with skills in the preparation and conduct of oral history projects. The seminar format will consist of five of our Certificate graduates giving 10 minute ‘lightening papers’ about their unique oral history project and findings. The papers will be followed by a discussion on the value of oral history as a research methodology and the wealth of recorded oral narrative sources which exist in Ireland.

Speakers/topics:
+ Anna Mackay: “Growing up in Mount St. in 1930s and 40s (family history and social history)”
+ Anne O’ Gorman Weber: “Peamount Hospital, one woman’s experience (institutional history)”
+ Chris Owen: “Dublin company of Boys Brigade”
+ Sarah Greene: “Working and living conditions in Turlough Hill, Co. Wicklow”
+ David Gunning: “Runnamoat House Oral History Project”

William Laffan is a curator and the author of many books on Irish art and architecture, most recently “Abbey Leix, An Irish Home and its Demesne”.

Abbey Leix, originally site of a Cistercian monastery founded in the twelfth century, is one of the great Irish country houses. Over the last few decades it has been restored by Sir David Davies, President of the Irish Georgian Society. This talk, by William Laffan, explores the architectural history of the house, built by the de Vesci family in the 1770s, using drawing by the various architects who have played a role in its construction, notably James Wyatt, and also examines the landscape of one of the most intact demesnes in Ireland, home to the oldest oak tree in the country.

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

This seminar will explore prohibited Czech literature of the 1970s and 1980s, samizdat, and exile publishing, as well as the significance of Charter 77. Two guest speakers will speak: Tomáš Vrba and Alice Hyrmanová McElveen.

Admission is free. More information can be found via the link below.

This is a weekly gig with authentic old-time fiddle tunes and Appalachian music.

Admission is free.

Song Cycle is a weekly Singer/Songriter showcase. The line-up is not always easily findable on the Whelan’s website, but admission is always 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 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).

Great news the great duo of Donal Kirk and Anto Drennan have found a new home. Originally they played a weekly gig in JJ Smyth’s until it closed and now they will perform in the Leeson Lounge and the same day as before.

They will play music from Lowell George Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Free, Bad Company, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Beatles, Bobby Bland, Vince Gill, Ray Charles, Etta James, Elvis, Ry Cooder, Dobie Gray, Guy Clarke, early ZZ Top, Dave Edmunds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson.

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).

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

Come to the “ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art” in the National Gallery’s Millennium Wing to see a selection of highlights from the National Gallery’s Library and Archive collection. Members of the Library and Archive team will answer any questions.

Admission is free.

The talk “Patrick O’Connell: The forgotten story of his football career” by Cormac Moore, DCC Historian In Residence will take place.

Born in Drumcondra in 1887, Patrick O’Connell played for Liffey Wanderers, Belfast Celtic and Manchester United before moving to Spain to manage FC Barcelona in the 1930s where he is credited with saving the club from financial ruin. The exhibition Patrick O’Connell- The Man who Saved FC Barcelona curated by The Patrick O’Connell Committee will also be on display.

Admission is free. Seats are provided on first come, first served basis. Max capacity 90 people.

Come to this pop-up talk with Emma Hackett discussing Hugh Douglas Hamilton’s painting “Cupid and Psyche in the Nuptial Bower”.

Admission is free. Meet in front of the painting in Room 21.

Professor Barry McCleary, CEO, Megazyme, will talk about the world of food analysis and enzyme application.

Headquartered in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Megazyme is a global leader in the development and supply of cutting edge technology that helps maintain and improve the quality, appearance, flavor and shelf life of the food and drink that we consume.

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

The discussion “Caretakers of Ireland’s Cultural Heritage? The Social Role and Relevance of Museums – Past and Present” in the National Museum on Tuesday will mark the 140th anniversary of the passing of the Science and Arts Museums Act which established the National Museum of Ireland for the people of Ireland.

The National Museum of Ireland is attracting more than 1mio visitors every year and was ranked as one of the Top 50 Museums in the world in 2013. As you most likely know, the museum consists of three sections in Dublin in Collins Barracks, in Kildare Street and in Merrion Row and has a country location in Turlough Park, Co. Mayo. And in addition to the interesting permanent exhibitions there are a large amount of free educational events for children and adults and a number of special events and special exhibitions throughout the year. And all this does cost NO admission charges, which is just brilliant!

On Tuesday the Museum of Archaeology in Kildare Street will host a panel discussion that will explore the background to and significance of the 1877 Act in the context of the changing social role and relevance of the National Museum and other museums today and the challenges and opportunities associated with this changing role.

The speakers are

Raghnall Ó Floinn, Director of the National Museum of Ireland;
Dr Elizabeth Crooke, Professor of Museum and Heritage Studies, Ulster University;
Judith McCarthy, Curator, Donegal County Museum, and Board Member, National Museum of Ireland;
Máire O Higgins, Assistant Principal, Larkin Community College, Dublin.
Discussion chaired by: Brian Crowley, Curator of the Pearse Museum and former Chair of the Irish Museums Association

Admission is free, but booking is required via educationarch@museum.ie or 01 6486 332. The event will take place in the Kildare Room.

“Telling the story of the Irish revolution through the collections of Dublin City Library and Archives” is a talk by Donal Fallon, DCC Historian in Residence in teh Central Library on Monday (13:!0) and in Cabra Library on Tuesday (18:30).

“Archives are our window into the past, but just what can the collections of Dublin City Archives tell us about the Irish revolution, and how can researchers access and avail of these materials? Drawing from materials that include the ‘Birth of the Republic’ collection, the Jacob’s Biscuit Factory Archives, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive and the Dublin Fire Brigade insurance maps of 1916, historian Donal Fallon will explain to potential researchers and the generally curious just how these items can be used in studies of the period.”

Admission is free, but booking is required. Central Library: 01 8734333 / centrallibrary@dublincity.ie and Cabra Library: 01 8691414 / cabralibrary@dublincity.ie

“50th Anniversary of ‘Free Education'” is the topic of the next History Ireland Hedge School on Tuesday. Join the History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham and panellists – John Walshe (TCD), Carole Holohan (TCD), Frank Barry (TCD) and Mary O’Rourke (former Minister for Education and Senator). for a discussion on the introduction of free secondary education 50 years ago.

On 10 September 1967, Minister for Education Donogh O’Malley announced a scheme for free secondary education, much to the surprise of his cabinet colleagues, and of the Department of Finance in particular. But once word was out, there was no going back; expectations had been raised and the public response was hugely supportive. Within a decade participation rates at second level had doubled. But to what extent was the system subsidized before the announcement? To what extent has it been ‘free’ since? And beyond education, what was its effect socially and economically?

Admission is free.

The last Synesthesia Talk will deal with the topic “Sound” or “Acoustic”. The Synesthesia series is a collaboration between The Liquor Rooms and the Fumbally Exchange and the talks were about all our senses.

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

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.

The Games Co-Op is a monthly, multi-discipline event that brings people with different skills together to make great games – both digital and analog. And it is also a games jam and meet-up.

Admission is free.

Camden Comedy is a weekly comedy night on a Tuesday that I only found recently.

Every Tuesday they have a whole range of comedians and admission is free.

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.

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.

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.

The Trad Stage is a weekly Open Mic event in the Tivoli Backstage venue. Musicians are invited to perform live in front of an interested audience. Performances are primarily of Irish Traditional Music and Folk Singing, however it is possible to also see performances of traditional music from all over the world as well as performances of original compositions from local and international musicians.

Admission is free.

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.

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 Creative Den in Rua Red runs free weekly drawing sessions on Wednesdays at 11:00.

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.

“‘The fearful Object’: The Heritage of Culpability and Blame” with Professor Elizabeth Crooke, Ulster University is the next lecture in the talk series of the Centre for Contemporary Irish History.

Admission is free.

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.

The talk “A Centenary Perspective on Thomas Ashe (1885-1917), Commandant, 5th Battalion, Dublin Brigade, 1916” by Frank Whearity wll take place.

Admission is free.

Do you have an idea but need some help figuring out where to get started or what creative technologies might help bring the idea to life? Maybe you just want to bounce your idea off someone else?

Drop in to the Dún Laoghaire LexIcon Lab where Creative Technology Curator, Dr. Jake Rowan Byrne, other “makers” and
members of the community will be there and keen to help out.

Admission is free

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin on 30 November 1667 and is the author of Gulliver’s Travels, the most popular Irish book ever written. To celebrate Swift’s life and legacy, Dublin City Public Libraries will run a programme of talks, exhibition and events as part of a citywide programme for Swift 350 Festival.

In a series of illustrated talks Brendan Twomey will describe and celebrate the complexity of Swift’s life, his personality and works unfolding the story of a clergyman, philanthropist, and writer. In addition Enda Leaney, Senior Librarian will give a brief overview of the Dublin City Library & Archives’ extensive Swift Collections, including first editions of Swift’s works, illustrated children’s editions, and rare items relating to the life and work of Jonathan Swift, including Wood’s Halfpenny.

The next time this talk will be given is in Inchicore.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-4533793

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 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.

An Open Mic Night is organised by the students of the BIMM Music College. Ten very talented songwriters will compete in this Singer Songwriter competition for a place in the final.

Admission is free.

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

Admission is free, donations are welcome.

“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 are every Wednesday in the Gypsy Rose Rock & Blues Bar playing their rock, blues and American.

Ben Prevo will be in the Bowery for his weekly gig.

Admission is 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.

Sooo many American festivities have spread around the world, but surprisingly Thanksgiving didn’t really make it yet to our shores. But maybe you have some American roots or just want to have a good reason for a big Turkey dinner. So here is the reminder: Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA.

There are some other countries that celebrate Thanksgiving, for example Canada and Liberia, but they all celebrate it on different dates.

There might be some Thanksgiving events in Dublin, but because it nearly always involves food, they wouldn’t be free events.

The Dublin Gallery Weekend is a Visual Arts Festival over 4 days with 36 participating galleries in Dublin.

On Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (23-26 Nov) the 36 galleries open their doors and invite visitors to exerience the exciting and inspiring art on offer in Dublin’s art galleries. A series of special events, including exhibition openings, artist and curator talks, walking tours, late openings and workshops will take place over the weekend, and almost everything will be free of charge.

You can download the full programme here www.dublingallerymap.ie/_pdf/Dublin_Gallery_2017.pdf

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 Green Door Market is a new indoor food/Farmer’s Market that takes place just a few doors down from the Dublin Food Co-op at Newmarket in Dublin 8. Admission is free.

Opening hours are Thu-Fri 12:00-19:00 and Sat 09:30-16:00.

Come to the “ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art” in the National Gallery’s Millennium Wing to see a selection of highlights from the National Gallery’s Library and Archive collection. Members of the Library and Archive team will answer any questions.

Admission is free.

This is an Introduction to Public Procurement for small and medium enterprises. Procurement is how the government buys goods.

This introductory free lecture will cover the following topics – Public Procurement Model, Office of Government Procurement (OGP), rules governing public sector buyers, facilitating SME engagement in public procurement, current and upcoming opportunities and the national public procurement portal eTenders.

The speaker Jackie Byrne is a Key Account Manager in the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and is responsible for supporting engagement between the OGP and a portfolio of public service buyers.

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

Join this tour of the conservation studios. This is a great opportunity to see the work behind the scenes at the Museum and meet Museum conservators.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-6777444. Suitable for adults and children aged 12+

Daniel Lord Smail is Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of History at Harvard and is the world’s leading authority in the field of neurohistory. He will talk on the ‘natural history’ of debt drawing on evidence from the biological sciences as well as from history.

Admission is free. Find more information via the link below.

Every Thursday (17:30-19:30), Saturday (12:00-16:00) and Sunday (12:00-16:00) the Dublin Library of Things will be open at the Food Co-op during National Re-Use Month (October) and November.

A Library of Things is a place where people can borrow items needed only on an occasional basis, or that are too bulky or costly to own. By sharing these items it reduces the need for material production and consumption and allows people to free up space in their homes and try new hobbies without the need to buy new supplies.

The Library of Things will work on a membership basis. Anyone can join and then take out items for up to one week. Borrowing items will be free however there will be deposits on items relative to the value of the item. The Library of Things will also act as a drop off and collection point for WeShare members (www.weshare.ie/), an online community where people can list items that have to share, or things that they need.

The items in the Library of Things will all be doanted or loaned and therefore it depends on individuals and businesses what the library will have available. Ideal items are sewing machines, kitchen appliances, DIY tools, halloween costumes, craft materials, games and sports equipment and gardening equipment. If you have any useful items in good working order that you would like to loan or donate to the library of things, or have other suggestions or questions for us, contact them at dublinlibraryofthings@gmail.com. Volunteers are also needed to man the library.

The seventh edition of the yearly Dublin Art Book Fair will take place in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. There will be informal conversations, workshops, readings, performances and artist-led programmes. The Dublin Art Book Fair is a venue for artists, writers and publishers to feature new releases and present their publications. The fair engages established and emerging publishers in a large-scale event delivered over four days dedicated to the appreciation of printed work.

Exhibitors, artists and publishers (national and international) will ponder ove the theme “Art and Architecture Interwoven”.

The opening times over the weekend are:
Thursday 23 Nov: 18:00-21:00 / Friday 24 Nov: 11:00-21:00 / Sunday 25 + Saturday 26 Nov: 11:00-18:00

A timetable of events is available on the website below.

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

Admission is free.

The Jonathan Swift Festival starts on Thursday 23 Nov and runs until 30 Nov. It marks the 350th birthday of Jonathan Swift and will come with a number of free events and more non-free events. All details can be found on the festival website www.jonathanswiftfestival.ie

The free events are:
23 Nov – 18:00: Launch of the Festival. Watch an animation go live on the tower of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and then visit the inside to look around the building after hours until 20:00. Registration recommended.

23 Nov – 20:00: Film Screening of Words Upon the Windowpane. Introduced by Jim Sheridan. Registration recommended

24 Nov – 14:00: Join Artist David O’Kane on a tour of his exhibition inspired by Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece “A Modest Proposal”. O’Kane’s lithographs will only be on display in the Lady Chapel of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for the duration of the tour

25 Nov – 12:00: Who was Jonathan Swift? Swift expert Brendan Twomey will give a beginners guide to the question, who was Jonathan Swift. This talk will take place in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Registration required.

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 7 for adults and admission is by guided tour only.

“Beautiful Ruin – Apocalypses In Culture” is discussion that is looking at the beauty and utter devastation of all things apocalyptic in both culture and in real life.

Ailise Bulfin is a Teaching Fellow in Victorian and Modern Literature in the School of English, Drama and Film at UCD. Her research and teaching interests lie primarily in the cultural history of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, with an emphasis on representations of empire, war and catastrophe.

Declan Shalvey is the artist of the graphic novel series INJECTION with writer Warren Ellis. He has also illustrated hit series such as DEADPOOL, ALL STAR BATMAN and MOON KNIGHT.

Harvey O’Brien is assistant professor of Film at the UCD School of English, Drama, and Fillm. He is the author of Action Movies: The Cinema of Striking Back (Columbia, 2012) and The Real Ireland: The Evolution of Ireland in Documentary (Manchester, 2004).

Moderator: Liam Geraghty

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

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 RDS Rising Stars Concert ft. Students & Graduates from the Royal Irish Academy of Music will take place on Thursday.

Admission is free, but booking is required via www.rds.ie/risingstars

The Crystal Skull Sessions is a band competition in Sin É. And this is Heat 2 of the competition.

Admission is free.

The next “Live at the Liquor Rooms” band showcase will take place on Thursday. The lineup is not yet announced, but hopefully you will find it soon on the Facebook page below.

Admission is free.

Galway band “My Fellow Sponges” will play a gig in the Bowery. Expect Minimalism, Folk, Bossa and Synth-heavy Electro.

Admission is free.

A Table Quiz takes place in the Grand Social. On Thursdays teams of 4 people (or at least 2 people) will compete against each other over questions from the areas of General Knowledge, Music, Film, Sports & Entertainment.

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.

The Luna Boys are in the Mercantile for a gig every Thursday night.

Admission is free.

The Vulture Collective are playing Funky, Crusty Swing at this gig in Bray.

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.

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

Admission is free.

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.

4-piece alternative rock outfit Empathy will play a gig in Whelan’s.

Admission is free before 22:30

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day in the USA. It is the start of the Christmas Shopping season in the USA and it got its name from the fact that the streets were black with people and cars after Thanksgiving Day on their way to the shops.

Shops in the USA open as early as possible on that day, hoping that this will maximise the revenue on that day. But since Internet shopping grew, now many online shops offer “Black Friday specials” throughout the whole week leading up to the day.

If you want to benefit from the specials are are buying your Christmas presents online, it would be a great help for the Dublin Event Guide if you used the website www.dublineventguide.com/shop to reach the online shops. If you use that page every time you go to Amazon and Ebay and others, the Dublin Event Guide will get a small reward for bringing you to that page. The price for products to you will not change, but you help keeping the Dublin Event Guide alive. Thank you!!

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 2017.

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

The seventh edition of the yearly Dublin Art Book Fair will take place in Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. There will be informal conversations, workshops, readings, performances and artist-led programmes. The Dublin Art Book Fair is a venue for artists, writers and publishers to feature new releases and present their publications. The fair engages established and emerging publishers in a large-scale event delivered over four days dedicated to the appreciation of printed work.

Exhibitors, artists and publishers (national and international) will ponder ove the theme “Art and Architecture Interwoven”.

The opening times over the weekend are:
Thursday 23 Nov: 18:00-21:00 / Friday 24 Nov: 11:00-21:00 / Sunday 25 + Saturday 26 Nov: 11:00-18:00

A timetable of events is available on the website below.

The Dublin Gallery Weekend is a Visual Arts Festival over 4 days with 36 participating galleries in Dublin.

On Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (23-26 Nov) the 36 galleries open their doors and invite visitors to exerience the exciting and inspiring art on offer in Dublin’s art galleries. A series of special events, including exhibition openings, artist and curator talks, walking tours, late openings and workshops will take place over the weekend, and almost everything will be free of charge.

You can download the full programme here www.dublingallerymap.ie/_pdf/Dublin_Gallery_2017.pdf

Culture Club at the National Museum invites members to explore and enjoy the collections at Collins Barracks through a series of specially arranged guided tours and activities in the company of museum staff followed by ’Tea & Chat’ and an opportunity to mingle.

The Clubs take place on the last Friday of each month. In November find out about some of the most significant documents from the 1916 Rising with curator Sandra Heise, including the beautiful Leabhar na hAiséirighe / Book of the Resurrection by Art Ó Murnaghan, a set of illuminated manuscripts created to honour the dead of the independence period.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-6777444

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 Dun Laoghaire Christmas Market will open on 18 November and run until 23 December. The market will be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The market area is quite small along the “Metals”, which is from the Dun Laoghaire’s MarineRoad near the City Hall towards the LexiCon library along the Queen’s Road, along the harbour.

The market is open from 12:00-19:00 on Fridays and from 11:00-18:00 on Saturdays and Sundays.

Admission is free.

The Green Door Market is a new indoor food/Farmer’s Market that takes place just a few doors down from the Dublin Food Co-op at Newmarket in Dublin 8. Admission is free.

Opening hours are Thu-Fri 12:00-19:00 and Sat 09:30-16:00.

Get a cup of tea, gather the last bit of energy and then bring this work week over the line! And for next week, get some special teas via the ad below and help the Dublin Event Guide while you are doing that. ;-)

Click on the picture below or use this link and if you order any teas that way, you help the Dublin Event Guide because Twinings will pay a small reward if you order after clicking on the picture or link above.

Orders over GBP 35 are free in the UK and if you use Parcelmotel’s Belfast to Dublin service, you can get it delivered for just EUR 3.95 of postage.

As part of the Dublin Gallery Weekend, a Performance Lecture by Philip Napier, whose work is currently on view as part of “The Ocean After Nature” will take place.

Admission 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!

“William Spence Engineering Works Cork St: A Victorian Engineer in the Right Place at the Right Time” is a talk by Cathy Scuffil, Historian In Residence.

The Cork Street Foundry and Engineering Works of William Spence and Son was established in Dublin in 1856. It continued trading successfully over two generations until 1930. The company was situated on a large, circa 3 acre industrial site located at 105 -109 Cork Street, Dublin, on a site that, until the early 1850s, had housed the tanning and currier business of a James O’Neill, who also had a residence at 26 Cork Street.

It is generally accepted that the Spence operations that evolved over the years, should be ranked among the first and finest concerns of the kind in Ireland, devoted primarily to general engineering and steel foundry. The main achievements of the company were the construction of the Birr telescope and the little trains that served the Guinness brewery and system that was in existence in living memory. A number of church bells located in the Liberties are also of Spence origin.

Of interest were the houses constructed by William Spence for his employees at Spence’s Terrace, Cork Street and at Marion Villas – which was named for his much loved wife. After his sudden death in 1907, the business passed to his son Arthur. The company ceased trading in 1930. ‘Plant-Life’ occupies the premises today. The Rathmines Township commemorated William Spence in a unique way which is revealed during the presentation.

Admission is free but seats are limited to 90.

“Dublin UX is a meetup group for UX & UI (User Experience and User Interface) designers and developers, as well as those interested in strengthening their user experience knowledge. It’s a friendly and professional network of UXers who want to discuss new ideas and research, share projects, learn new skills and meet other designers and developers. They welcome anyone from students and total beginners to experienced professionals.”

Admission is free.

The Jonathan Swift Festival starts on Thursday 23 Nov and runs until 30 Nov. It marks the 350th birthday of Jonathan Swift and will come with a number of free events and more non-free events. All details can be found on the festival website www.jonathanswiftfestival.ie

The free events are:
23 Nov – 18:00: Launch of the Festival. Watch an animation go live on the tower of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and then visit the inside to look around the building after hours until 20:00. Registration recommended.

23 Nov – 20:00: Film Screening of Words Upon the Windowpane. Introduced by Jim Sheridan. Registration recommended

24 Nov – 14:00: Join Artist David O’Kane on a tour of his exhibition inspired by Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece “A Modest Proposal”. O’Kane’s lithographs will only be on display in the Lady Chapel of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral for the duration of the tour

25 Nov – 12:00: Who was Jonathan Swift? Swift expert Brendan Twomey will give a beginners guide to the question, who was Jonathan Swift. This talk will take place in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick’s Cathedral. Registration required.

This year Saint Patricks celebrates the 350th birthday of Jonathan Swift, Ireland’s most popular author and Dean of the Cathedral from 1713-1745. The Jonathan Swift Festival, which will run from the 23-26 November and as part of the festival René Gapert will deliver a talk about forensic anthropology and Jonathan Swift’s death mask at the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin.

Admission is free, but booking is required via this link.

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 Lecture “Animal Care in Dublin Zoo – My journey as a Zoo Keeper” with Brendan Walsh (Zoo Keeper, Dublin Zoo) will take place on Friday in the Lecture Theatre of the National Botanic Gardens.

The lecture will analyse the role of Dublin Zoo in the modern day, from conservation to research. It will also look at Brendan’s 20 years of experience working there, and in wild animal projects around the world. Brendan will also discuss his five year study on Asian elephant sleep, which had some very interesting findings.

Admission is free and more information is in the PDF here.

“New Vistas in Astronomy” by Dr Luke Drury (DIAS) is the next talk at the Irish Astronomical Society.

Professor Drury’s participated in the international team that recently had a breakthrough in detecting for the first time a gravitational wave signal from the merging of two neutron stars and the subsequent gamma-ray burst explosion.

Admission is free.

The Liquor Room website says that on Friday a Bella A Go GO Burlesque Performance will take place and that admission will be free. The Bella a Go Go Facebook Page doesn’t confirm that yet, so just double check to be sure closer to the date.

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.

“Mr Blueface” will play a gig with Industrial Punk in the Harbour Bar.

Admission is free.

Blues Diva Bree Harris will be in the Patriot’s Inn with her band,

Admission is free.

“Gavin Povey and The Fabulous Oke She Moke She Pops” will play New Orleans style Piano Rhythm & Blues, Boogie Woogie and Rock’n’ Roll. Gavin Povey has played piano with Van Morrison, Finbar Wright, Kirsty MacColl, Steve Cropper, Shakin’ Stevens and many more.

Admission is free.