Dublin Event Guide 589: Last Picnic, Dublin History Festival, Green Drinks Dublin, Oktoberfest

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 Dublin Sportsfest 2018 is the first ever week-long Sportsfest in Dublin. It will run from 23-30 Sept and will give you a chance to try out lots of different physical activities. Most events are free and the full list is on the website below.

There are still a good few events happening on Saturday and some on Sunday. Check the website below.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Careerzoo Recruitment event is happening in the CHQ Building.

Admission is free, Booking is required but can usually be done on site.

This is a day of talks and demonstrations, covering the life and work of George Victor Du Noyer, the artists whose works are on display in the temporary exhibition Stones, Slabs and Seascapes (until 30th September). The day will include demonstrations from contemporary artists showing the wide variety of illustration techniques practised by Du Noyer over a century ago.

Admission is free, but booking required via the link here. Suitable for adults.

An International Food Festival with about 40 food stalls will take place in Bushy Park and will run in parallel with the weekly Bushy Park Market.

International music and dance is provided on the Main Stage from 11:00-16:00 and in “The Lounge” talks and discussions with restaurant owners, bloggers, food photographers, farmer market traders, food journalists and critics will take place from 13:00-14:30. In the Kids Zone, face painting, trampolines, clowns and family yoga will await you.

Admission is free.

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

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

A Family Fun Day as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival will take place and there will be music, storytelling, face painters, community games. There will also be a vintage carousel, games stall and a prize for the best costume themed “Your Real Life Superhero”.

Admission is free.

A downloadable brochure of all Ranelagh Arts Festival events can be found via the website below.

Sculpture in Context is back!! It is Ireland’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition and it is a brilliant exhibition in the beautiful surroundings of the National Botanic Gardens. Some of Ireland’s best artists are showing new work and the sculptures are displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great Palm House and Curvilinear Range, with the smaller works exhibited in the in the gallery in the Visitors Centre.

The exhibition will be open form 06 Sept and will run until 19 October.

Admission is free and apart from seeing some very interesting sculptures, it is also fun to go on a “treasure hunt” for these sculptures which are sprinkled throughout the Botanic Gardens.

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

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

Admission is free.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Admission is free.

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 Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

The Irish Antique Dealers Association Fair will take place in the Main Hall of the RDS from Friday until Sunday (28-30 Sept).

In addition to lots of antique dealers with their antique items, there will be a number of free lectures.

Admission to the fair is free, but it seems that you will have to print the “ticket” on the website below.

The Irish Antique Dealers Association Fair will take place in the Main Hall of the RDS from Friday until Sunday (28-30 Sept).

In addition to lots of antique dealers with their antique items, there will be a number of free lectures.

Admission to the fair is free, but it seems that you will have to print the “ticket” on the website below.

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 Craftopia Market will take place on Saturday in Street 55.

Admission is free.

Last chance to see this exhibition!!!

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

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

Some of the most interesting exhibits are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Admission is free.

The super popular Oktoberfest Dublin is back and will take place from Fri 14 Sept – Sat 06 Oct. If you like German Beer (Erdinger Beer), German Food (Bratwurst, Haxn (Pigs Knuckles)) and Bavarian Music (Eeek!) after 16:00, then this event is for you!

But be aware that opening times and admission charges have changed substantially again. It once was free, but now you have to pay to be allowed to go there and spend your money for beer and food. Odd, but there are still queues.

So here are the (weirdly complicated) new opening times and rules:
Free Admission: Tues+Wed: 12:00-23:30, Thurs: 12:00-20:00, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:00, Sun 12:30-16:00+17:00-22:30
NOT free: Thurs: 20:00-23:30 (EUR 8), Fri-Sat: 17:00-23:30 (EUR 12 with EUR 5 meal voucher)
Mondays the Oktoberfest is closed and Fri-Sun the fest is closed from 16:00-17:00

So the best advise is to go on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday.

The website ´link is below, but be aware that at the time of writing this, the website was NOT yet updated with the new opening times and rules on all pages. Only the front page was updated. Hopefully it will be fixed before Friday.

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.

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

An Intercultural Tour in Arabic Language with Community Ambassador Asmaa Ashour will take place.

Admission is free. Meet in the atrium of the museum.

A Family Fun Day, organised by South County Dublin, will happen in Jobstown. All details are on the poster here.

Despite the fact that the 8th Amendment is repealed, it seems that the “Marches for Choice” will continue.

The next one will take place on Saturday. It will start at the Garden of Remembrance and will finish at Merrion Square. A map of the route is on the Facebook Page below.

Come along to this workshop for children aged 6-11 and celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. Be inspired by the Chinese fairy tale of the rabbit in the moon and make your own Chinese comic book. You will draw, colour, write and book-bind.

Admission is free, but booking is required via the link below. At the time of writing there were still some tickets available.

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the finding of the Ardagh Chalice, join this special tour of the Treasury Exhibition exploring one of Ireland’s most famous and iconic objects. Learn about the people of early medieval Ireland, the influence of the coming of Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and how the Ardagh Chalice, among other fine metal objects, was made and designed.

Admission is free. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis, meet at Reception. Suitable for ages 7+.

On Saturdays throughout the Sculpture in Context exhibition, you will have the opportunity to join one of the participating artists for a guided tour. Meet at the Education & Visitor Centre.

Admission is free.

The St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral not only has a boys choir, but also a girls choir I found out this week. The girls perform every Saturday evening in the vigil mass at 18:00.

Admission is free.

The Devil’s Spine Band will play a gig in Leeson Lounge.

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.

Makings will play electronica-infused rap-rock in Sin E and they will be supported by Rock/Pop/Indie band Fade to Light.

Admission is free.

The Dead Levees will play Heavy Soul & Blues Rock in Bray.

Admission is free.

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

Admission for buyers is free.

The Dublin Sportsfest 2018 is the first ever week-long Sportsfest in Dublin. It will run from 23-30 Sept and will give you a chance to try out lots of different physical activities. Most events are free and the full list is on the website below.

There are still a good few events happening on Saturday and some on Sunday. Check the website below.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

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

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

A Dog Show will take place as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival. Registration will be from 10:00-12:00 and the show will run from 12:00-14:00.

Admission is free.

More details about the Ranelgah Arts Festival can be found in the downloadable programme brochure on the website below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sculpture in Context is back!! It is Ireland’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition and it is a brilliant exhibition in the beautiful surroundings of the National Botanic Gardens. Some of Ireland’s best artists are showing new work and the sculptures are displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great Palm House and Curvilinear Range, with the smaller works exhibited in the in the gallery in the Visitors Centre.

The exhibition will be open form 06 Sept and will run until 19 October.

Admission is free and apart from seeing some very interesting sculptures, it is also fun to go on a “treasure hunt” for these sculptures which are sprinkled throughout the Botanic Gardens.

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

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

Admission is free.

The National Botanic Gardens run “Kids Drop by Activities” on Sunday.

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

The event times are: 11:00, 11:30, 15:00, 15:30
Admission is free.

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

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

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

A Drop-in family workshop will take place in the Maples and Calder Creative Space in the Atrium.
At this weekly drop-in workshop, children and their parents/guardians/carers are encouraged to work together on creative projects. Drop-in and stay for as long (or as little!) as you wish. The workshops are suitable for children of all ages.

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.

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.

The Bray Vintage Car Club is inviting to another Vintage Car Show on Sunday.

Admission is free.

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.

This is the very last day to see this exhibition!

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

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

Some of the most interesting exhibits are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Admission is free.

The super popular Oktoberfest Dublin is back and will take place from Fri 14 Sept – Sat 06 Oct. If you like German Beer (Erdinger Beer), German Food (Bratwurst, Haxn (Pigs Knuckles)) and Bavarian Music (Eeek!) after 16:00, then this event is for you!

But be aware that opening times and admission charges have changed substantially again. It once was free, but now you have to pay to be allowed to go there and spend your money for beer and food. Odd, but there are still queues.

So here are the (weirdly complicated) new opening times and rules:
Free Admission: Tues+Wed: 12:00-23:30, Thurs: 12:00-20:00, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:00, Sun 12:30-16:00+17:00-22:30
NOT free: Thurs: 20:00-23:30 (EUR 8), Fri-Sat: 17:00-23:30 (EUR 12 with EUR 5 meal voucher)
Mondays the Oktoberfest is closed and Fri-Sun the fest is closed from 16:00-17:00

So the best advise is to go on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday.

The website ´link is below, but be aware that at the time of writing this, the website was NOT yet updated with the new opening times and rules on all pages. Only the front page was updated. Hopefully it will be fixed before Friday.

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 Catherine Sikora (saxophone), Eric Mingus (bass/vocals) playing Jazz songs and improvisations

This Family Tour is specially designed for children and their guardians, parents and carers to make the works on display in the National Gallery fun and engaging for kids.

Admission is free. Meet at the Merrion Square information desk.

The Last Picnic is a Family Fun Day in Mountjoy Square. There will be music with the Artane Senior Band, the St. George’s Brass Band and the Dublin Concert Band. In addition there will be Magic, an Inflatable Football Pitch, Fencing, Archery, a Mini Carousel, Rock Climbing and some food stalls.

Admission is free.

The Ardee Concert Band will play a concert on the Bandstand in the gardens of Farmleigh House.

Admission is free.

“Chinese Food as Medicine” is a demonstration in the lecture theatre of the library. Lei Xue will introduce the principals of using herbs and food in Chinese medicine. Discover this ancient knowledge and learn the importance of selecting food and preparing it to heal, cleanse and regulate the body.

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.

Brazilica will perform Jazz, Soul, Latin & Bossa Nova in the Tram Cafe. Brazilica are Luisa Moreira (Vocals) and Jonathan Batista (Guitar/Vocals).

Admission is free.

The Tour “Bonnets, Bandoliers and Ballot Papers” will look at the changing roles of women at the turn of the 20th Century, through the Way We Wore and Proclaiming a Republic exhibitions.

Admission is free. Places are allocated on a first-come first served basis 15 minutes before the tour starts. Suitable for Adults & Children 7+.

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

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 talk “Roderic O’Conor: An artist’s perspective” with artist Sandra Hickey will discuss the life and work of Roderic O’Conor from her own perspective as a practising artist. This talk is part of a series of illustrated talks offering artistic and academic perspectives on the “Roderic O’Conor and the Moderns” exhibition.

Admission is free.

This talk will be about Vikings in Ireland and a Viking Burial Site in Phoenix Park:
The largest Viking burial site outside of Scandinavia was discovered in the 1840s and 1850s and again in the 1930s during the building of the railway between the south side of the Phoenix Park, stretching over to Islandbridge, revealing over 40 Viking graves.

Admission is free.

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.

The Irish Bluegrass & Folk band “Mules & Men” will play a gig in the Taphouse. Admission is free.

Find more details about the event and the Ranelagh Arts Festival in the downloadable brochure 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.

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! ;-)

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).

South Xpress are playing Funky Blues in the Harbour Bar.

Admission is free.

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

Admission is free.

From 01-07 October, Positive Ageing Week will take place nationwide. There are around 110 events in Ireland, which is not really much, but the very surprising fact is that in Dublin there will be just about 10 free events. That’s really poor!

The full list of events is here, but unfortunately the search function is not working properly.

Most free events in Dublin are included in this Dublin Event Guide as individual events.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

Sculpture in Context is back!! It is Ireland’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition and it is a brilliant exhibition in the beautiful surroundings of the National Botanic Gardens. Some of Ireland’s best artists are showing new work and the sculptures are displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great Palm House and Curvilinear Range, with the smaller works exhibited in the in the gallery in the Visitors Centre.

The exhibition will be open form 06 Sept and will run until 19 October.

Admission is free and apart from seeing some very interesting sculptures, it is also fun to go on a “treasure hunt” for these sculptures which are sprinkled throughout the Botanic Gardens.

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

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.

“Johnny Cash and The Politics Of Country Music” is a talk in teh music library.

Fifty years ago, American country musician Johnny Cash released his legendary live album, ‘At Folsom Prison’. Daniel Geary will discuss this record in the context of the political tumult of the 1960s and challenge the notion that country music is inherently conservative.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-8734333

Cine-Cafe is inviting to a short film screening during the Ranelagh Arts Festival.

The programme will consist of very recent Irish short films, including examples of the latest work of Irish students of film/media and a selection from the latest shorts funded by the Irish Film Board/Screen Ireland. And because 01 Oct is “UN Day of Older Persons”, the screening will finish with a few shorts from ‘Older…’, films made with a substantial input from older-aged people (as either crew or cast).

Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

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

Admission is free.

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

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

Admission is free.

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

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

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

Admission is free.

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

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

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

Admission is free.

From 01-07 October, Positive Ageing Week will take place nationwide. There are around 110 events in Ireland, which is not really much, but the very surprising fact is that in Dublin there will be just about 10 free events. That’s really poor!

The full list of events is here, but unfortunately the search function is not working properly.

Most free events in Dublin are included in this Dublin Event Guide as individual events.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

This is a combined tour and art workshop with artist Jane Fogarty focusing on the artist Francis Bacon and his studio. While achieving some measure of success as a young man as an interior designer, once he embarked on his career as a painter, the artist continued to create work into his early eighties.

Admission is free, but booking is required here.

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.

“Conversations on Art” is a Dementia-Friendly Tour in the Chester Beatty Library, specially designed for people living with dementia and their loved ones. Take a break from the everyday and enjoy an afternoon of conversations on art and life. It will start with a relaxing tea or coffee in the Silk Road Café before you will go on a tour of the library’s collections.

Admission is free, but limited to 10 Participants per tour and booking is required via the website below.

The super popular Oktoberfest Dublin is back and will take place from Fri 14 Sept – Sat 06 Oct. If you like German Beer (Erdinger Beer), German Food (Bratwurst, Haxn (Pigs Knuckles)) and Bavarian Music (Eeek!) after 16:00, then this event is for you!

But be aware that opening times and admission charges have changed substantially again. It once was free, but now you have to pay to be allowed to go there and spend your money for beer and food. Odd, but there are still queues.

So here are the (weirdly complicated) new opening times and rules:
Free Admission: Tues+Wed: 12:00-23:30, Thurs: 12:00-20:00, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:00, Sun 12:30-16:00+17:00-22:30
NOT free: Thurs: 20:00-23:30 (EUR 8), Fri-Sat: 17:00-23:30 (EUR 12 with EUR 5 meal voucher)
Mondays the Oktoberfest is closed and Fri-Sun the fest is closed from 16:00-17:00

So the best advise is to go on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday.

The website ´link is below, but be aware that at the time of writing this, the website was NOT yet updated with the new opening times and rules on all pages. Only the front page was updated. Hopefully it will be fixed before Friday.

The “Tech Tuesday” at the RCSI will explore advances that are being made in technology to help older people live better lives. Representatives from companies Bonavox, Doro Phone and Pacsana will talk about their research and showcase their products.

Admission is free.

A guided tours of the exhibition “Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again” will take place every Tuesday from 02 Oct until 11 Dec in the Bank of Ireland Cultural and Heritage Centre at College Green, entrance is via Westmoreland Street.

Admission is free, but booking is essential via heaneyexhibition@nli.ie

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

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

www.bookdepository.com?a_aid=dubevg

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

The Pop-up Art Talk “The Fisherman’s Mother” will be given by Carmel Coyle in Room 18, in front of Helen Mabel Trevor’s painting “The Fisherman’s Mother”.

Admission is free.

An Information and Support Evening for families and friends of people living with Dementia will take place on Tuesday 02, Wednesday 03 and Thursday 04 October from 18:00-20:00.

Admission is free, but booking is required. All details are on the Facebook Page below.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade invites to a Public Consultation meeting as part of the process of developing a new White Paper on International Development. It will be on Tuesday in EPIC (The Irish Emigration Museum) in the CHQ Building.

If you would like to attend, register at www.irishaid.ie/about-us/policy-for-international-development/getinvolved/ Seats are limited and registration is on a first-come-first-served basis. Admission is free.

This talk examines the impact that the Sunday World had on the Sunday newspaper market and Irish society. With its catchy slogans, colour printing and unique approach to journalism, the Sunday World blazed a trail that was hugely successful but which also raised eyebrows in certain quarters. The talk is presented by Joe Breen Journalist, Regina Uí Chollatáin UCD, and Siún Ní Dhuinn RTÉ.

Admission is free. Booking is required via 01-6689575

The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) continues to bring you Dublin Green Drinks on the first Tuesday of every month in J.W. Sweetman’s. Green Drinks is a monthly event in 711 cities around the world to bring people with an interest in green issues together.

The topic this month is: Aliens in your Garden

At this month’s Dublin event Rory O’Hanlon will give a talk about the alien invertebrates you might come across in your garden – New Zealand flatworm, Red Lily Beetle, Harlequin ladybird, and the landhopper (Arcitalitrus dorrieni), and a little bit about their history in terms of arrival and spread and impact. Invasive species are an increasing problem due to their negative impact on native wildlife.

Meet up on the top floor of J.W. Sweetman’s. Doors open at 18:30 and the talk is at 19:00. Admission is free.

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

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

The talk “The First World War and the Armistice” with Dr Jennifer Wellington, UCD Centre for War Studies will take place as part of the Dublin Festival of History.

After four years of bloody, industrialisesd warfare, the Great War came to an end on the 11 November 1918. Jennifer will look at the lead-up to the Armstice and its reception in Ireland.

Admission is free.

“The Harbour Ukuleles” is a group of ukulele enthusiasts and they meet every Tuesday in The Harbour Bar in Bray to jam and learn new songs.

Admission is free.

‘Cult Craic’ is a new Cult TV night in the Grand Social every Tuesday. It will bring all the best tv shows and films to the big screen. Watch all the classics like Black Books, Bottom, Monty Python, Mighty Boosh, Old School, Office Space.

At the first event on Tuesday “Black Books” will be screened.

Admission is free and there will even be free sweets and treats.

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.

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.

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.

From 01-07 October, Positive Ageing Week will take place nationwide. There are around 110 events in Ireland, which is not really much, but the very surprising fact is that in Dublin there will be just about 10 free events. That’s really poor!

The full list of events is here, but unfortunately the search function is not working properly.

Most free events in Dublin are included in this Dublin Event Guide as individual events.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

We once had this brilliant monthly event called “First Wednesday” or then “Free Wednesday”, when on the first Wednesday of the month all state owned Irish heritage sites waived all admission charges for the day. Unfortunately this super popular opportunity to bring culture closer to people in Ireland has been cancelled for nearly all Dublin sites and for other popular sites in other parts of Ireland, which was a very bad decision.

But there is ONE single site left in Dublin that currently offers free admission on the first Wednesday of the month and that is Rathfarnham Castle! Tickets will be limited, so it is strongly recommended to go there early.

To find the list of participating sites go to this PDF document.

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

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

The Tour & Talk “From Ballots to Bullets: Ireland 1918 -1919” will explore the intense events and the personal stories behind two momentous years of Irish history.

The exhibition curators will speak about how the exhibition came together and the history of the period at 12:00, 13:00 and 14:00. The event will take place at the National Photographic Archive, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

Admission is free.

The next GradIreland will happen in the RDS on Wednesday. There will be potential employers to talk to, Seminars and Workshops are provided and a CV Clinic can help.

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

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 super popular Oktoberfest Dublin is back and will take place from Fri 14 Sept – Sat 06 Oct. If you like German Beer (Erdinger Beer), German Food (Bratwurst, Haxn (Pigs Knuckles)) and Bavarian Music (Eeek!) after 16:00, then this event is for you!

But be aware that opening times and admission charges have changed substantially again. It once was free, but now you have to pay to be allowed to go there and spend your money for beer and food. Odd, but there are still queues.

So here are the (weirdly complicated) new opening times and rules:
Free Admission: Tues+Wed: 12:00-23:30, Thurs: 12:00-20:00, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:00, Sun 12:30-16:00+17:00-22:30
NOT free: Thurs: 20:00-23:30 (EUR 8), Fri-Sat: 17:00-23:30 (EUR 12 with EUR 5 meal voucher)
Mondays the Oktoberfest is closed and Fri-Sun the fest is closed from 16:00-17:00

So the best advise is to go on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday.

The website ´link is below, but be aware that at the time of writing this, the website was NOT yet updated with the new opening times and rules on all pages. Only the front page was updated. Hopefully it will be fixed before Friday.

Inner City Enterprise (ICE) is launching a Young Entrepreneurs Training programme. It is a five week (2 afternoons per week) programme that will give young people aged between 18 -30 an opportunity to to gain valuable personal development skills as well as practical business advice on how to set up and run a business in Ireland.

Admission is free, but an application is required. Find all details on the website below.

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

The talk “The Ardagh Hoard – Discovery, Controversy and Aftermath” with Raghnall O’Floinn will outline a newly-discovered account of the finding of the Ardagh hoard, as well as the subsequent controversy surrounding the circumstances of its discovery, the treatment of the finders and its final acquisition by the Royal Irish Academy.

Admission is free, but booking required via educationarch@museum.ie or 01 6486 332. Suitable from age 14.

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

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

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

An Information and Support Evening for families and friends of people living with Dementia will take place on Tuesday 02, Wednesday 03 and Thursday 04 October from 18:00-20:00.

Admission is free, but booking is required. All details are on the Facebook Page below.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this talk by historian Cecelia Hartsell will examine the progression of the American civil rights movement, including the interplay between the federal government and the grassroots activity that Dr. King fostered.

Admission is free. Booking is required via 01-4973539

Michael Albert, activist and founder and maintainer of Z Magazine’s web site Znet (zcomm.org/znet/) and author or books and articles dealing with economics, vision, social change, strategy, globalization and war and peace, will talk about

“Economic Democracy and the Revolution for a Participatory Society“.

Admission is free.

Professor Rose Anne Kenny will talk about “How to Age Well: Evidence from TILDA”. She will share findings from TILDA research on the ageing process and how to maintain physical and mental health and wellbeing into older age.

Admission is free, but registration is required via the link here.

Karl Marx and Ireland is a talk as part of the Dublin Festival of History.

Although not central to Marxist thought, the case of Ireland and Irish independence formed an important element of Marx and Engels’ theories on capitalism and colonialism. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Marx birth, Bernard Kelly, Historian in Residence (Dublin City Library and Archive), will survey his life and examine how 19th century Irish nationalism influenced Marxist ideology.

Admission is free. Booking is required via 01-4533793

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

Admission is free.

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

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

It takes place every Wednesday and admission is free.

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

Admission is free, donations are welcome.

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

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

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

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

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

Admission is free.

From 01-07 October, Positive Ageing Week will take place nationwide. There are around 110 events in Ireland, which is not really much, but the very surprising fact is that in Dublin there will be just about 10 free events. That’s really poor!

The full list of events is here, but unfortunately the search function is not working properly.

Most free events in Dublin are included in this Dublin Event Guide as individual events.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

Sculpture in Context is back!! It is Ireland’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition and it is a brilliant exhibition in the beautiful surroundings of the National Botanic Gardens. Some of Ireland’s best artists are showing new work and the sculptures are displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great Palm House and Curvilinear Range, with the smaller works exhibited in the in the gallery in the Visitors Centre.

The exhibition will be open form 06 Sept and will run until 19 October.

Admission is free and apart from seeing some very interesting sculptures, it is also fun to go on a “treasure hunt” for these sculptures which are sprinkled throughout the Botanic Gardens.

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

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

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

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

The 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 super popular Oktoberfest Dublin is back and will take place from Fri 14 Sept – Sat 06 Oct. If you like German Beer (Erdinger Beer), German Food (Bratwurst, Haxn (Pigs Knuckles)) and Bavarian Music (Eeek!) after 16:00, then this event is for you!

But be aware that opening times and admission charges have changed substantially again. It once was free, but now you have to pay to be allowed to go there and spend your money for beer and food. Odd, but there are still queues.

So here are the (weirdly complicated) new opening times and rules:
Free Admission: Tues+Wed: 12:00-23:30, Thurs: 12:00-20:00, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:00, Sun 12:30-16:00+17:00-22:30
NOT free: Thurs: 20:00-23:30 (EUR 8), Fri-Sat: 17:00-23:30 (EUR 12 with EUR 5 meal voucher)
Mondays the Oktoberfest is closed and Fri-Sun the fest is closed from 16:00-17:00

So the best advise is to go on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday.

The website ´link is below, but be aware that at the time of writing this, the website was NOT yet updated with the new opening times and rules on all pages. Only the front page was updated. Hopefully it will be fixed before Friday.

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!

As part of Spaceweek, Dr. Leah Morabito will talk about “A low-frequency radio perspective on AGN”. She will describe how low-frequency radio-astronomy observations, with instruments such as LOFAR, will aid our understanding of the evolution of massive galaxies which harbour supermassive black holes at their centres.

Admission is free.

Action For Animal Welfare Ireland will be protesting outside the Dail on Thursday and the protest is entitled “There’s No Excuse For Animal Abuse”.

Admission is – not surprisingly – free.

A tour of the exhibition “Yeats: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats” introduces William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) – one of the great poets of the twentieth century – and his many interests, including literature, folklore, theatre, politics, the occult and Irish cultural identity. After the tour, you can listen to a selection of voices speaking some of his best loved poems, including Easter 1916.

Admission is free.

Fred Powell (Professor Emeritus, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork) will talk about “The political economy of the Irish Welfare State”.

Admission is free.

An Information and Support Evening for families and friends of people living with Dementia will take place on Tuesday 02, Wednesday 03 and Thursday 04 October from 18:00-20:00.

Admission is free, but booking is required. All details are on the Facebook Page below.

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

Admission is free.

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

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

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

Anthropologist Pauline Garvey from Maynooth University has published a study of IKEA and will launch the book in the Harry Clarke Lecture Theatre of the NCAD.

This book represents the first anthropological ethnography of IKEA consumption and goes to the heart of understanding the unique and at times frantic popularity of this iconic transnational store.

Admission is free.

Explore some of the highlights of the National Gallery exhibitons at this evening tour.

Admission is free. Meet at the Merrion Square information desk.

In 1918 British Authorities attempted to impose restrictions on sports, insisting on a permit system for Gaelic games. The GAA responded with the spectacular Gaelic Sunday on 4th August 1918 when more than 1500 matches were played in defiance of the ban. Presented by Donal Fallon, Historian in Residence (Dublin City Council, North West Area).

Admission is free. Register via 01-8691414

Twice every year, the Central Library together with the Local Enterprise Office in Dublin City are running a series of six free Business Lectures for everybody who wants to start or grow a business. The lectures will cover subjects such as the characteristics needed to run and fund your business. Digital marketing strategies and writing business plans will also be included.

The next series will take place on Thursdays from 18:30-20:00 between 20 Sept and 25 Oct.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-8733996 or businesslibrary@dublincity.ie. All topics and speakers are listed on the website below and to make it easier for you, they are also here:

20 Sep: Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur – How You Can Create and Produce Ideas
27 Sep: Creating the best Business Plan for your Business
04 Oct: Market Research Skills – What You Need To Do To Be Successful
11 Oct: Managing your Online Presence – Having A Digital Plan To Help You Increase Sales
18 Oct: Financial Support and Grants for Entrepreneurs
25 Oct: Essential Supports and Services for Entrepreneurs – Who’s Out There To Help You

A “Tour for the hard of hearing” will take place in the National Gallery. Meet at the Millennium Wing information desk. Listening devices will be utilised.

Admission is free.

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.

At Kevin Barrington’s WRIOT event in the Leeson Lounge the line-up will be

Shakalak / Sun Shakers / 2 Mad Stunts / Eclectic Swingfolk / The Poet Geoff

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The BIMM Music College is organising the Midnight Hour on Thursdays in Whelan’s.

Admission is free.

From 01-07 October, Positive Ageing Week will take place nationwide. There are around 110 events in Ireland, which is not really much, but the very surprising fact is that in Dublin there will be just about 10 free events. That’s really poor!

The full list of events is here, but unfortunately the search function is not working properly.

Most free events in Dublin are included in this Dublin Event Guide as individual events.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival 2018 takes place from 27 Sept – 06 Oct and there are a number of free events happening as well. A few of them are mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide and the rest can all be found in a downloadable brochure on the website below.

The First Friday for Startups at DogPatch Labs is a day of talks and mentoring and networking for Startups and all details can be found on the website below.

Admission is free.

Sculpture in Context is back!! It is Ireland’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition and it is a brilliant exhibition in the beautiful surroundings of the National Botanic Gardens. Some of Ireland’s best artists are showing new work and the sculptures are displayed throughout the gardens, ponds, Great Palm House and Curvilinear Range, with the smaller works exhibited in the in the gallery in the Visitors Centre.

The exhibition will be open form 06 Sept and will run until 19 October.

Admission is free and apart from seeing some very interesting sculptures, it is also fun to go on a “treasure hunt” for these sculptures which are sprinkled throughout the Botanic Gardens.

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

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

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

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 24 September until 07 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 140 events and all are free.

The festival website is here with the full programme. Unfortunately there is no downloadable brochure with a full list of events this year.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks every weekday.

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 super popular Oktoberfest Dublin is back and will take place from Fri 14 Sept – Sat 06 Oct. If you like German Beer (Erdinger Beer), German Food (Bratwurst, Haxn (Pigs Knuckles)) and Bavarian Music (Eeek!) after 16:00, then this event is for you!

But be aware that opening times and admission charges have changed substantially again. It once was free, but now you have to pay to be allowed to go there and spend your money for beer and food. Odd, but there are still queues.

So here are the (weirdly complicated) new opening times and rules:
Free Admission: Tues+Wed: 12:00-23:30, Thurs: 12:00-20:00, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:00, Sun 12:30-16:00+17:00-22:30
NOT free: Thurs: 20:00-23:30 (EUR 8), Fri-Sat: 17:00-23:30 (EUR 12 with EUR 5 meal voucher)
Mondays the Oktoberfest is closed and Fri-Sun the fest is closed from 16:00-17:00

So the best advise is to go on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday.

The website ´link is below, but be aware that at the time of writing this, the website was NOT yet updated with the new opening times and rules on all pages. Only the front page was updated. Hopefully it will be fixed before Friday.

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.

The Pop-up Art Talk “Brazilian animals in seventeenth-century Europe” with Paolo Viscardi will take place in association with the exhibition “Curious Creatures – Frans Post and Brazil”. Meet in the Print Gallery.

Admission is free.

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

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

The TramCafe is the venue for Dublin’s only after work Jazz event on a Friday. Lulu Kumama will perform Jazz & Soul Standards wth a Funky Twist.

Admission is free.

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

Chief Keegan are playing funk in Bray.

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.

Mik Pyro will play a funk&groove gig in Sin E as part of the Thatchers Haze Sessions.

Admission is free.

The 7-piece Hip Hop Band “Nuxsense” will play a gig in the Workman’s Club,

Admission is free.

The popular Bionic Rats will play Reggae and Ska in the Grand Social.

Admission is free.