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.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

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

The Friends of Medieval Dublin are inviting to the 19th Medieval Dublin Symposium. There will be 8 talks between 09:30 and 17:00 and the event will be in Trinty College. All details, including the titles of all talks are on the website below. To see the schedule click on the blue poster on that website.

This is a must-go event for all historians, I think. At least for historians interested in medieval Dublin. :-)

Admission is free and no booking is required. You can join for some talks and don’t have to be there for the full day.

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

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 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.

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.

Kitesurfers, Standup Paddle Board (SUP) Riders, Wakeboarders, Landyacht Sailors, Volleyball Players, Extreme Sport Lovers and tons of spectators (that’s you and me!!! ;-) ) all come together this Saturday and Sunday (20+21 May) on Dollymount Strand in Clontarf for the “Battle for the Bay”.

In addition to Kitesurfing and SUP competitions, there will be Live Music, a food market and kids entertainment and a Biodiversity Village on the strand and the full schedule is here: www.battleforthebay.com/#whats-on

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.

Summer is another 10 days away, but in the Docklands, the Summer Festival is already taking place this Saturday and Sunday (20+21 May).

It is another watersports festival but different to the “Battle for the Bay”, the Dockland’s Summer Festival is more focused on “inland” watersports like Wakeboarding, Raft Races. Wakeboarders, including Irish champion David O’Caoimh, are performing their spectacular demonstrations at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00.

On Grand Canal Square, there will be a food market, DJs will entertain and you can play “floating golf”. Street Performers will be there on both days and a duck race will happen at the Waterways Visitor Centre.

Unfortunately the organisers keep the schedule as a secret, so I have no idea when the duck race will take place.

Admission to the Dockland’s Festival is free.

Come and join Artzone at Farmleigh House on National Drawing Day for Children’s Art Workshops. (Ages 5 – 12 years).

The junior group (5+) will sketch ducks from the Farmleigh pond while the senior kids (8+) will be drawing self portraits “Selfies in the Park”.

All workshops are free, but places are limited and are allocated on first come first served basis.

This is a workshop for ages 12-16!

Learn how to storyboard your favourite Irish Celtic Myth with illustrator Mark Wickham. Discover Ancient Irish Myths and Legends and explore the objects of the Iron Age to help you create a Celtic Storyboard.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-6486 332. Meet at Reception.

“Explore the weird and wonderful diversity of insects and minibeasts living in and around the pond at the National Botanic Gardens. Perfect your technique with guidance from the experts and learn how to identify the amazing creatures you have captured. Once you have discovered the hidden life of ponds you will never look at them the same way again.”

Admission to this event is free, but booking is required via 01 8040319. Suitable for Ages 8+.

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.

National Drawing Day began at the National Gallery of Ireland, and now takes place in Museums, Galleries, Libraries and Cultural Centres across Ireland. It is a great opportunity to try sketching, drawing and learn some hints and tips.

There will be a whole series of events in the National Gallery and they are all listed in detail if you follow the link below. In order to give you an idea of what is happening, I will list the headlines here:

+ Artists Drawing Live @ 11:30-15:30 in Room 5
+ Artists Sketching Life @ 11:30-15:30 in Millennium Wing
+ Architectural Drawing Demonstration @ 11:30-15:30 in Millennium Wing
+ Secret Garden Family Drop-in Session @ 11:30-13:30 in Atrium
+ Schools of Fish and Fish in Schools – Collaborative Art @ 14:30-15:30 in Atrium
+ Life Drawing for Teens and Adults – Drop-in session @ 11:30-14:00 in Millennium Wing Studio
+ Art Battle between Don Conroy and Fatti Burke @ 12:30-14:00 in Wintergarden Café
———
+ Crawing meets Science: Makeshop Robots Demonstration @ 11:30-14:00 at Orientation Court
+ Doodlebot Workshop (Ages 5+) @ 15:00-16:00 in Millennium Wing Studio (Free but ticketed)
——–
+ Talk by Sky Portrait Artist of the Year @16:00-17:00 in Lecture Theatre
—————————-
Admission to all events is free. Bring your own sketchbook and drawing materials, some materials will be provided.

Other museums, galleries and venues in Dublin that participate in the National Drawing Day are

Casino, Marino
Castletown House
Crawford Art Gallery
Design & Crafts Council of Ireland
Dublin City Public Libraries
Farmleigh House
Little Museum of Dublin
Makeshop by Science Gallery Dublin
National Gallery of Ireland
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology
National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts and History, Collins Barracks
National Print Museum
Rathfarnham Castle
RUA RED
The Chester Beatty Library
The LAB

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

The 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.

Second last chance to see this exhibition! It ends on Sunday!

The exhibition “Humans Need Not Apply” (10 Feb – 21 May) in the Science Gallery is looking at the influence robots will have on our society, on our lives and on jobs. How will robots replace humans? How can robots be creative? And is automation maybe going too far?

About 27 exhibits will ask and answer these questions. When you come into the exhibition space in the Science Gallery the little desk lamp robot Pinokio will greet you with all its friendliness and curiosity (that’s MY interpretation of Pinokio’s behaviour). And the three Doppelgänger robots upstairs will move, even dance with you. But more robots and automation will also have possibly some negative effects and “The Great Disengagement” looks at how we human beings might rebel against robots when they have taken our jobs and more away.

The exhibition has many many facets and it is extremely interesting. There are fascinating and intriguing exhibits and maybe more unexpected ones like the “tickle robot”. I strongly recommend the exhibition and can definitely say that it is suitable for ALL ages, even younger kids can get something out of it.

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.

Come to the Chester Beatty Library on National Drawing day to learn how to use the ‘chiaroscuro’ technique in your drawings to create strong tonal contrasts and a three dimensional effect.

Chiaroscuro (from the Italian words chiaro, meaning “light,” and scuro, meaning “dark”) refers to the use of light and shade in a work of art developed during the Renaissance, that uses strong tonal contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms, often to dramatic effect. Masters of this technique were the Italians Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio and the Dutch painter Rembrandt.

The workshop will take place from 12:30-14:00 and from 14:30-16:00, but it is not exactly clear where it will take place. It is advertised on the Chester Beatty Library website, but it then says

“This year we are joining forces with the OPW education team in Dublin Castle to explore more spaces, views and visions. Join the fun in this Alice in Castleland drawing journey. Starting point: Chapel Royal. For more information contact Jenny at DublinCastleEducation@opw.ie. Free, no booking required.”

So I suggest you check at the Chapel Royal, but if you can’t find the workshop there, then go around the corner to the atrium of the Chester Beatty Library and ask where the workshop takes place. When you get this message, it is too late to send “Jenny” a mail. ;-)

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.

The Bernard Shaw Flea Market is a weekly market (every Saturday) with approx 16 stalls, music, pizzas from the Big Blue Bus and the Bernard Shaw Garden Bar. Expect vintage clothes, shoes, jewellery, art, records, bric-a-brac and more and DJs will provide the entertainment.

Admission is free.

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher runs every Saturday. It is an alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is required via myfavouritesdublincitywalktour@gmail.com or 085-2725095

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.

The National Print Museum celebrates the National Drawing Day by providing a range of self-guided drawing walks (materials will be provided) for families. There will be a number of sketching stations available, with inspirational sketches of the collection on display to get the creative juices flowing.

Admission is free.

To celebrate Drawing Day, join Museum conservator and artist Nieves Fernandez for an introductory workshop in sketching the museum. Materials will be provided and no advance experience needed. Suitable for adults and young people from 16 years of age.

Admission is free.

The Women’s Rugby World Cup Trophy Tour will come to Clontarf on Saturday afternoon. From 14:00 a Family Fun Day with Bouncy Castle and Face Painting etc will take place and the Trophy will arrive at 15:00.

Admission is free.

This is a workshop for ages 7-11!

Join children’s illustrator and writer Mark Wickham for a workshop on designing your own Celtic Superhero from the Iron Age. Explore the Museum and its Iron Age objects and learn about ancient Irish Celtic stories to help inspire you to create your character.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-6486 332.

At this event during National Biodiversity Week, Museum Educator Geraldine Breen will talk about the lives of Irish sharks and how the hunter has become the hunted. Expect a short talk with a chance to touch real shark teeth, jaws and egg cases.

Admission is free, but places are limited to 20 and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Suitable for Ages 8+

The event will have a duration of 30min and it sill start at 14:30 and at 15:30.

Early House are playing Funk, Soul, Disco Covers at this gig.

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.

Weenz will perform a gig in Whelan’s on Saturday. The gig starts at midnight, admission is free before 22:30 OR if you sign up to the guest list.

The Trobadours are playing a gig in the Bowery on Saturday.

Admisssion 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.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

A 5km run will take place along the North- and Southside of the Liffey from Custom House to Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. (A map can be found on the website below.)

Participation is NOT free, but cheering on the runners is free. ;-)

Also be aware that there might be road closures on Sunday morning.

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

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

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

The Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park 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 were provided and were meant to run for three months until end of October 2016. But the interest was so great that the OPW decided to continue the tours with a reduced schedule over the winter. And since 02 April there will be tours again every Friday and Sunday at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 + 15:00 and only 20 places are available on each 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 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.

Kitesurfers, Standup Paddle Board (SUP) Riders, Wakeboarders, Landyacht Sailors, Volleyball Players, Extreme Sport Lovers and tons of spectators (that’s you and me!!! ;-) ) all come together this Saturday and Sunday (20+21 May) on Dollymount Strand in Clontarf for the “Battle for the Bay”.

In addition to Kitesurfing and SUP competitions, there will be Live Music, a food market and kids entertainment and a Biodiversity Village on the strand and the full schedule is here: www.battleforthebay.com/#whats-on

Africa Day is a worldwide celebration of African culture on 26 May of every year. In Dublin the day-long festival usually takes place on the Sunday before or after 26 May and this year it is on Sunday 21 May.

Farmleigh House is the venue for this event and there will be three stages with music, dance performances and a fashion show. In addition you can take part in Drumming Workshops or enjoy story-telling, spoken word events a language exchange and lots of other events. There will also be a food market, an African Bazaar and Kids entertainment.

The detailed schedule of all events can be found on the website below.

It is a great event with a good and family-friendly atmosphere, plenty to do and to see and you will probably find me there on Sunday. ;-)

Admission is free.

A Children’s Art Cart events with the theme “Draw Flowers from the Walled Gardens” takes place on Sunday and is suitable for Ages 6-11.

Admission is free. All upcoming events are listed in this brochure www.phoenixpark.ie/media/phoenix-park-programme-of-events-2017.pdf

“Croke Park – Estimating the ecological footprint of Croke Park national stadium” is a guided walk and assessment and a discussion of how it has effected local ecology e.g. the Royal Canal biodiversity and of any steps which the Stadium has taken to reduce the ecological impact of the stadium.

Meet at the Smallchanges cafe, 40 Drumcondra Road.

Prepare for all weather, bring notebooks and pens and cameras to record findings to be used in final report on the event.

Admission is free.

Summer is another 10 days away, but in the Docklands, the Summer Festival is already taking place this Saturday and Sunday (20+21 May).

It is another watersports festival but different to the “Battle for the Bay”, the Dockland’s Summer Festival is more focused on “inland” watersports like Wakeboarding, Raft Races. Wakeboarders, including Irish champion David O’Caoimh, are performing their spectacular demonstrations at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00.

On Grand Canal Square, there will be a food market, DJs will entertain and you can play “floating golf”. Street Performers will be there on both days and a duck race will happen at the Waterways Visitor Centre.

Unfortunately the organisers keep the schedule as a secret, so I have no idea when the duck race will take place.

Admission to the Dockland’s Festival 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. They don’t specify who is playing at the brunch, I will see if I can find out more.

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.

Rumble in the Jumble is a monthly market for arts, crafts, vintage, vinyl and more.

Admission is free.

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

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

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

Admission is free.

This is the last day of the Humans Need Not Apply exhibition:

The exhibition “Humans Need Not Apply” (10 Feb – 21 May) in the Science Gallery is looking at the influence robots will have on our society, on our lives and on jobs. How will robots replace humans? How can robots be creative? And is automation maybe going too far?

About 27 exhibits will ask and answer these questions. When you come into the exhibition space in the Science Gallery the little desk lamp robot Pinokio will greet you with all its friendliness and curiosity (that’s MY interpretation of Pinokio’s behaviour). And the three Doppelgänger robots upstairs will move, even dance with you. But more robots and automation will also have possibly some negative effects and “The Great Disengagement” looks at how we human beings might rebel against robots when they have taken our jobs and more away.

The exhibition has many many facets and it is extremely interesting. There are fascinating and intriguing exhibits and maybe more unexpected ones like the “tickle robot”. I strongly recommend the exhibition and can definitely say that it is suitable for ALL ages, even younger kids can get something out of it.

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 Moveable Feast is a family feast of dance and entertainment in Merrion Square. Pacl a picnic and bring the family and friends for an an afternoon of fun dance experiences for all ages.

“Getting off to a gentle start with family yoga, we’ve got a ‘Bubble Baby Boogie’, tea and cakes and a ‘Dress-up Selfie Station’ by Dance World. Swing, roll and spin your way through ‘Funky Feet’ and ‘Bollyrobics’ workshops and enjoy pop-up performances by CoisCéim BROADREACH’s The Dance Ensemble 50+ and Dublin Youth Dance Company. Explore the biodiversity of the park and learn a simple dance about the changing seasons for the biggest NELKEN-Line in Ireland at 14:00.”
The Dublin Ukulele Collective will also perform at this event.

Admission is free.

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 Elizabeth Cooney and Friends, a String 6-tet that will perform works from Brahms, Tchaikowsky and de Florence.

The Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown science and technology event “How?” is back in Shanganagh Park on Sunday. The event will be a fun and educational afternoon out for all the family with a range of science and technology attractions from the past, present and future.

There will be Minecraft workshops running all afternoon (on first come first served basis) for ages 12 and below. (Wifi enabled Laptop and copy of Minecraft is needed.)
There will also be the Exploration Dome (a mobile planetarium), Science of Sound (A workshop that explores sound from lots of different angles), the School of Irish Archaeology (it will teach students the importance of Irish heritage, culture and identity through archaeology). Junior Einsteins (to bring a love of science and learning to primary school aged children) and Whizzkids (Participants will learn coding using “scratch” to create their own videogames, animations and screen savers).

All young people at the event under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

There is limited parking in the area around Shanganagh Park so if possible walk, cycle or use public transport to get to the event.

Admission is free.

An Intercultural Tour in Mandarin Language with Community Ambassador Vicky Wang 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!

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 Sunday will focus on the context of the Rising and explore in detail the wording of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

No booking necessary. The meeting point is inside the cemetery gates.

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!

The music performance “Gamelan Jam Delapan” by an eclectic ensemble of musicians of all ages from amateur to professional will bring you traditional Javanese music (not Japanese!). Gamelan Jam Delapan means ‘the eight o’clock gamelan’. The group was named after their rehearsal schedule on Tuesday evenings in the National Concert Hall.

Admission is free.

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

The Green Trail is a 2 hour long guided tour of Dublin city’s wildlife hotspots that will allow participants to discover nature, wildlife and biodiversity in the heart of the city.

“The trail explores plant and animal species diversity in semi-natural habitats in Dublin City Centre and it will incorporate urban garden, amenity grassland, woodland, freshwater and parkland areas of St. Stephen’s Green, Iveagh Gardens, Merrion Park, Trinity College and the streets of Dublin.

Activities along the way such as tree identification and a bird survey using simple identification keys will give participants a greater understanding of the rich biological diversity that surrounds us in an urban environment. The trail has been designed so people of all ages can undertake it. Suitable walking shoes and waterproof clothes are recommended.”

Admission is free.

Andrew Olwill will play a classical guitar concert in the vestry of the Unitarian Church.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

A Biodiversity Walk will take place at 15:00 on Sunday.

Admission is free.

Every Sunday two free guided tours will take place in the Chester Betty Library. The first one is at 15:00 and the second one at 16:00.

In addition there is another free tour every Wednesday at 13:00.

Hands on History is a Drop-in event where you have a chance to explore some of the artefacts from the Museum’s collection of objects for handling with Museum educators. Suitable for all ages.

Admission is free.

“Margaret Clarke RHA as a History Painter” is a Sunday talk with Carla Briggs, UCD in association with the exhibition “Margaret Clarke: An Independent Spirit” (from 13 May 2017).

Admission is free.

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

A Summer Folk Session will take place in Greystones and admission is free.

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

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

The event takes place outdoors this Sunday in St. Stephen’s Green (and I assume it is on the St. Stephen’s Green Bandstand).

There will be three workshops with dances from France and Italy and this will be followed by a Social Dance.

Admission is free, but 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! ;-)

This is a concert by the International Flute Orchestra from USA conducted by Dr John Bailey with music from Bach, Beethoven and Rossini in Christ Church Cathedral.

Admission is free.

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 4 Of Us are playing tracks from their new album “Sugar Island” at this gig.

Admission is free.

Every Sunday a Blues Band will play a gig in the Bowery.

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.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

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

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.

Come to this event to get advice and guidance on researching the rich and varied collections of the National Library. The workshop will draw on case studies of personalities from the NLI’s collections and is suitable for anyone looking to embark on a research project or to enhance research skills in navigating the catalogue, accessing the various collections and interpreting the sources. The workshop is suitable for everybody who is using the library for the first time.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01 6030 259

Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety and Mairéad McGuinness MEP will talk about the EU’s future, democracy and the EU’s policies on Health and Food Safety.

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

“Il Giorno Che Incontrammo Roddy Doyle (The Day We Met Roddy Doyle) by Max Rover (a.k.a Massimo Roveri) is a tribute to Irish literature and to Ireland itself, but it is also a journey, spiritual and physical, of four different characters who share pain, uncertainty, but also wishes and dreams to achieve. All the characters are somehow connected to Ireland.

Structured on three narrative levels (story, reality, hyper-reality), which are declined according to the characters’ point of view, the novel has Massimo – a partly autobiographical character – who sees in Ireland a love, a goal, a cure, as the book’s backbone and trait d’union between the other characters.”

The book launch takes place in the Italian Institute. The events is in English.

Admission is free, butbooking is required via the website below.

The Wind Ensemble of the University of Massachusetts will be in Ireland for a visit and they will perform in Christ Church Cathedral on Monday.

Admission is free.

The next Stand-up Comedy night in the Bowery is on Monday and I have heard stories about an absolutely packed room on Monday evenings!

Admission is free.

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).

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.

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.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

A Trade & Tourism Show for people in “active retirement” is happening in Hall 4 of the RDS. But it is an odd one! The website at www.tradeandtourismshow.ie/ focuses on getting exhibitors, but doesn’t even have a section that is targeted to visitors. In addition the name “trade…show” doesn’t really make it clear to end users that they are invited, right? But it seems that they are. :-)

According to the “About Us” section of the website, the show focuses on the following areas “Health, Activity, Financial Security, Travel, Holidays, Lifelong Learning, Social & Cultural activities, Sports, Cooking, Fashion, Investments and Legal Advice”. Hmm, in that case my strong advise is CHANGE THE NAME!! :-P

Admission is free, so you can check it out, but to me it seems as if the organisers could maybe learn a thing or two about marketing their event effectively!?

Meet in the Smallchanges Cafe and then get out and plant trees, vertical gardens etc at this workshop, which is part of Biodiversity week.

Admission is free.

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

A Lunchtime Recital with Ruth Gahan (Soprano) & Aileen Cahill (Piano) from NUIM Maynooth will take place and they will perform works from Mozart, Barber, Debussy, Wolf and Handel.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01 873 4333,

“Noah’s Wife missed the boat – she left the washing out!” is the name of a play that will be performed by Carnation Theatre in Ballymun Library. The play celebrates the advent of the Washing Machine and the effect it had on our lives.

Do you remember the mangle, the tin bath, the buckets of nappies left to soak, the Sunlight soap? Sing along, clap and enjoy this musical trip down memory lane.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01-8477781

This short talk will look at ‘Strindbergian’ by Margaret Clarke and give a brief insight into the work. The talk will be given by Niamh MacNally. Meet in front of the painting in the Millennium Wing.

Admission is free.

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher runs on Tuesday and Saturday. It is an alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is required via myfavouritesdublincitywalktour@gmail.com or 085-2725095

From April until June a weekly Storytime session will take every Tuesday in the LexIcon Library. It is suitable for Ages 3-6. The event will be in the Children’s Library on Level 4.

Admission is free and no booking necessary.

Join poet and novelist David Butler for the official launch of ‘Blackrock Sequence’, an illustrated poem-journey which follows a route from the Forty Foot to Booterstown Saltmarsh, investigating the history, memory, ecology, culture and geology of this fascinating coastline.

Admission is free.

This is a weekly event in Buskers on the Ball. They have 5 table tennis table and are now running a social league on Tuesdays. Free play at the tables and drinks specials are available.

“Sound and Image in the Middle Ages: Iconography, Sound Studies and Digital Humanities” is a lecture by Professor Susan Boynton (Columbia University) during her fellowship at the Trinity Long Room Hub in collaboration with the School of Histories & Humanities.

Medieval images of music reflect cultural values associated with musical performance and experience and recent research in this field encompasses a broad and steadily expanding range of approaches, including musical iconography (the description of images depicting musical performance, instruments, and other forms of sound), interpretation of the physical and historical context of musical images (for instance, their functions in particular built spaces), and computer-assisted analysis of a corpus of examples.

Admission is free.

Whelan’s never had a regular Trad Session, but this is about to change:

From 04 April until 27 June a new Trad Session called “Call the Dancers” will take place and no other than well known musicians Ronan Ó Snodaigh, Eoin Dillon & friends will perform.

Admission is free.

“History Ireland Hedge School: Ireland and the United States from 1917 to Trump” is a round table discussion with History Ireland editor Tommy Graham and panellists Michael Kennedy (RIA’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy), Bernadette Whelan (UL), Patrick Geoghegan (TCD) and John Borgonovo (UCC) about Ireland and the USA, from 1917 when the US entered the War to the election of Donald Trump.

Admission is free.

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

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

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

The Shipstern Open Session is the Open Mic night in the Bowery in Rathmines. A weekly event where everyone is invited to take part, sing, play an instrument of even tell some jokes. And anybody who will perform on stage will get a cocktail voucher. Sometimes even big names come in to try out their new material.

The night is hosted by Cian from the tband MKAI.

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.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

This workshop will give you advice on providing the most benefit to bees and other creatures when planting a garden. You will also get to plant up little pots of bee friendly flowers to take home.

Admission is free, but booking is required via shankilllib@dlrcoco.ie or 01-2823081

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.

A walking tour to the People’s Park within Phoenix Park will take place on Wednesday. OPW Gardeners will lead that walk. Meeting Point is at the Parkgate Street entrance to the People’s Garden.

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

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.

“They Called it Murder: The Fighting Irish on the Western Front in 1917” is a talk by Lar Joye (Assistant Keeper, Art and Industrial Division,National Museum of Ireland) in association with Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Sandymount Historical Society.

Admission is free. Booking is required via 01-6689575

The National Library is involved in “The National Neighbourhood: Around the Table” project. This project connects communities old and new across Dublin’s historic central area with artists of different disciplines to explore the food history of the area. Groups visited the library as part of the project. Themes of mothering, belonging, words and work were shared through mapping the story, role and journey of food in the city – from the docks to the markets, and from the streets to the table.

The short film “Around the Table” (24 min) was made as part of the project, and explores Dublin’s food history through the memories of Dublin’s dock workers, workers from Cadbury’s who explain why the ‘Flake’ produced in Dublin had the best taste to current developments in food choices.

Admission is free. The film will be screened on 03+10+17+24 May.

The Temple Bar “Night” Market is more an afternoon and evening market (14:00-20:00) and it takes place every Wednesday until September.

You can buy Arts & Crafts at this market.

In previous years the missing food and drink stalls (probably to protect the pubs and restaurants in Temple Bar) was mentioned by visitors as a critique.

An Taisce Dun Laoghaire invite to an afternoon of talks and workshops about “The Urban Beekeeper”.

Demonstrations and workshops will be given by South Dublin Beekeepers Liam McGarry and Anne O’ Sullivan. There will be advice on planting your garden to feed and nurture bees. In a second workshop learn how to make creams, balms and candles from bee products. You will also experience a real beehive and learn to identify worker bees, drones and the queen. And the third workshop will give hands on experience of the components of the beehive and beekeeping equipment followed by a film on bees: their lifecycle and importance.

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.

A Poetry Reading with Jean O’Brien, founding member of Dublin Writers’ Workshop, will take place. Jean’s most recent collection of poetry is “Fish On A Bicycle”. Jean is described as a poet with her finger on the pulse of how we live now.

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

“Journey to YU: In the footsteps of Rebecca West” is the documentary directed by Deirdre Mulrooney. It is inspired by the exhibition “YU: The Lost Country” by photographer Dragana Jurisic and it follows the footsteps of Rebecca West’s epic 1930s travelogue “Black Lamb, Grey Falcon” about the former Yugoslavia, Jurisic’s homeland.

Introduction and post film Q&A will be with director and producer Deirdre Mulrooney.

Admission is free. In case you want to book a place, ring 01-6744888

Artists Gary Coyle and Vivienne Roche discuss their diversity of their work as artists and the range of media they use.

This is an opportunity to hear artists illustrate, discuss and answer questions on the formal and technical aspects of their practice.

Chaired by Gavin Murphy, artist and curator.

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

David Revelles and Fionbarr Moore will give talks about Spanish Armada ship wrecks in Sligo.

All details can be found on the website below.

Admission is free. (In Spanish and English with simultaneous interpreting.)

The Sugar Club will screen the UEFA Europe League Final between Manchester United and Ajax on their big cinema screen.

Admission is free. Kick off is at 19:45.

This is a public talk about the importance of making a will.

Admission is free. Booking is recommended via 01-8477781

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.

The movie Pride (2014) will be screened in Draiocht.

It’s Summer 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power, and the National Union of Mineworkers are on strike! At the Ga y Pride March in London, a group of ga y and le sbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But the only problem is the Union seems too embarrassed to receive their support.
Not discouraged, the activists ignore the Union and go direct to the miners. They identify a small mining villiage in Wales to make their donations to the community in person. This journey begins a surprising partnership between two seemingly alien comunties as they fight for the same cause.

Admission is free, but booking is required.

Candlelit Tales are inviting to a Storytelling evening with music in the Stag’s Head called “The Hitchhikers Guide to Mythology”. It is a journey through the five provinces of Ireland looking at their mythic links.

Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

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 Switcheroo” will perform in the Harbour Bar. 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.

This is a Irish Wildlife Trust organised walk in St Anne’s Park at nightfall to explore the urban biodiversity of our city. You will keep your eyes and ears open for urban wildlife such as bats, foxes and badgers and the guide will use bat detectors to allow you to hear the echolocation calls of the native Irish bats in St. Anne’s Park. You will also learn about the social structure and life cycle of the shy urban badger.

This is an evening event, involving walking on parkland and forest paths. Attendees should bring warm clothing and a small torch. The event is suitable for the whole family.

Admission is free, but booking is required via conservation@iwt.ie or 01 8602839. Meeting point is the park entrance on the corner of All Saints Road and Watermill Road.

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

The Resident Open Mic is a weekly open mic on Wednesdays with a bit of a difference: Each week a different established artist will go back to their roots by not just playing at the open mic but by hosting it. This gives the artists a chance to try out new songs, play some of their classics and most importantly it gives a chance for new songwriters to play their music in front of some of their favorite songwriters.

Admission is free.

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 Luna Boys will play a gig in the Porterhouse in Temple Bar. They call their genre “Boom Grass”, a mix of Country, Folk and Blue Grass.

Admission is free.

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

Admission is free.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

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.

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

The 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.

Ondine Dispagne is a French folk singer-songwriter who will be in Dublin for a series of gigs with local musicians, she will stop by the French Library to present some of her own compositions, both in French and English. Her songs have different folk influences, such as Celtic and African music.

Admission is free.

Zookeeper Brendan Walsh will be in the exhibition “Mammals of the World” and talk about the work he does at Dublin Zoo.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01 6486316.

From 27 April until 25 May the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama will run a Lunchtime at the Pepper Canister concert/recital series. Admission to all events will be free, but booking is advised via the Eventbrite link below.

The concerts and performers are all listed on the Eventbrite site below, but to give you a rough idea, I will list the”theme”:

27 April: Music by Britten, Traditional Irish, Scottish and Northumbrian Music
04 May: Music by Messiaen, Mower, Handel, Strauss and Dvorak
11 May: Music by Händel, Lalo, Strauss, Loewe and Walton
18 May: Music by Schubert, Bernstein and Poulenc
25 May: Music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Saint-Saens

In addition there is another concert on 04 May, this time in the Unitarian Chrurch in St. Stephen’s Green with music by Barrios, Lauro, Villa Lobos, Grandjany & Ravel.

Adele O’Dwyer cello and Thomas Charles Marshall organ will perform lunchtime recital.

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

German dramaturge, curator, writer and researcher Sandra Noeth spent a week with Dance Limerick and Dublin Dance Festival to open up new ideas and prompt critical debate around collective and co-creative relationships between dance and its social and political environments. Her explorations, collaborations and findings will be discussed at this public panel discussion.

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

“Ireland is home to 30 species of orchids, some common, some rare. Due to its varied microhabitats, the Burren has a mix of species difficult to find growing side by side anywhere else on the island. This illustrated talk by author and glasshouse foreman of the National Botanic Gardens, Brendan Sayers, will tell the individual stories of these enigmatic plants.”

Admission is free.

The Women’s Rugby World Cup Trophy will be in Dun Laoghaire County council for staff and locals to see the trophy.

Admission is free.

“The Latin glosses in the Irish Liber Hymnorum and their context in Continental Manuscripts” is a lecture by Professor Susan Boynton (Professor of Music and Historical Musicology, Columbia University) as part of the Medieval History Research Seminar series.

Admission is free.

The Alliance Francaise’s AFterwork is a special evening in their restaurant La Cocotte with live music by new French talent Ondine Dispagne, a French folk singer-songwriter coming to Dublin for a series of gigs. The music is free, the food isn’t.

The Pearse Street Library will screen a “French psychological thriller” in their International Cinema Club. The name of the film has not been revealed. The screening will be in French with English subtitles.

Admission is free.

A Bealtaine Concert with Dublin City Council Choir will take place on Thursday. This choral performance will celebrate the Bealtaine Festival. Join members of Dublin City Council choir, with Musical Director Peter O’Driscoll as they perform some classic and contemporary favourites.

Admission free. Booking is recommended via 01-6269324

Also on Thursday evening from 18:00, the Dublin City Council Annual Plant Sale will happen in Ballyfermont from 18:00. Admission is free.

Children from the travelling community in dlr County have been working on a graphic novel project in dlr LexIcon since January with author and illustrator Alan Nolan and artist Natascha Fischell. Their story is about a dog named Prince.

On Thursday their work will be launched.

Admission is free.

La tierra y la sombra / Land and Shade is a Colombian film about a family that is threatened by misplacement.

Admission is free (in Spanish with English subtitles).

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.

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher will run next Thursday. It will be an Alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

Meeting point is at the Spire. The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is required via myfavouritesdublincitywalktour@gmail.com or 085-2725095

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!

Admission is free.

BATLAS 2020 is an all-Ireland bat distribution survey of Ireland’s four common bat species (common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle, Leisler’s bat and Daubenton’s bat) and the goal is to map every 10km square across Ireland between 2016 and 2018.

Bat Conservation Ireland needs volunteers for this task and the training is the first step.

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

This is a night showcasing the huge array of talent of bands and musicians from the music college BIMM in Dublin.

Admission is free.

Hard Rock Rising is a band competition and the final is taking place on Thursday.

Admission is free.

This is a monthly music event showcasing the best of Irelands up and coming artists.

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.

The Brian Meakin Band will be playing Blues at this gig in the Harbour Bar.

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.

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.

SOMA is an indie clubnight with live band. The live band on Thursday is “The Revellions” and therir gig will be followed by SOMA DJs.

Admission is free.

Every May the Bealtaine Festival takes place all over Ireland and it “Celebrates arts and creativity as we age”. This is a difficult description as everybody ages, but the organisers “Age & Opportunity” actually want to address the “older age”. Ok, that helps a little, but not much and nobody still really knows what the target age is. In previous years, a guidance of 55+ was given but that has disappeared. In addition most 55-60 years olds wouldn’t appreciate it being classified as “older age”. ;-)

Where does that leave us? We don’t know but, I guess if you feel older, this festival is for you and if you don’t, then the festival is not for you. ;-)

There will be many events throughout May and a good few of them are free. The website doesn’t have the best search facility, but you can also download the brochure via this page (look for the Download link at the bottom). To find events go to the WHAT’S ON page on the website, but then you will have to click on “SEARCH FOR EVENT” otherwise, you will get a seemingly random list of events. (Very non-intuitive and totally unsuitable for elderly computer users!)

In “Dublin City” there are approx. 60 events, but as I said, not all are free. Oddly, the events that you find are not sorted by date, but seem to be in random order.

Over the coming 4 weeks, I will include a number of free Bealtaine events in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events, but with such a tricky search facility, I won’t be able to include all events, so please check the Bealtaine website here: www.bealtaine.ie

The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) will run from 20-29 May. There will be readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings and poetry, fiction and non-fiction will be represented.

About half of the events Some events have an admission charge and the other half a free. The programme is here www.ilfdublin.com/events or you can download the full programme here.

Most of the free events are listed here (some require registration):

Sun 21 May – 12:00: What Happens Next: The Future Of ILFDublin – Discussion
Mon 22 May – 11:00: Tom Angleberger (Groot et Rocket)
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Stray Lines at Instituto Cervantes – Reading of Comics
Mon 22 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: Circle and Square – Readings from Circle and Square
Tues 23 May – 12:00: Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards – Awards Ceremony
Tues 23 May – 18:30: Stories from the City: The Hotel Room – Theatrical Book Launch
Wed 24 May – 18:00: Stories from the City: Between the Bookcases – A Celebration of Writing Groups
Wed 24 May – 19:00: Stories from the City: Home Is… – Discussion
Fri 26 May – 09:30: Talking Translation – Towards 2022: The Irish Language Derogation in the EU
Fri 26 May – 10:30: Talking Translation – Found in Translation: Becoming a Literary Translator
Fri 26 May – 11:45: Talking Translation – In Other Words: Translating Difference
Fri 26 May – 14:30: Talking Translation – Untranslatable: Constraints in Literary Translation
Fri 26 May – 17:30: Talking Translation: Oulipolisson Theatre Performance
Sat 27 May – 12:00: Korea Focus: Han Yujoo
Mon 29 May – 12:00: Stories from the City: Culture and Identity – The Unspoken African

“Gender, citizenship and subjectivity in revolutionary Ireland and Europe” is the title of a conference in the Long Room Hub.

It will examine the manner in which ordinary, non-combatant women narrated their identities during the revolutionary period of 1917-1922 in Ireland and Europe. The symposium is led by Dr Fionnuala Walsh and Richard Gow.

Admission is free and booking is not required.

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 were provided and were meant to run for three months until end of October 2016. But the interest was so great that the OPW decided to continue the tours with a reduced schedule over the winter. And since 02 April there will be tours again every Friday and Sunday at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 + 15:00 and only 20 places are available on each 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.

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.

On the last Friday of every month, this new initiative invites members to explore and enjoy the collection 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. For further information email: bookings@museum.ie

I would think that admission is free, but you seemingly have to become a “member” first.

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

The 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.

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!

Front Line Defenders and the UCD Centre for Human Rights are inviting to “The shrinking space for European civil society – what can be done?”

“From gag laws to emergency laws, from inspections against human rights groups to the active erosion of LGBTI and migrant rights, the space in which civil society and human rights defenders can operate in Europe, as in the rest of the world, is shrinking. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), based in Vienna, is an independent body which guides and advises EU governments on the best ways to ensure protection for fundamental human rights, but how can this be achieved in an increasingly populist and challenged union?”

The director of the FRA agency, Michael O’Flaherty, will speak about what we as a society, as well as the FRA, can do in support of civil society.

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

Oulipolisson is theatre performance for the whole family from 6 years of age.

“Marie-Paule and Jean-Patrick, an eccentric couple, play with language; they fiddle with it, chant it, sing it, they make it dance, they warp it so they can reinvent it! With them, we experience Oulipian literature in 58 minutes and 22 seconds, 612 puns, 3 metaphors, 99 détournements, 1324 apocopes, dozens of alliterations, all kinds of rhyming, and other pure nonsense…”

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

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 Hard Rock Cafe presents Jack Brouwer performing his gig “Acoustic Brewtality”.

Admission is free.

Classic Rock band Revolver will play a gig in the Porterhouse Temple Bar.

Admission is free.

The Beatyard Festival is a music festival in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on 05+06 August and the launch party takes place in the Harbour Bar on Friday.

Bodytonic Music Present their monthly label club night at The Harbour with a special launch night for this year’s Beatyard Festival and you will be able to win Beatyard tickets and drinks on the night.

Admission is free.

The wedding and party band “Good Times” will be in the Liquor Rooms for a gig.

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.

Gypsy Swing Band “Off the Wagon” will play a gig.

Admission is free.

The Seattle Grunge Experience are a tribute band playing music from Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and more.

Admission is free.

Soul and Party Band “AfterParty” will play a gig in the Bowery.

Admission is free.