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.

Fingal County Council and Pentathlon Ireland are running a “Laser Run” event at Swords Castle. It is the first event of that type in Ireland and it is suitable for everyone from 8-80 years.

The idea is simple: Run at speed through a set course and then shoot on a target with a Laser pistol and then repeat that 4 times. Time and accuracy both count and the course is either 4x800m or 4x400m long.

Admission is free, but registration is required and at the time of writing this, there were still quite a number of available places. More information is on the website below and you can register here.

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

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

A whole range of Parkruns take place every week (and if you know some more, please tell me):
+ Malahide Park, Dublin Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin
+ Cabinteely Park, Old Bray Road, Cabinteely, Dublin 18
+ Shanganagh Park, Shankill, Co. Dublin
+ Marlay Park, Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, Co. Dublin
+ St. Anne’s Park, Raheny, Dublin 5
+ Father Collins Park, Donaghmeade/Clongriffin, Dublin 13
+ Tymon Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24
+ Bushy Park, Terenure, Dublin 6

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.

Connexions is a free two-day event which concentrates on digital technology, culture and education in France and Ireland. It is organised by the French Embassy and a whole range of other contributors and is for everyone interested in smart cities and our digital tomorrow.

There will be a Start-up Market, Roundtable Talks, Business Meetings and a Hackathon and the event will run from 10:00-16:30 on Saturday and until 14:00 on Sunday.

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

www.eventbrite.ie/e/connexions-tickets-37192410501?ref=devg

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 Ranelagh Arts Festival is running from 28 September until 08 October and it is made up of a whole range of gigs, walks, talks, book launches., film screenings, family events in Ranelagh. I have counted more than 30 events. I will include some separately in the Dublin Event Guide, but recommend that you check the events list that the Ranelagh Arts Centre put together here: www.facebook.com/pg/ranelaghartsfestival/events/

Most events seem to be free.

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

The exhibition will be open form 07 Sept and will run until 20 October.

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

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

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

To celebrate the Easter Rising Anniversary, admission to that exhibititon was free in 2016, but lucky for us, Dublin City decided to also waive the admission charge for 2017.

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

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

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

Admission is free.

Bees and Seeds

Bees and Seeds is an event by OWLS, the Children’s Nature Charity. It will take place in Marley Park on Dun Laoghaire Rathdown’s Pollinator Plan Day.

There will be lots of workshops for parents interested in getting your garden ready to help our bees. At the same time OWLS will work with the kids playing bee games and going on some epic conker hunts.

Admission is free, but booking is required. via education@owls.ie But since it is now probably too late to register, I still would go there and check if there are some places available.

Admission is free.

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

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Some of the events in shot form:

SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
+ 11:00 Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 13:00 James Holland: The War in The West – The Allies Fight Back, 1941 – 1943 (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 15:00 Janina Ramirez: The blending of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Christianity (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 17:00 The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 19:00 Chris Patten: First Confession: A Sort of Memoir (Printworks)
————
SUNDAY 01 OCTOBER
+ 11:00 The Social History of Modern Ireland (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 13:00 Dublin Festival of History Question Time (Printworks)
+ 15:00 The Last of the Tsars: Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution (Printworks)
+ 17:00 Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain (Printworks)
+ 19:00 Writing the History of 20th Century Europe
———–
In addition to these main talks in Printworks, there are a few other events on Saturday and Sunday and then during the week there are events every single day of the week in Dublin’s libraries and a few other venues.

Check out the full list of events in the PDF programme here.

As part of the Science Foundation Ireland funded nationwide “Problem-Solving Initiative”, the ADAPT Centre will run a Problem-Solving Festival on Saturday in Trinity College. The festival will take place in the Examination Hall in TCD, just off the Front Square.

The festival is family-friendly (starting from Age 4!) and will have activities for all ages, for example language games, logic puzzles, large-scale games, interactive workshops and lectures.

Admission is free and places at most workshops are available on a first come first served basis.

The website below lists all events.

Some of the topics are:
+ Take the Brain Health Challenge
+ Can you make icecream without a freezer?
+ Build a propeller powered car using electronic components and recycled goods
+ Discover the world of cells and DNA (ages 4-8)
+ Science and history of flight + design your own kite (Ages: 5-11)
+ Make Maths Easier: How Problem-Solving Strategies can Help (Age 12+)
+ Computational thinking for students to solve interactive tasks online (Age 8+)
+ Ciphers, logic games, brain teasers and codebreakers (Age 5+)
+ Good at Math? Code for fun? (Age 12+)
+ What, when and how much should I be eating?
+ Linguistics Olympiad Problem Solving Workshop (Age 12+)
+ Sensory Challenge: Can you tell the difference between different smells?

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.

Thomas Ashe was born in Kerry and began his teaching career 1908 as a principal in Lusk where he also founded a pipe band and the Round Towers GAA club. He was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and of the Irish Volunteers and was a commandant during the Easter Rising. He was arrested but not executed and was released in June 1917. In August he was arrested again and died during a huner strike in prison in Septermber 1917.

On Saturday the Round Tower GAA Club in Lusk is celebrating their founder with a full day of events. More information is on the website below and all events are listed on the flyer in PDF format here.

There will be a Wreath laying, then a march to the GAA club, followed by a GAA tournament, then the unveiling of a Thomas Ashe sculpture will happen. Historical talks and a documentary screening will follow and in the evening bands and a pop-up gaeltacht will conclude the celebrations.

Admission is free.

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

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

A number of Arnotts Style Session events take place this weekend:

+ 30 Sep: 12:00 – Pixi skincare masterclass with beauty and lifestyle consultant and skincare expert Caroline Hirons
+ 30 Sep: 14:00 – Meet fashion designer Millie Mackintosh
+ 30 Sep: 13:00+15:00 – Autumn/Winter Fashion Forecast with Image Editor Melanie Morris
+ 01 Oct: 12:00+14:00 – Sonia Deasy (Pestle and Mortar Founder) in conversation with Elizabeth Whelan

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

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.

Jervis SHopping centre is 21 years this September and their big birthday bash takes place on Saturday.

There will be

* Live music and DJ
* Giveaways at the Spin & Win machine to win shopping vouchers on the day
* Family entertainment including magical birthday characters, face painting and balloon modellers
* Interactive Selfie Mirror
* Birthday Prosecco & Cake (while stocks last)
* Meet & Greet with Nadia Forde
* FM104 Street Team
* Birthday Discounts in shops

Admission is free.

Junction 6 in Castleknock (or is it Blanchardstown??) are having a launch party on Saturday. There will be free fitness classes, free haircuts, kids entertainment and plenty of fun, food, refreshments, games and giveaways. IN addition there will be some surprise guests.

Admission is free. Junction 6 is directly at Junction 6 (hence the name) of the M50.

The hugely popular Oktoberfest in Dublin takes place from 14 Sept – 01 Oct again. It is a German Beer Festival with Erdinger Weissbräu Beer (including alcohol-free wheat beer), lots of German Bavarian Food and authentic Bavarian music.

There are “Themed Nights” on Monday (“Industry”), on Tuesday (“Pink Tuesday” for the LGBT* community) and on Wednesday (“Whacky Wednesday”) and there is dodgy but authentic ;-) Bavarian Music every evening in the festival tent. The food is also authentic and delicious (at least for a German like me). The beer is not cheap but you expected that. 1 Litre costs EUR 12 and 0.5 Litre is EUR 6.50

Opening hours are Mon-Thu: 12:00-23:30, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:30+17:30-23:30, Sun 12:00-22:30.

The best place to experience the festival is in the Festival Tent on the platform in George’s Dock. But because the yearly festival is soo popular, there are at times long queues due to severe admission restrictions (quantity of people) to the Festival Tent. Luckily around George’s Dock are more food and drink stalls so that you don’t HAVE to be in the Festival tent to enjoy the event. There are changes to the opening hours (much more restricted) and the admission system (admission charge on Friday and Saturday evening).

Admission is free apart from the evening slot on Friday and Saturday when admission costs EUR 10 and that includes a EUR 5 meal voucher. This is a big change from previous years when admission was always free, but a meal voucher had to be bought after 22:00. The (nonsensical!!) meal voucher system still applies from Sunday until Thursday after 22:00: If you want to buy beer after 22:00 you will have to have a wristband which you will only get if you have paid for a meal for EUR 6. This is allegedly due to licensing laws. Why nonsensical? Firstly because nobody checks if you actually ate the meal. Then nobody checks who you buy the beer for once you have a wristband and thirdly because no pub makes you buy a meal voucher.

The Fingal Festival of History will run from Fri 29 Sept until Sun 01 Oct in Newbridge House in Donabate. There will be talks, tours of Newbridge House, family-friendly history events and screenings of documentary about the Fingal Battalion in the 1916 Easter Rising.

All events are free and a full list can be found on the website below.

The events on Saturday are:

12:45-13:00 Introduction to Newbridge House – Ann Brophy
13:00-14:15 The 1916 Show – Michael Moylan
14:15-14:30 Tea / Coffee break
14:30-15:30 Embers of Empires – Hugh O’Donnell
15:30-16:30 Life in Newbridge House 1914 – 1918 – Cathal Dowd Smith

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

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

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

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.

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

The tour will focus on World War I, in which so many Irishmen died. You will also hear about the main features of the gardens at this tour.

Meeting point is the car park at 14:00 (next to the Trinity College Boat Club). For further information and to check that it is taking place, contact 01-8155914 (Farmleigh House).

The 6th yearly March for Choice takes place this Saturday. It will start at 14:00 at the Garden of Remembrance at Parnell Square (Assembly from 13:30!) and will end at Merrion Square.

The route is down O’Connell Street, then turning left onto the quays, passing by Custom House, the crossing the bridge to the Southside, turning left again onto City Quay. Then up Lombard Street, to Westland Row, via Lincoln Place to Merrion Square.

At Merrion Square there will be a number of speeches. Organiser is the Abortion Rights Campaign.

Wexford Band “Ger Fox Sailing” and support band/performer “The Man Whom” will play a gig in Sin E.

Admission is free.

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

The Soul Jackers are in the Harbour Bar to play a Soul and Lounge gig.

Admission is free.

Orwells ’84 and indie pop support band Kelso will play a gig in Whelan’s. Both are from Dundalk.

Admission is free before 22:30.

The Cosmic Funk Band from Cork will be in the Bowery for a gig and admission is free before 23:00.

Porterhouse regulars Woodsey will play a gig this Saturday.

Admission is free.

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

Admission for buyers is free.

The 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.

Connexions is a free two-day event which concentrates on digital technology, culture and education in France and Ireland. It is organised by the French Embassy and a whole range of other contributors and is for everyone interested in smart cities and our digital tomorrow.

There will be a Start-up Market, Roundtable Talks, Business Meetings and a Hackathon and the event will run from 10:00-16:30 on Saturday and until 14:00 on Sunday.

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

www.eventbrite.ie/e/connexions-tickets-37192410501?ref=devg

A Food and Craft Market is taking place again this Sunday at Farmleigh House.

Admission is free.

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

The 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.

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

The exhibition will be open form 07 Sept and will run until 20 October.

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

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

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

Admission is free.

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

The themes for the workshop are:
24 September: Paint an Autumn Scene
01 October: Visit Pumpkins in the Walled Garden
08 October: Seed Collecting in Ashtown Demesne
15 October: Medieval Life

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Some of the events in shot form:

SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
+ 11:00 Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 13:00 James Holland: The War in The West – The Allies Fight Back, 1941 – 1943 (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 15:00 Janina Ramirez: The blending of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Christianity (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 17:00 The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 19:00 Chris Patten: First Confession: A Sort of Memoir (Printworks)
————
SUNDAY 01 OCTOBER
+ 11:00 The Social History of Modern Ireland (Printworks at Dublin Castle)
+ 13:00 Dublin Festival of History Question Time (Printworks)
+ 15:00 The Last of the Tsars: Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution (Printworks)
+ 17:00 Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain (Printworks)
+ 19:00 Writing the History of 20th Century Europe
———–
In addition to these main talks in Printworks, there are a few other events on Saturday and Sunday and then during the week there are events every single day of the week in Dublin’s libraries and a few other venues.

Check out the full list of events in the PDF programme here.

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

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

Admission is free.

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

The next Pure Vintage Fair will take place this week and it is what it says on the tin. A market/flea market for vintage items, which will take place on the first Sunday of every month. There will be vintage clothes, furniture, collectibles, jewellery and many more vintage items. Sounds interesting and with 30 stalls, it is well worth a visit. There will also be food, hot drinks and a DJ.

Admission is free.

The New Market Collective is a warehouse market on the first Sunday of each month. You will find there Clothes, Accessories, Vintage, Home-Decor, Craft. Irish Design, Art, Vinyl Records, Jewellery, Food & Coffee and Live Music. There is also a Craft Corner.

Admission is free. At the same weekend the Pure Vintage Market takes place in the Food Co-op on the other side of Teelings Distillery, so you get two markets in the same place.

On World Vegetarian Day, a festival will take place in St. Andrews Research Centre. There will be a number of talks about Vegetarianism and Veganism and a Panel Discussion will happen at 15:45. A whole range of stands by interest groups and food suppliers will be in the main hall of the Resource Centre.

Admission is free.

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

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

The space will be divided by age and ability, and each child will be encouraged by Artist and NGI Education Assistant Caomhán Mac Con Iomaire and the week’s guest artist to create their own work on the week’s theme.

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

This week’s theme is: Magnus Modus

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

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

A number of Arnotts Style Session events take place this weekend:

+ 30 Sep: 12:00 – Pixi skincare masterclass with beauty and lifestyle consultant and skincare expert Caroline Hirons
+ 30 Sep: 14:00 – Meet fashion designer Millie Mackintosh
+ 30 Sep: 13:00+15:00 – Autumn/Winter Fashion Forecast with Image Editor Melanie Morris
+ 01 Oct: 12:00+14:00 – Sonia Deasy (Pestle and Mortar Founder) in conversation with Elizabeth Whelan

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

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

The Fingal Festival of History will run from Fri 29 Sept until Sun 01 Oct in Newbridge House in Donabate. There will be talks, tours of Newbridge House, family-friendly history events and screenings of documentary about the Fingal Battalion in the 1916 Easter Rising.

All events are free and a full list can be found on the website below.

The events on Sunday are:

12:00-12:15 Introduction to Newbridge House – Ann Brophy
12:15-13:00 The Kettles: An Interesting Fingal Family – Cathal Boland
13:00-13:20 Tea / Coffee break
13:20-14:20 Life in Newbridge House 1914 – 1918 – Cathal Dowd Smith
14:20-15:20 Tour of Newbridge House
15:20-16:50 Fingal’s Finest Screening

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

Admission is free.

The hugely popular Oktoberfest in Dublin takes place from 14 Sept – 01 Oct again. It is a German Beer Festival with Erdinger Weissbräu Beer (including alcohol-free wheat beer), lots of German Bavarian Food and authentic Bavarian music.

There are “Themed Nights” on Monday (“Industry”), on Tuesday (“Pink Tuesday” for the LGBT* community) and on Wednesday (“Whacky Wednesday”) and there is dodgy but authentic ;-) Bavarian Music every evening in the festival tent. The food is also authentic and delicious (at least for a German like me). The beer is not cheap but you expected that. 1 Litre costs EUR 12 and 0.5 Litre is EUR 6.50

Opening hours are Mon-Thu: 12:00-23:30, Fri+Sat: 12:00-16:30+17:30-23:30, Sun 12:00-22:30.

The best place to experience the festival is in the Festival Tent on the platform in George’s Dock. But because the yearly festival is soo popular, there are at times long queues due to severe admission restrictions (quantity of people) to the Festival Tent. Luckily around George’s Dock are more food and drink stalls so that you don’t HAVE to be in the Festival tent to enjoy the event. There are changes to the opening hours (much more restricted) and the admission system (admission charge on Friday and Saturday evening).

Admission is free apart from the evening slot on Friday and Saturday when admission costs EUR 10 and that includes a EUR 5 meal voucher. This is a big change from previous years when admission was always free, but a meal voucher had to be bought after 22:00. The (nonsensical!!) meal voucher system still applies from Sunday until Thursday after 22:00: If you want to buy beer after 22:00 you will have to have a wristband which you will only get if you have paid for a meal for EUR 6. This is allegedly due to licensing laws. Why nonsensical? Firstly because nobody checks if you actually ate the meal. Then nobody checks who you buy the beer for once you have a wristband and thirdly because no pub makes you buy a meal voucher.

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 Aisling Kenny (soprano) and Ziv Braha (lute) with “Words to move and sighs to sing: Songs for voice and lute”. They will play music by John Danyel (1564–1626), John Dowland (1563–1626) and Thomas Campion (1567–1620).

This tour of the collection is specially for children and young people, but all ages are welcome to join.

Admission is free. Meet at the Merrion Square Information Desk.

“The Last Picnic” is a Family Fun Day in Mountjoy Square Park. I don’t know if it is the last picnic before the renovation/transformation of the park or if it is the last picnic because with October here, it is getting colder and less “picnic-compatible”.

There will be music from the Dublin Concert Band, Artane Senior Band and the St. James Band, a Magic Corner with www.sillybilly.ie, an Inflatable Football Pitch and lots more.

Admission is free.

“The Ocean After Nature” (2013, 112min) by Allan Sekula and Noel Burch (The Forgotten Space) looks at the Oceans of our Earth.

“Sea trade is sometimes regarded as a relic of an older and obsolete economy. However, this film suggests that the ocean has long been ignored as a space of capitalism and a reflection of ourselves.”

Admission is free and no booking required.

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.

At “Chinese Tea with Lei Xue” you will learn about Chinese tea culture, including methods of preparation and equipment. Lei will introduce the properties of varieties of tea and explain the brewing techniques.

Admission is free.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Part of the Dublin Festival of History is the talk “Funeral of Thomas Ashe” with Dr. John Gibney. He will talk about the life of Thomas Ashe and the significance of his funeral, 100 years later.

Admission is free. Suitable for adults and children from 12 years of age.

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

“The making and mastery of Magnus Modus” is a talk by Joseph Walsh of Joseph Walsh Studio and Peter Flynn, Director of Consulting Engineers, ARUP about the creation of Magnus Modus, the specially commissioned sculpture for the Gallery’s new courtyard.

Admission is free.

The Sunday Melt Sessions in the Mezz is a whole afternoon of bands, acoustic acts, spoken word, DJs and more. The line up is available via the FB Event Page below.

Admission is free.

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

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

The event takes place every Sunday in the Cobblestone Pub.

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

The New Breadwinners are a 3-piece Bluegrass band and they are playing every Sunday in the Leeson Longe.

Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

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

Admission is free.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fiach Moriarty will play a gig in the Harbour Bar.

Admission is free.

“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 Night Before Larry Got Stretched is a traditional singing session run by a collective of young singers with an emphasis on encouraging ‘young’ singers to come together to share songs. Guests this month at The Night Before Larry Got Stretched are brother and sister, Cormac and Aoife Dermody.

Admission is free.

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

Admission is free.

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

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

The exhibition will be open form 07 Sept and will run until 20 October.

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

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks evey weekday and the full list of events can be found in the PDF programme here.

Here are just a SMALL number of suggestions:

Mon 02 Oct 17:30 JFK and the summer of 1963: Civil rights, Cold War politics and an Irish homecoming (Raheny Library)
Mon 02 Oct 18:30 Language, Surveillance, and Memory-Making in WWI Fiction (Rathmines Library)
Tue 03 Oct 13:10 The October Revolution: Bolshevik dreams and Russian realities (Dublin City Hall)
Tue 03 Oct 18:30 Dissecting the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons (Pearse Street Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Policing Hong Kong – an Irish History: Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force 1864-1950 (Raheny Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Torpedoed: the Sinking of the S.S. Hare and S.S. Adela, December 1917 (Ringsend Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The GAA and the Irish Revolution (Donaghmeade Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The life of Rosa Luxembourg (Ballyfermot Library)
Fri 06 Oct 18:30 Resistance to authority in Ireland, 1917 –1918 (DCU St. Patrick’s Campus)

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

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

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

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

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

www.bookdepository.com?a_aid=dubevg

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

Trevor White, the author of “Alfie, The Life and Times of Alfie Byrne” will be in Eason’s to talk to Matt Cooper about the book and Alfie Byrne, the former Mayor of Dublin.

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

The Abbey Theatre is home of “Ulysses” a new play from 03 October-28 October. It is Dermot Bolger’s adaptation of James Joyce’s book.

On 02 Oct, the Abbey is inviting to a preview and all tickets for the preview are free, but tickets will only be given out that evening in a first come first services basis. The play starts at 19:30, the tickets will be given out from 18:30, but the queue already starts at around or even before 16:30, so if you want to make it in, you HAVE to be very early.

Lisa Canny from Mayo will play a gig in the Bowery. The Bowery claims that the starting time is 17:00 but that is HIGHLY unlikely, I went for the arbitrary strating time of 19:30.

The event is part of the Bowery’s Oktoberfest and admission is free.

Table Top At Token is Table Top Gaming/Board Gaming event. The organisers bring some boardgames for people to play but feel free to bring your own.

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).

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

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

Admission is free.

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

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

Singer/Songwriter Ollie Moyles will play a gig in McSoreley’s.

Admission is free.

Howard Linnane is inviting to a short film evening on Monday in the Ranelagh Arts Centre, as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival..

Admission is free.

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

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

Admission is free.

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks evey weekday and the full list of events can be found in the PDF programme here.

Here are just a SMALL number of suggestions:

Mon 02 Oct 17:30 JFK and the summer of 1963: Civil rights, Cold War politics and an Irish homecoming (Raheny Library)
Mon 02 Oct 18:30 Language, Surveillance, and Memory-Making in WWI Fiction (Rathmines Library)
Tue 03 Oct 13:10 The October Revolution: Bolshevik dreams and Russian realities (Dublin City Hall)
Tue 03 Oct 18:30 Dissecting the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons (Pearse Street Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Policing Hong Kong – an Irish History: Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force 1864-1950 (Raheny Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Torpedoed: the Sinking of the S.S. Hare and S.S. Adela, December 1917 (Ringsend Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The GAA and the Irish Revolution (Donaghmeade Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The life of Rosa Luxembourg (Ballyfermot Library)
Fri 06 Oct 18:30 Resistance to authority in Ireland, 1917 –1918 (DCU St. Patrick’s Campus)

A Vintage clothes fair for UCD students is taking place on Tuesday.

Admission is free.

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

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

The Chester Beatty Library is running an interactive tour specially designed for people living with dementia and their loved ones. Take a break from the everyday and enjoy an afternoon of conversations on art and life in general. It will start with a relaxing tea or coffee in the Silk Road Café before wyou will go on a tour of the library’s collections.

Admission is free, but there are only 10 places and booking is required via Heidi Campbell on 01 4070766.

This is a free pop-up talk about Richard Thomas Moynan’s “Military Manoeuvres”, with Eimear Murphy.

Admission is free. Meet in front of the painting in Room 17.

The talk “Writing Memoir & Family History” with Irene Graham (Book Writing Coach & author of The Memoir Writing Workbook).

If you are writing, or thinking of writing your memoirs and family history, ypu will get advise about writing your memoirs.

Admission is free, but booking is required via learning@nli.ie

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

The topic this month is “Ireland’s Groundwater”.

Alex Russell (PhD researcher at UCD) will give a general overview of the quality of groundwater in Ireland (natural water chemistry and geology) but also cover contemporary issues in regard to climate change etc. For example, in Ireland, up to 25% of drinking water supplies are sourced from groundwater, with a particular importance in rural areas where public supplies are often unavailable. However, in Ireland private wells remain unregulated for quality testing, potentially leading to significant unknown exposures to contaminated waters.

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

At “Harp, Poetry and Pipes: An evening of poetry and music” Harpist Kathleen Loughnane will perform newly arranged music from the Patrick O’Neill manuscript collection in the NLI, with Cormac Cannon on uileann pipes and Catriona Cannon on harp.
Poet Moya Cannon will read a number of poems as part of the performance.

“The repertoire for the evening will include the music of the harper composers such as the Connellan brothers and Turlough O’Carolan. However, the programme will primarily be made up of newly arranged music from the manuscripts of Patrick O’Neill (Pádraig O’Neill) of Owning, Co. Kilkenny (1765 -1832) which are part of the NLI’s manuscripts collection. The collection gives a window on the musical and cultural life of Tipperary during the late 18th Century.”

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Mark Olson (The Jayhawks) & Ingunn Ringvold are playing Alternative Country/Americana at this gig in Bray.

Admission is free.

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

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

Admission is free.

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

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

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

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

Admission is free. Max team size is 6 people.

For years, this event was one of the most popular monthly events with a HUGE amount of people taking part. But since July, it was more or less terminated for all of us in Dublin.

The Free Wednesday (currently) still continues outside of Dublin, but the interesting heritage sites in Dublin have been removed from the list. “Free Wednesday” is the first Wednesday every month when entry charges at some state-owned heritage sites are waived.

The sites are all owned by the state and managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Many OPW managed sites can already be visited for free (e.g. Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park, National Botanic Gardens, Pearse Museum, etc), but some sites that normally charge a fee will be free every first Wednesday as well.

Regrettably Kilmainham Gaol and Dublin Castle were removed from this great initiative and The Casino in Marino is still closed for an indefinite period of time, so the only site in Dublin that is still taking part (for another bit!?) is Rathfarnham Castle.

Outside but near to Dublin, you can visit
+ Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre at Newgrange
+ Glendalough Visitor Centre in Wicklow
free of charge. The full list of sites in Ireland is here.

However, as you can imagine, this event is very popular and therefore it is strongly recommended to arrive early at the venues. Once the day’s tickets are given out, you will not get access anymore.

Liz O’Neill (Dr of Osteopathic Medicine + Play Therapist) will talk about how Osteopathy can support breastfeeding and about how to support siblings with the arrival of a new baby to the family.

Admission is free.

Did you ever want to give drawing a go? Or maybe you are a budding artist looking for like-minded people to draw with? The Creative Den in Rua Red runs free weekly drawing sessions on Wednesdays at 11:00.

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks evey weekday and the full list of events can be found in the PDF programme here.

Here are just a SMALL number of suggestions:

Mon 02 Oct 17:30 JFK and the summer of 1963: Civil rights, Cold War politics and an Irish homecoming (Raheny Library)
Mon 02 Oct 18:30 Language, Surveillance, and Memory-Making in WWI Fiction (Rathmines Library)
Tue 03 Oct 13:10 The October Revolution: Bolshevik dreams and Russian realities (Dublin City Hall)
Tue 03 Oct 18:30 Dissecting the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons (Pearse Street Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Policing Hong Kong – an Irish History: Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force 1864-1950 (Raheny Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Torpedoed: the Sinking of the S.S. Hare and S.S. Adela, December 1917 (Ringsend Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The GAA and the Irish Revolution (Donaghmeade Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The life of Rosa Luxembourg (Ballyfermot Library)
Fri 06 Oct 18:30 Resistance to authority in Ireland, 1917 –1918 (DCU St. Patrick’s Campus)

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

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

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

“Flies, what are they good for?” is a Natural History Museum, London, Case Study.

Dr Erica McAlister (Senior Curator at the Natural History Museum, London) will discuss her research about flies as a case study to illustrate the studies that the Natural History Museum, London undertakes with both dead and living specimens from the natural world.

Flies are the nuisance species of the planet – hated, demonised and blamed for the worst of human suffering. But Erica will explore is this really the case?

Admission is free, but booking is required via educationnh@museum.ie or 01 6486 316. Suitable for adults. The talk will be in the Kildare Room in the Museum of Archaeology on Kildare St.

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 “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.

Jervis Shopping Centre will run their yearly student lock-in event on Wednesday. There will be live music, entertainment, a free papmer zone, giveaways and – the main thing – lots of discounts in the shops in the shopping centre. And if that is not enough – student life seems to have improved a lot – there is also free car parking! ;-)

Admission is free, but pre-registration is required via the link on the facebook page below.

In advance of the Science Gallery’s February 2018 exhibition FAKE which looks at everything from biomimicry to forged documents and scandals to substitutes, curator Oron Catts talks about the transformation of life forms that have been intentionally manipulated by humans into cultural objects.

“This talk will probe this point in time, when biology is becoming an engineering pursuit, life becomes a raw material, and the biotech industry is aiming to develop consumer products; capturing the public imaginary with fantastic stories of hope and horror ushered by the new biological age. In the context of the up and coming FAKE exhibition at Science Gallery Dublin, Oron will explore how the different social contracts of science, engineering, art and design are been exploited to generate different narratives of the new ecology of the made and the grown.”

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

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 Roots Band “Brand New Switcharoo” 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.

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 new 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.

Punk Rock band “Sketch Pistols” will play a gig in Sin E.

Unfortunately, the Sin E doesn’t mention again if the gig is free or not.

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).

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

The exhibition will be open form 07 Sept and will run until 20 October.

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

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks evey weekday and the full list of events can be found in the PDF programme here.

Here are just a SMALL number of suggestions:

Mon 02 Oct 17:30 JFK and the summer of 1963: Civil rights, Cold War politics and an Irish homecoming (Raheny Library)
Mon 02 Oct 18:30 Language, Surveillance, and Memory-Making in WWI Fiction (Rathmines Library)
Tue 03 Oct 13:10 The October Revolution: Bolshevik dreams and Russian realities (Dublin City Hall)
Tue 03 Oct 18:30 Dissecting the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons (Pearse Street Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Policing Hong Kong – an Irish History: Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force 1864-1950 (Raheny Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Torpedoed: the Sinking of the S.S. Hare and S.S. Adela, December 1917 (Ringsend Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The GAA and the Irish Revolution (Donaghmeade Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The life of Rosa Luxembourg (Ballyfermot Library)
Fri 06 Oct 18:30 Resistance to authority in Ireland, 1917 –1918 (DCU St. Patrick’s Campus)

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 every day of the week. Currently there is at least one free tour every day. Check their website for details. Some special events will be listed separately.

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

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

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

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

Admission is free.

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.

The Italian painter, sculptor and poet Domingo Notaro is coming to Trinity College Dublin for the launch of his new book “From the Unreached Let Perception Radiate”. Giovanni Adorni Braccesi, Ambassador of Italy, will attend the event and it will be hosted by Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin and Enrica Maria Ferrara.

The event will be in English with readings in Italian and English.

Admission is free and there will be a wine reception.

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

The next series will take place on Thursdays from 18:30-20:00 between 21 Sept and 26 October.

Admission is free, but booking is required here. All topics and speakers are listed on that same website, but to make it easier for you, they are also here:

21 Sept: Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur – How You Can Create and Produce Ideas
28 Sept: Creating the best Business Plan for your Business
05 Oct: Market Research Skills – What You Need To Do To Be Successful
12 Oct: Managing your Online Presence – Having A Digital Plan To Help You Increase Sales
19 Oct: Financial Support and Grants for Entrepreneurs
26 Oct: Essential Supports and Services for Entrepreneurs – Who’s Out There To Help You

These free tours are for people who are hard of hearing or have hearing impairments. Listening devices will be utilised to increase enjoyment and engagement with the reopened gallery and the national collection.

Admission is free and booking is not required. Meet at the Merrion Square Information Desk.

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

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

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

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

Admission is free.

Crystal Skull Sessions is a band competition and the final will take place on Thursday. You, the audience, will vote the winner.

Admission is free and the line-up is on the Facebook Page below.

The Harbour Bar has live music every evening of the week and Thursday and Friday of this week will be no difference. However, they haven’t updated their website at the time of writing this, so you will have to check yourself who will be performing. Check it here: www.theharbourbar.ie/whats-on

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.

Indie Rock band Sideline Fire and garage rock band Chinese Newspaper will play a gig in Whelan’s.

Admission is free before 22:30.

Supertonic Sound Club, a Soul/Funk/Ska/Reggae band will play a gig in Ranelagh.

Admission is free.

Supertonic Sound Club, a Soul/Funk/Ska/Reggae band will play a gig in Ranelagh.

Admission is free.

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

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

Since 1988, the Irish Army doesn’t use the Fort anymore and gave it back to the Office of Public Works (OPW), but not much good has happened to the Fort in the last 28 years (!!) and there were numerous speculations about the reasons for that.

Finally since last year, guided tours 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.

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

The exhibition will be open form 07 Sept and will run until 20 October.

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

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

To celebrate the Easter Rising Anniversary, admission to that exhibititon was free in 2016, but lucky for us, Dublin City decided to also waive the admission charge for 2017.

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

The Dublin Festival of History runs from 29 September until 14 October and is brought to you by Dublin’s Libraries and Dublin City. There are more than 90 events and all are free.

There is something wrong with the festival website website: I can’t reach it because my virus scanners block the site and report Malware on the site. The people running the site think all is harmless and it might be a false alarm. I will not risk it anymore and instead have now a PDF version of the programme and made it available via the Dublin Event Guide website so that you can use it as well if you want. The brochure can be downloaded here.

Most of the events during the week take place in Dublin’s libraries and just a few other venues. There are talks evey weekday and the full list of events can be found in the PDF programme here.

Here are just a SMALL number of suggestions:

Mon 02 Oct 17:30 JFK and the summer of 1963: Civil rights, Cold War politics and an Irish homecoming (Raheny Library)
Mon 02 Oct 18:30 Language, Surveillance, and Memory-Making in WWI Fiction (Rathmines Library)
Tue 02 Oct 13:10 The October Revolution: Bolshevik dreams and Russian realities (Dublin City Hall)
Tue 02 Oct 18:30 Dissecting the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons (Pearse Street Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Policing Hong Kong – an Irish History: Irishmen in the Hong Kong Police Force 1864-1950 (Raheny Library)
Wed 04 Oct 18:30 Torpedoed: the Sinking of the S.S. Hare and S.S. Adela, December 1917 (Ringsend Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The GAA and the Irish Revolution (Donaghmeade Library)
Thu 05 Oct 18:30 The life of Rosa Luxembourg (Ballyfermot Library)
Fri 06 Oct 18:30 Resistance to authority in Ireland, 1917 –1918 (DCU St. Patrick’s Campus)

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

Admission to the gallery and to most events is free.

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

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

Anne Stewart (Curator of Fine Art, National Museums Northern Ireland) will talk about “Bringing Goya to Belfast: The Disasters of War at the Ulster Museum”.

Admission is free.

The film “Adieu Mères (Goodbye Mothers)” will be screened as part of the Dublin Arabic Film Festival 2017. It will be in Arabic/French with English subtitles.

Set in Casablanca, this tragic and poignant tale depicts the rise in tensions between the city’s Jewish and Muslim communities and divisions between families, relationships and friends. A thought-provoking and captivating drama, starring Rachid El Ouali. (2007, CLUB, 115min).

Admission is free and no booking required.

This is a special behind-the-scenes tour of the armoury, where the Museum’s arms collection is stored, with curator Lar Joye.

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

A Comedy night called “No Bones about it” is taking place every Friday in the Generator Hostel and admission is free.

Find out more details and line-up on the Facebook page 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 Stillorgan Orchard has live music every Friday and Saturday. Many of the performers are established and very good bands. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below. Admission is always free.

The Harbour Bar has live music every evening of the week and Thursday and Friday of this week will be no difference. However, they haven’t updated their website at the time of writing this, so you will have to check yourself who will be performing. Check it here: www.theharbourbar.ie/whats-on

The New Love & Terror Cult present the following line-up on Friday

Montauk Hotel 22:45-23:45
Safari 21:45-22:30
Death In The Sickroom 20:45-21:30

Admission is free.

On the first Friday of every month the great Ska, Reggae and Rocksteady band “The Bionic Rats” will be in the Grand Social.

Admission is free.