Events

Sundays 4, 11, 18, 25 August 2024 | 12pm

Join us for a special, limited run of ‘An Afternoon with Oscar Wilde’, an adaptation of Neil Titley’s 'Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes'. Wonderfully witty and sincere in equal measure, this performance by actor Will Govan will teleport audience goers to 1898 Paris, one year after Wilde’s release from prison.

UK born actor Will Govan attended the Heatherley School of Fine Art in London, before pursuing a career in publishing & journalism as the co-founder of The Moth magazine. Having performed Shakespeare in his youth, Will has recently returned to his first artistic love and revived the award-winning Moth Productions theatre to take on the role of Oscar Wilde in 'Work is the Curse of the Drinking Classes'.

Round off your Bloomsday celebrations at the MoLI Bloomsday Garden Party – held across the museum’s beautiful exhibitions and gardens from 7pm to 10pm on Sunday, 16 June. Celebrate 102 years of Joyce’s Ulysses with a glass in hand and live music from Ireland’s most exciting musicians and rappers. Their adventures with language echoes Joyce’s own fearlessness with words.

Celine is a talented musician known for her unique style and storytelling in true rap. She has gained a strong following for her emotional lyrics and captivating performances.

Offica has redefined what it means to be an Irish rapper, breaking records with a run of classic singles and game-changing freestyles. He has carved a niche for himself by seamlessly incorporating Irish and Yoruba slang into his lyrics, providing a unique window into his culture and identity.

Emmy Shigeta is a Japanese DJ whose love for music developed while working in a record store in Tokyo. Now based in Dublin, she loves to play ambient (環境音楽), city pop, and the latest underground J-pop in various venues and on her monthly Dublin Digital Radio show.

Guaranteed to be a highlight of the summer!

Join us at MoLI on Friday, 3 May, for First Fridays! The museum will be open late from 6pm until 9pm, with free admission and special events throughout the evening.

6.30pm | Film | Old Physics Theatre
Údar agus Agallamh: Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh
Irish language poet Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh speaks to Cearbhall Ó Síocháin about her life and work. Includes English subtitles. Presented in partnership with IMRAM.

8pm | Music | Aula Maxima
Larissa O’Grady
Violinist Larissa O’Grady gives a solo performance in our resonant exhibition spaces.

First Fridays is presented with the support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

Join MoLI and UCD for the latest in a series called 'UCD Writers in Conversation'. For the this conversation, Sarah Gilmartin will be in conversation with Catherine Higgins-Moore.

Sarah Gilmartin is a critic who reviews fiction for the Irish Times. She is co-editor of the anthology Stinging Fly Stories and has an MFA from University College Dublin. She won Best Playwright at the inaugural Short+Sweet Dublin festival. Her short stories have been published in The Dublin Review, The Tangerine and New Irish Writing. Her story ‘The Wife’ won the 2020 Máirtín Crawford Award at Belfast Book Festival. Her debut novel Dinner Party was an Irish Times bestseller and was shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the A Post Irish Book Awards.

Join MoLI on 3 and 4 February for the annual UCD Alumni Weekend in MoLI. UCD Alumni can visit the museum for free using the code ALUMNI24. You can purchase your tickets online or at reception on the day.

Explore the exhibitions and gardens, take a free guided tour, or grab lunch in the Commons Café. Alumni can avail of 10% off in the shop on the day, as well as 50% off MoLI membership.

Join us on 2 February from 6pm for First Fridays! The museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a talk at 6.30pm featuring artist Claire Prouvost and a reading at 8pm by writer Rosemary Hennigan.

It is also a great opportunity to check out the new exhibition, Ink & Imagination, or to catch Claire-Louise Bennett's audiovisual installation Nightflowers, which closes on 18 February.

The Commons Café is also open late!

Join us on 1 December from 6pm for First Fridays! The museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a range of programmed events. Electronic musician Ordnance Survey will launch a new album, Turas, with a sound installation and short film by Martin Healy, there is a talk by Portuguese director Marco Martins, and poet Lianne O'Hara will read from her work. We will have a limited number of bespoke cocktails, courtesy of the Dublin Liberties Distillery. The Commons Café is also open late!

What better way could their be to start December?

Step behind the curtain and into the restless, illusory world of Claire-Louise Bennett’s Nightflowers, an immersive new installation at MoLI created by the internationally acclaimed author of Pond and Checkout 19. Part noir-tinged memory palace, part luscious fever dream, Bennett’s text is performed movingly and intimately by the writer herself. Take a seat in this darkened, amniotic space, and let the words flow around you.

Journeying deep into a haunted interior, Bennett’s Nightflowers is buzzing with vivid, unforgettable images, colours and aromas: baroque tableaus of oranges rotting in the street or candlelit tables filled with resplendent dishes, as well as more mundane flashes of daily life: an irritatingly flimsy shower screen, or cardboard boxes overflowing with unwanted travel brochures.

Bennett’s new commission is especially poignant against a backdrop of the precarious and traumatic reality of housing in contemporary Ireland: the protagonist obsesses on having and not having a home, while gently mocking the conventions of domestic space, and how our lives and interactions are shaped by the four walls around us. Barely containing a lingering promise of violence and destruction, the nocturnal haze of Nightflowers sparkles with Bennett’s arrow-sharp prose.

The Holy Hour: A Requiem for Brendan Behan, which opens on 10 March 2023, reframes the long-caricatured Dublin writer and goes in search of a truer picture of Behan as a man and as an artist. Created by author Patrick McCabe (The Butcher Boy, Breakfast on Pluto, Poguemahone), the exhibition celebrates the centenary of Behan’s birth, and mourns the essential tragedy of his short life.

In this captivating audio-visual installation, McCabe brings visitors on a profound, often hilarious – and at times almost psychedelic – voyage through glimpses of Behan’s life and work. Through the prism of the Roman Catholic liturgy, McCabe’s Holy Hour blends archive footage, heavy lashings of music, and Behan’s own words to cast the Dublin writer in a more nuanced light.

Visit MoLI on 1 September from 6pm for First Fridays! The museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including a discussion with poets Nithy Kasa and Padraig Regan, who will be talking about recent Decade of Centenaries commissions with fellow poet Julie Morrissy, as well as a reading by Kerri ní Dochartaigh. The Commons Café is also open late!

Join MoLI and UCD’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion programme on Tuesday, 18 July, at 7pm for a live filming of Past/Present/Pride. For the event, Dr Paul D’Alton will speak to writer Katherine O'Donnell. Katherine O'Donnell is Professor of the History of Ideas at UCD School of Philosophy. She has published widely on the history of gender, Irish cultural history and particularly on Edmund Burke. O’Donnell has been an activist/advocate for many years, most notably with the Justice for Magdalenes Campaign and, more generally, with feminist justice issues and the LGBTQ+ community. Her first novel, Slant, was published this year.

Join us on Friday, 7 July, from 6pm for First Fridays! The museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including a discussion with poets Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, Bebe Ashley, and Julie Morrissy and a reading by writer Eimear Ryan. The Dublin Liberties Distillery will be offering free Dubliner whiskey tasting samples and the Commons Café is open late!

MoLI, in partnership with the Embassy of Poland in Ireland, presents Szymborska at 100. Join us on Sunday, 28 May, from 12pm for an afternoon of reflections, readings and music, featuring poets Jessica Traynor and Harry Clifton and author Michal Rusinek.

Join Ebow and MoLI on Friday, 2 June, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays. The museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including a talk by artist Austin Hearne and a reading by author Disha Bose. It is also a great opportunity to catch the new immersive installation, Claire-Louise Bennett's Nightflowers.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served. The Commons Café will also be open late.

Join Ebow and MoLI on Friday, 5 May, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays. The museum will be open late, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including a talk by artist Michelle Malone, a reading by Nandi Jola, and a DJ set by Wastefellow.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served. The Commons Café will also be open late and the atmosphere is wonderful!

For the MoLI May Director's Book Club – on Tuesday, 30 May at 5pm on Zoom– there will be a reading from Anne Enright's novel, The Gathering, with the author joining to discuss the book.

You can check the latest MoLI Members' Bulletin for details, or become a member today to join the book club. We also have a number of copies of the book available in the MoLI shop, as well as a book bundle featuring the books for the first three book club sessions.

Join us at MoLI on Friday, 7 April, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays. The museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including a performance by Varo and a reading by Audrey Magee.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served. The Commons Café will also be open late and the atmosphere is wonderful!

For the March Director's Book Club – on Tuesday, 28 March, at 5pm on Zoom– there will be a reading of Brendan Behan's book, The Borstal Boy, with writer Patrick McCabe joining the zoom to discuss the book.

Check the latest MoLI Members' Bulletin for details, or become a member today to join the book club.
There are also have a number of copies of the book available in the MoLI shop, as well as a book bundle featuring the books for the first three book club sessions.

Join us @MOLI on Friday, 3 February, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays. he museum will be open late, until 9pm, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including an interview with the creative team behind 'all these words' and a reading by poet Victoria Kennefick.

The Commons Café will also be open late.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served. The Commons Café will also be open late.

Bring a friend to MoLI for free this bank holiday weekend! The Museum of Literature is open all weekend, including Monday, and there is a 2 for 1 on adult tickets.

Explore the exhibitions, get brunch in the Commons, or wander through MoLI's gardens to the Iveagh Gardens!

Join us @MOLI on Friday, 3 February, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays. The museum will be open late, with free admission and a range of programmed events, including a talk by Clare O'Connor on climate action and a reading by Nithy Kasa.

The Commons Café will also be open late.

Please note for February all events are extremely limited capacity (due to performances of Ulysses 2.2 Episode 18 – Old Ghosts taking place in the museum) and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Your ticket does not guarantee entry to the events, just to the exhibitions.

For MoLI's next Director's Book Club – on Tuesday, 31 January, at 5pm– will be reading Alice Ryan's debut novel, There’s Been a Little Incident, with the author joining us to discuss the book. Check the latest MoLI Members' Bulletin for details, or become a member today to join the book club. They also have a number of copies of the book available in the MoLI shop, as well as a book bundle featuring the books for the first three book club session .

“I like this lonely spot better than anywhere in Ireland. The golden mountains of Ireland stretch before me. The sea is dashing itself against the rocks and rushing into the black coves and ravines where the seals live.”

— Peig Sayers, An Old Woman’s Reflections

Ireland is a great literary nation. But written stories, poems and plays are not our only kind of literature – they are the tip of the iceberg. For centuries before literacy was the norm, people created and produced many genres of fiction, poetry and drama. They didn’t write their creations down – they told them.

Peig Sayers (1873-1958) was a contemporary of James Joyce (1882-1941). Like him, she had an exceptional mastery of language, a vivid imagination and an irrepressible creative urge. Sayers could write, but her greatest achievement was as an oral storyteller, in her native Irish language.
She is best known for her autobiography, Peig, a Scéal Féin, first published in 1936 and on the Irish school curriculum from 1962-1995. Peig the book does not give a full picture of Sayers – the greatest storyteller in a community of great storytellers, the Blasket Islands and Dún Chaoin. This exhibition tells that captivating story.

To mark a century of Ulysses, three of Ireland’s most innovative arts organisations and practitioners – ANU, Landmark Productions and MoLI – have joined together to present Ulysses 2.2, a year-long, nationwide odyssey of creative responses to the 18 episodes that chronicle an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom.

Join us on Friday, 4 November, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays.

MoLI is open late with free admission and a range of events. This edition of First Fridays is presented in partnership with the Dublin Review and includes a panel discussion with Niamh Campbell, Rob Doyle and Kevin Power, a reading by Maggie Armstrong, and a soundscape featuring the short story 'Metronome' by Sara Keating.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served.

The Commons Café will also be open late.

6pm–9pm Sound Installation 'Metronome' by Sara Keating
6.30pm Discussion Dublin Review Conversations 2022: The Writer and The City
8.00pm Reading Maggie Armstrong

Join us on Friday, 4 November, from 6pm to 9pm for First Fridays! MoLI is open late with free admission and a range of events. This edition of First Fridays is presented in partnership with the Dublin Review and includes a panel discussion with Niamh Campbell, Rob Doyle and Kevin Power, a reading by Maggie Armstrong, and a soundscape featuring the short story 'Metronome' by Sara Keating.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served.

The Commons Café will also be open late.

6pm–9pm Sound Installation 'Metronome' by Sara Keating
6.30pm Discussion Dublin Review Conversations 2022: The Writer and The City
8.00pm Reading Maggie Armstrong

Join us at MoLI on Friday, 7 October, from 6pm for First Fridays! MoLI is open from 6pm until 9pm (last admission 8pm), with free admission and a range of programmed events. It is also a great chance to catch the new exhibitions, Into the Island, which focuses on Peig Sayers and the Blasket storytelling tradition, and Lost in a Ceo, the accompanying video installation by Gary Coyle.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served.

To coincide with MoLI exhibition Literary Cities: Edinburgh, MoLI hosts a series of events at the museum featuring some of the most important established and up-and-coming names in Irish and Scottish writing and music. The final event in the Myth, Story, Song series takes place on Thursday, 20 October, at 7pm in MoLI. Iconic Stories and Storytellers will present some of the most important and established storytellers from Scotland and Ireland for readings and conversation, against a backdrop of performances by two legendary singers.

The event will feature writers Patrick McCabe and Kirstin Innes in conversation, alongside musicians Eddi Reader and John Francis Flynn.

This event is now sold out.

To coincide with our exhibition Literary Cities: Edinburgh, MoLI is hosting a series of four events at the museum in April, May, September and October, featuring some of the most important established and up-and-coming names in Irish and Scottish writing and music.

Our third event in the Myth/Story/Song series takes place on 22 September at 8pm in MoLI. Inspiring Places and People will focus on the importance of place and landscape in writing and song, and will present writers and musicians who are deeply inspired by their native soil. The event will feature writers Kathleen Jamie, Leyla Josephine and Roddy Doyle in conversation, alongside Scottish piper Brìghde Chaimbeul, who will collaborate with Irish folk singer Radie Peat (Lankum) on new works, as well as performing music from their catalogues.

Kindly supported by the Scottish Government in Ireland, the British Embassy, and Ebow, the digital agency.

We will be proudly attending this year's Culture Night at MoLI.

Come along and say on Friday, 23 September, from 5pm to 11pm (last admission 10.30pm). The museum will be open late with free admission and a range of programmed events including readings, performances and much more.

MoLI’s programme for the night includes readings from Danny Denton, Eileen Flynn, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Kit Fryatt, Melatu Uche Okorie and Nicole Flattery, performances by Samuel Yakura and Kayssie K, and music from Ultan O’Brien & Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Maija Sofia.

Their family-friendly space, the LitLab, will be open and will have three storytelling and art and craft workshops for parents/guardians and children with illustrators Olivia Hope and Paddy Donnelly and artists Klo Wi and Zippy.

Join MoLI on Friday, 2 September, from 6pm for First Fridays! They have a busy programme in store, including the launch of a new Brian Friel-inspired online exhibition., Don't anticipate the ending, which includes a conversation with the creative team behind the exhibition and a screening of the films from the exhibition. There will also be a reading by writer Aingeala Flannery and a performance by poet Hazel Hogan, as well as complimentary cocktails from 6pm, kindly provided by Teeling Distillery.

This event is supported by The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as part of the Night-Time Economy Support Scheme.

BOOK TICKETS

Join MoLI on Friday, 5 August, from 6pm for First Fridays! This month they have some very exciting pop-up events, including an interview with Conner Habib, who will be in conversation with Sarah Maria Griffin about his debut novel Hawk Mountain and a reading by writer Suad Aldarra who will be reading from her remarkable new memoir, I Don't Want to Talk About Home. It is also a great chance to catch new exhibitions, Into the Island, which focuses on Peig Sayers and the Blasket storytelling tradition, and Lost in a Ceo, the accompanying video installation by Gary Coyle. The Commons Café will also be open late.

Please note all events are limited capacity and first come, first served. Your ticket does not guarantee entry to the events, just to the exhibitions.

BOOK TICKETS

21 June 2022 | 18.30 | Aula Maxima, MoLI

This event is now sold out.

Presented by MoLI in partnership with Skein Press.

Through poetry, imagery and lyric prose, writers Kerri ní Dochartaigh and Mícheál McCann in collaboration with photographer Michelle Moloney and artist and bookmaker Éilis Murphy from Folded Leaf explore the seeds of beginnings and endings, and the search for places where we find ourselves and each other. Filled with hope and elegy, these evocative reflections offer a measure of grace, solace and renewal. This event to launch Waking Light will feature discussion and readings from the collection.

All day youd never know, 11.00am–4pm

First Annual Dedalus Lecture: Paul Muldoon, 5pm

Bloomsday Garden Party, 7pm–10pm

Click the link below to view the full schedule and

2 February 2022 - 31 December 2022 | 00.00 | Various venues

To mark a century of Ulysses, three of Ireland’s most innovative arts organisations and practitioners – ANU, Landmark Productions and MoLI – have joined together to present Ulysses 2.2, a year-long, nationwide odyssey of creative responses to the 18 episodes that chronicle an ordinary day in the life of Leopold Bloom.

Join MoLI on Friday, 3 June, from 6pm for First Fridays. We have free admission from 6pm until 9pm (last admission 8pm). This month is a special Pride edition, with a live recording of our popular series Past/Present/Pride with screenwriter and playwright Sonya Kelly, as well as a performance by singer/songwriter Ellie O'Neill. Explore our exhibitions – it is the last chance to catch our Ulysses treasure hunt, which closes at the end of June!

For the next Director's Book Club – at 5pm on Wednesday, 1 June – we will be reading Louise Kennedy's new book, Trespasses, with the author joining us to discuss the book.
Check the latest MoLI Members' Bulletin for details, or become a member today to join the book club.

MoLI also have a number of copies of the book available in the MoLI shop.

For our next Director's Book Club – on Wednesday, 9 February – we will be reading Ambassador Daniel Mulhall's new book, Ulysses: A Reader's Odyssey, with the author joining us to discuss the book. Check the latest MoLI Members' Bulletin for details, or become a member today to join the book club.

Their also have a number of copies of the book available in the MoLI shop.

The 'Literary Cities' exhibition series at MoLI explores Ireland's rich literary heritage abroad, celebrating the unifying ties of the Irish cultural diaspora to chosen cities across the world. Following on from our Paris exhibition, Edinburgh will be opened by special guests including the UK Ambassador to Ireland Paul Johnston and Head of the Scottish Government in Ireland Katy McNeil.

Proudly supported by Ebow The Digital Agency.

‘In Dublin they really tell you things – Pat Ingoldsby, Selected Poems 1986 – 2021’

In March the Museum of Literature Ireland will host a beautiful new video installation, In Dublin They Really Tell You Things (directed by Seamus Murphy) and, to celebrate this launch, will publish a first ever Selected Poems of Pat Ingoldsby. ‘In Dublin they really tell you things‘ will be a beautiful limited edition hardback spanning Pat’s life as a poet and gathers together for the first time poems from across Pat’s published works (and some unpublished poems including poems written during the Covid-19 pandemic).

Join us for First Fridays on Friday, 4 March, with free admission from 6pm until 9pm (last admission 8pm). Book now to discover a reading by writer Sheila Armstrong, as well as a performance by Dagogo Hart (all events are limited capacity and on a first come, first served basis). Explore our exhibitions, including our brand new exhibition —Love, says Bloom. The Commons Café is also open late!

With the recent launch of The Ulysses100 digital platform, celebrating the Centenary of Ulysses – which launched on February 2nd, the time is right for Simon O’Connor, Director of the Museum of Literature Ireland and David Douglas, Director of Ebow, The Digital Agency to announce a partnership between the two organisations, which is an investment by Ebow in the ongoing development of the digitisation of the museum, an alignment of professionals who understand the value and potential of the digital space and who share a belief in the importance of digital engagement for culture, education, literature and so much more.

Inspired by a Chinese folktale, How the Fox Stole the Tiger's Power ( 狐假虎威), The Gruffalo is a beloved children's story all over the world. In celebration of the Year of the Tiger, join Chinese teacher, Evan Furlong, and artist, Heather Gray, for a bilingual storytelling of this incredible tiger's tale! Colour in some characters from the story while you listen. No prior knowledge of Chinese or English is necessary. Materials provided.

Suitable for children 0–4 Years.
Free admission. Booking essential.

MoLI is running it's First Fridays on Friday, 4 February, with free admission from 6pm until 9pm (last admission 8pm). Book now to discover a screening of THIS LAND, a glimpse of our brand new exhibition —Love, says Bloom and a reading by poet Jess McKinney (all events are limited capacity and on a first come, first served basis). The Commons Café is also open late, serving wine and tapas.