Our 2024 Programme

12 – 19 July 2024

Download our 2024 WCLF Brochure (PDF) here

Sign up to our newsletter to hear about our programme first.

Become a friend today to get the benefit of priority booking, as well as many other benefits.

Exhibition: 50th Anniversary of Bantry Library

9 July 2024
Bantry Library
Free. From 9-26 July during library hours

Letter Café

12 July 2024
Forest & Flock
Free. Open every day except Tuesday

Dexter Lost His Boo-Woo! Shane Hegarty

12 July 20243:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Ages: 3-8
Rest by Eilis OConnell

Opening Reception of the 26th West Cork Literary Festival

12 July 20245:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free. All welcome

Caleb Azumah Nelson & Rónán Hession

12 July 20246:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€16

Nuala O’Connor: Seaborne

12 July 20248:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€20

Pop Up Gaeltacht

12 July 20249:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free – Saor – All welcome

Ritual: Exhibition (All week: Sat to Fri)

13 July 2024
The Maritime Hotel

Festival Swim

13 July 202410:00 am
The Abbey Strand
Free. All welcome

Molly Aitken: Bright, I Burn

13 July 202411:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free

Discover Irish Children’s Books: A Family Book Event

13 July 202412:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age 9+

Eimear Ryan: The Grass Ceiling

13 July 20241:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Exploring Wild Wonders: Aga Grandowicz & E.R. Murray

13 July 20242:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed, Age 6+

Eoin Warner

13 July 20242:15 pm
Whiddy Island
€25 including ferry

Bantry Historical Walking Tour

13 July 20242:30 pm
Free but ticketed

Irish Children’s Authors and Creatives Guild: Meet up for Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Writers

13 July 20245:00 pm
Free. Registration required (see details)

Theo Dorgan: Once Was A Boy

13 July 20245:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Adania Shibli: Minor Detail

13 July 20246:30 pm
Westlodge Hotel
€12

Anne Enright & David Nicholls

13 July 20248:30 pm
Westlodge Hotel
€20

Open Mic Saturday

13 July 202410:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free

Yoga on the Lawn

14 July 20249:00 am
Bantry House Gardens
€15 – pay the teacher on the day (cash only)

Fruitcake: Alice Barry

14 July 202412:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€12

Inis Mara: Tristan Rosenstock & Mark Wickham

14 July 20241:00 pm
Work Shop Bantry
Free but ticketed. Ages: 9-12

Shari Lapena & Andrea Mara

14 July 20241:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18

Victoria Kennefick & Paula Meehan

14 July 20243:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€18

Writing for Children: Information for New and Emerging Children’s Writers with Sarah Webb

14 July 20243:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free but ticketed

Maggie Armstrong & Mike McCormack

14 July 20245:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€16

Emer Martin and Irvine Welsh

14 July 20246:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16

Dolly Alderton & Elizabeth Day

14 July 20248:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€25 – last few tickets available

Open Mic Sunday

14 July 202410:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free

Workshop: Finding Writing Inspiration in the Everyday with Aoife Barry

15 July 20249:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230

Workshop: Nature & Place Writing with John Connell

15 July 20249:30 am
Whiddy Island
€245

Workshop: Novel Writing with Priscilla Morris

15 July 20249:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230

Workshop: Poetry with Mícheál McCann

15 July 20249:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230

Workshop: The Short Story Writer’s Starter Kit with Jan Carson

15 July 20249:30 am
St Finbarr’s Boys National School
€230

Kerri Andrews: Way Makers, An Anthology of Women’s Writing about Walking

15 July 202410:00 am
Bantry House – Loggia
€12

Graham Allen: Without Covenant

15 July 202411:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free

Writer in Residence: Library Writing Groups

15 July 20241:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Danielle McLaughlin & Siobhán Rea

15 July 20242:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free but ticketed

Nita Prose: The Maid & The Mystery Guest

15 July 20242:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18

Burning Books: Michael Magee

15 July 20245:00 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€12

Launch of the 2024 Fish Anthology

15 July 20246:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
Free

Miriam Margolyes: Oh Miriam!

15 July 20248:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€35

Open Mic Monday

15 July 202410:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free

Fleur Pierets: Julian

16 July 202410:00 am
Bantry House – Loggia
€12

Michelle McDonagh: Somebody Knows

16 July 202411:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free

Movies Showing Nowhere: Yorick Goldewijck

16 July 202412:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age 9+

Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem: Ironhead, or, Once A Young Lady

16 July 20241:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free. YA

Tobi Lakmaker: The History of My Sexuality

16 July 20242:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
€18

Gustav Parker Hibbett & Mícheál McCann

16 July 20245:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Open Mic Matinee

16 July 20246:00 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free. All welcome

Hedley Thomas: The Teacher’s Pet

16 July 20246:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16

Hisham Matar & Priscilla Morris

16 July 20248:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20

Open Mic Tuesday

16 July 202410:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free

Tracey Williams: Adrift, Lego Lost At Sea

17 July 202410:00 am
Bantry House – Loggia
€12

Leeanne O’Donnell: Sparks of Bright Matter

17 July 202411:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free

The Lonely Book: Meg Grehan

17 July 202412:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed, Age 8+

Jo Burns and Emily Cooper : The Conversation

17 July 20241:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin: Everything You Need To Know About Publishing

17 July 20241:00 pm
Zoom
€ 12. Online event

Atlas of the Irish Civil War: New Perspectives, Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil

17 July 20242:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€18

Irish Writers Centre Information Session

17 July 20242:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Free but ticketed

Rainbow Library Writers and Illustrators Youth Group showcase

17 July 20244:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free

Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Sessions with Kerri ní Dochartaigh

17 July 20245:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Jan Carson & Thomas Morris

17 July 20246:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16

Paul Lynch: Prophet Song

17 July 20248:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20

Open Mic Wednesday

17 July 202410:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free

Aoife Barry: Social Capital

18 July 202410:00 am
Bantry House – Loggia
€12 (limited tickets on the door)

Collaboration: Writing Poetry Together

18 July 202410:00 am
The Maritime Hotel
Free but ticketed. Two hours

John Connell: Twelve Sheep

18 July 202411:30 am
Future Forests
€18

The Slug and the Snail / An Drúchtín agus an Seilide: Oein DeBhairduin

18 July 202412:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Ages 4-7

Cork Stories: Jamie O’Connell & Eileen O’Donoghue

18 July 20241:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Colin Barrett & Kevin Barry

18 July 20242:30 pm
National Learning Network (NLN)
€18

Dani Robertson: All Through The Night CANCELLED

18 July 20242:30 pm
Marino (Old Methodist) Church, Bantry
Not available

Sulaiman Addonia & Simone Atangana Bekono

18 July 20245:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Roxanne de Bastion: The Piano Player of Budapest, A True Story of Holocaust Survival, Music and Hope

18 July 20246:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€16

Sinéad Gleeson & Cathy Sweeney

18 July 20248:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€20

Open Mic Thursday

18 July 202410:00 pm
Ma Murphy’s
Free

Mary Morrissy: Penelope Unbound

19 July 202410:00 am
Bantry House – Loggia
€12

David Nash: No Man’s Land

19 July 202411:30 am
Bantry Bookshop
Free

Dinosaur Pie: Jen Wallace

19 July 202412:00 pm
St. Brendan’s Hall
Free but ticketed. Age 6+

From The Well Short Story Launch

19 July 20241:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

CANCELLED Mark O’Connell: A Thread of Violence

19 July 20242:30 pm
Bantry House
Cancelled

Bantry Library: Bantry’s Brutalist Bibliotheque

19 July 20245:00 pm
Bantry Library
Free

Jason Allen-Paisant: Self-Portrait as Othello

19 July 20246:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
Available on the door €16

Colm Tóibín: Long Island

19 July 20248:30 pm
The Maritime Hotel
€25

Programme

Arts Council - funding literature
Fáilte Ireland
Wild Atlantic Way
CCC Library & Arts Service
Cork County Council
Pure Cork
Creative Places West Cork Islands
RTÉ Supporting The Arts
Maritime Hotel