Meet at the Church gates (Market Street end) and join the TypeTrail curator, Mark Smith, as he guides you around Kells to showcase, debate and discuss this year’s TypeTrail exhibits. These artistic interpretations of the theme “Process”, explore the journey behind creativity - highlighting the thinking, experimentation and craftsmanship that underpins design.

As a close friend of the Kennedy family, Dot Tubridy became an extended member of the powerful American political dynasty, attending gatherings and celebrations, receiving invitations to all the major events throughout their political careers, and becoming their main contact in their ancestral homeland. Journalist John Donohoe looks at the enduring relationship between the socialite and the Camelot clan.

Join the author of 'Unmasking Samantha Cookes: The Many Lives of a Serial Fraudster' for a conversation on the evolution of a remarkable investigation across media. From the RTÉ podcast The Real Carrie Jade to the documentary Bad Nanny, this event explores the craft of long-form storytelling and the new revelations uncovered while bringing this extraordinary story to the page. Alan will be in conversation with Cabrina Conaty.

The number 1 international bestselling, award-winning author of Snowflake returns with a luminous portrait of two families riven by one great secret. Told through the perspectives of three very different women, Everything That Is Beautiful unfolds the story of one complicated family in startlingly honest and witty prose. Louise will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.

Bestselling duo Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght, creators of the beloved Aisling series, join us to discuss their latest novel Our Deadly Summer, a sharply funny and heartfelt story of friendship, young women and the secrets that bind them. Drawing on more than twenty years of their own enduring friendship, Breen and McLysaght will talk about writing together, revisiting the early noughties, and crafting a tale that blends nostalgia, humour and a darkly compelling mystery. Sarah and Emer will be in conversation with Deirdre Hurley.

A poetry lover, a curator of joy, a wise woman with a deep sense of compassion (and mother of a cinema superstar) Dearbhla Mescal encourages her followers online to find the joy in everyday life and celebrate the little things. Now in her first book, Finding Joy, Dearbhla shares her own practice of finding joy in a beautiful and uplifting collection of thoughts, recollections and poems. Dearbhla will be in conversation with Cabrina Conaty.

Join author and illustrator Gerry Daly for an animal adventure of bravery and discovery in the woods from Gerry’s new book What’s That Spooky Sound? Plus even more fun with the wildlife of the Skellig Islands. Help the little puffling get back home in Puffling and the Stormy Sea, the latest of the bestselling Puffling picture book series. Children will love this draw-along session with puppets and interactive storytelling.

Exploring the journey between two languages and cultures, from the edges of exile and questions of identity, Abdallah Ahmad reflects on how fear and solitude can transform into possibilities for belonging and meaning. Through poetry and storytelling, everyday challenges become sources of reflection, creativity, and a wider human dialogue between cultures.

As part of our celebration of America 250 leading operatic baritone Owen Gilhooly-Miles, in the beautiful surroundings of Headfort House, takes us through more than 200 years of the best of American music, from some of the great folksongs and popular melodies, to the Broadway musical and Hollywood theme songs.

Glen Patterson discusses his gripping account of the 2004 Northern Bank robbery, a heist that shook Northern Ireland and remains one of its most audacious unsolved crimes. A leading Belfast novelist, screenwriter and co-writer of Good Vibrations, Patterson brings sharp insight, wit and deep local knowledge to a story that still reverberates. Glen will be in conversation with Sophie Grenham.

Life, Work, Everything is the title of Miriam O’Callaghan’s Number 1 bestselling biography and you can expect nothing less as she joins us to talk about the experiences that carried her from current affairs reporting to becoming one of RTÉ’s most trusted broadcasters. She reflects on the defining interviews, pivotal moments and unexpected turns that shaped her life on and off air. Miriam will be in conversation with Eileen Dunne.

Award-winning journalist Kirsty Wark looks back on a distinguished career spanning frontline reporting, political interviews and three decades on BBC’s Newsnight. In conversation, she reflects on the stories that shaped her, the craft of asking difficult questions and her more recent move into fiction. A rare chance to hear one of Scotland’s most respected broadcasters discuss a life in words. Kirsty will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.

Doireann follows up the astounding success of A Ghost in the Throat (An Post Book of the Year 2021) with what is bound to be one of the most decorated novels of 2026, Said the Dead a story that begins with the sale of a derelict Victorian mental hospital in Cork and that breaks the boundaries between worlds, past and present, imagined and real. Doireann will be in conversation with Deirdre Hurley.

‘An ocean of opportunities’ is how Vincent Doumeizel describes the potential of seaweed and plankton to address many of the urgent issues facing our warming planet.  A global leader in sustainable ocean innovation he argues that seaweed can cut carbon, restore marine ecosystems, clean our ocean, feed growing populations and replace polluting materials. Vincent will be in conversation with Tony Bucher.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 led to the creation of the Irish Free State. Within sixteen years the divisive treaty link to the British Crown had been almost entirely dismantled. By the time Éamon de Valera introduced the 1937 Constitution, Ireland was effectively a republic in everything but name.  In From Crown to Harp: How the Anglo-Irish Treaty Was Undone, 1921 to 1949, David McCullagh traces this remarkable, bloodless revolution.

The prospect of Irish unification is now stronger than at any point since partition in 1921. Voters on both sides of the Irish border may soon have to confront for themselves what the answer to a referendum question would mean. Yes or no to a united Ireland. In their book For and Against a United Ireland distinguished journalists Fintan O'Toole (Irish Times) and Sam McBride (Belfast Telegraph ) examine the arguments and bring fresh thinking to one of Ireland’s most intractable questions.

Best known as the ever-patient Mick Shipman from Gavin & Stacey, Larry Lamb has built a career far bigger than Barry Island. An acclaimed actor, presenter and storyteller, Larry will take us on a journey through the years with his anecdotes and very personal poems reflecting on his life at different stages, poems that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. The highs and the lows, the joys and the sorrows - beginning in 1983 and taking us right up to his life as it is now. Larry will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.