Birr Theatre & Arts Centre

13/08/2026

📻 The Rambling House is going national!

The team from RTÉ Radio 1's CountryWide came to record a feature on The Rambling House, our community project led by Birr Men Together in collaboration with artists Hazel Greene and Christor.

Long before history books and news bulletins, stories were passed on around the fire: some old, some new, some made up, and some told in song. For this project, the rambling house came back to life, with music, memories and a healthy dose of gossip, and CountryWide was there to capture it all.

🗓 Tune in this Saturday 15 August from 8am on RTÉ Radio 1, or catch up afterwards on the RTÉ Radio Player.

The Rambling House is supported by Offaly County Council under the Creative Ireland Community Grant Programme 2026 to 2027.

RTÉ Radio 1 Hazel Greene : Artist CreativeIrl Offaly County Council Offaly Arts

08/08/2026

Last minute availability!!!
2 spaces in today's Watercolour workshop with have just become available.
if you want to discover the art of plein air watercolour painting in a one-day outdoor workshop led by renowned artist Grahame Booth NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!

Tickets available at the door from 9.30am.

This course is suitable for anyone that paints regularly and is comfortable with the basics of watercolour painting but really wants to tackle the tricky practice of plein air painting.
Attendees will need to bring their own materials on the day (i.e. paints, easel, paper, etc.)

Spaces limited to the first 15 registrations
Price: €60 including booking fees

Schedule for the day
9.30am: Doors open at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre (there is free parking on Oxmantown Mall)
10am: Brief Introduction, followed by a demonstration

Shortly after you'll move outside and Grahame will demonstrate his approach to painting outdoors and answer questions. Participants will then set up and paint with Grahame circulating until 4pm giving feedback. You can break/lunch whenever suits you through the day.
We'll have a back up plan in the case of poor weather.

About Grahame Booth
Grahame Booth is one of Ireland’s best known watercolour painters and tutors. He has taught watercolour for some 35 years at workshops across the world from the USA to India and his paintings have won many national and international awards. He has written several books on watercolour techniques and has contributed to many others. His new book on plein air watercolour was published in 2025. Grahame also writes regularly for The Artist and Artists and Illustrators magazines in the UK and he has a strong online presence including over 40000 subscribers to his YouTube painting channel. He paints only in watercolour and is looking forward to capturing the Georgian architecture of Birr, intending to concentrate on the feel and atmosphere and suggesting rather than specifying too much detail.
Web: grahamebooth.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/GrahameBoothWatercolour
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/grahameboothwatercolour/

This event is supported by The Arts Council

04/08/2026

Come and wish Mick a happy birthday on Thursday. (it's his actual Birthday!)
He will tell you a few good stories and we will have a great laugh!

An old-style storyteller with one eye on the past and the other firmly on the present, Mick Creagh brings his audience along for the ride – and he loves to get everyone involved. So clear your throats and be ready for an afternoon of storytelling and craic!
Book now : https://birrtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873687280
Sit back, relax, and let Mick Creagh regale you with a few of his best “good ones”...

01/08/2026

This show is unbelievably good.
don't miss out, only two showing left. book now!

A performative journey which takes you to the Irish bog landscape through scent. Distillation is a response to the recent cessation of the peat…

31/07/2026

Classic wheels and classic sounds ♥️
Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival has kicked off today and the vintage vibes continue tonight when The Swing Cats perform at 8pm 🎶
Grab a ticket before they're gone! https://birrtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873678570

28/07/2026

Some stories were meant to stay silent. This one refuses to.

REPUBLIC OF SILENCE comes to Birr Theatre on Saturday 1 August as part of Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival, a powerful new play based on true stories from the Sean Ross Mother and Baby Institution in Tipperary.

When a gardener uncovers a series of unmarked graves at Sean Ross Abbey, a reckoning between church and state begins. Moving between 1965 and the present day, writer-director Kaci Kerwick's production asks a question that still echoes across Ireland: who gets to decide which stories are told, and which are kept silent?

It is heartbreaking. It is, at times, unexpectedly funny. And it is theatre that deserves to be seen: fresh from acclaimed runs at London's Peckham Fringe and Riverside Studios, and hailed as "a brave, moving and necessary production" (★★★★ London Theatre 1).

Performed by Oísin Nolan, Jack O'Shaughnessy, Áine McNamara and Eanna Ferguson.

🎭 Saturday 1 August, 8pm
⏱️ 60 minutes | Age 14+
🎟️ €15 (+ booking fee): https://birrtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873688215

Please note this production explores themes some may find difficult. A self-care pack is available on the website for anyone affected.

27/07/2026

Are you ready for a few tall tales? if you are just sit back, relax, and let Mick Creagh regale you with a few of his best “good ones”...

Hailing from Rathdowney / Errill in southwest Laois – where he’s practically a legend – Mick draws inspiration for his songs, poems, and stories from his home place and the characters that fill it.

An old-style storyteller with one eye on the past and the other firmly on the present, Mick Creagh brings his audience along for the ride – and he loves to get everyone involved. So clear your throats and be ready for an afternoon of storytelling and craic!

Duration: 70 mins – no interval
Tickets: €15 (plus booking fee)
Doors: open 2pm

27/07/2026

The ideal show for children and their fa,ily.
come and cheer on as Fra Marto starts her laundry day with too many bubbles and plenty of laufghter.

Book your family tickets here : https://birrtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873688216

OUT OF THE BLUE - Mon 3 Aug - 2:30pm

Fresh from Turin, Out of the Blue is a wonderfully interactive
sudsy circus show from leading Italian female clown Fra Martó.
With plenty of fun and frolics, sheet-folding shenanigans and a misbheaving
washing machine – laundry day has never been so full of bubbles and laughter.
This is physical comedy at its finest – a joyful celebration of chaos, chores, and
letting go.

CreativeIrl Offaly County Council Offaly Arts Offaly Volunteer Centre The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon Fáilte Ireland

21/07/2026

come open Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival with us and The Swing Cats on Friday 31st July!
it will be a night to remember
Tickets selling fast : https://birrtheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873678570