West Cork History Festival

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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from West Cork History Festival, Arts and entertainment, Skibbereen, Cork.

The West Cork History Festival aims to be a feast of intellectual delights with a wide variety of topics, speakers and experiences exploring local, national and international dimensions of our fascinating history.

14/06/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

We'll be joined again this year by the wonderful Myles Dungan!

Myles will be speaking about his forthcoming book, The Waterboys: triumph, tragedy and the two Irishmen who created California.

In addition, to close out the festival, Myles will be interviewing Hester Grant and Adam Tomkins on, of course, Jonathan Swift! The interview will be broadcast on Myles' RTÉ Radio History Show in the autumn to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the publication of Gulliver's Travels. 📻

You can get your tickets to see Myles and our other fantastic speakers on our website now! 🎟️

See you at Inish Beg from 7-9 August!

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

12/06/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

Our celebration of the 300th anniversary of the publication of Gulliver's Travels will feature Adam Tomkins, John Millar Professor of Public Law at the University of Glasgow.

Adam will speak on Swift and the Constitution, a lecture in honor of James Kingston.

You can get your ticket to see Adam and our other wonderful speakers on our website now! 🎟️

See you in Inish Beg from the 7th to the 9th of August!

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

08/06/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

2026 marks 300 years since the publication of Gulliver's Travels, and at this year's festival we will certainly be celebrating Jonathan Swift!

Hester Grant will be joining us to speak about her very recently published book, The Twittenham Summer: The Upside-Down World of Three Friends and the Writing of Gulliver's Travels. Her book looks at the summer of 1726 when Swift landed in London to stay with friends, a trip from which came Gulliver's Travels.

A barrister turned historian, Helen specialises in eighteenth-century history.

Tickets to see Helen and our many other wonderful speakers are on sale at our website. Get yours now!

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

04/06/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

The past ever echoes in the present day, and this next talk will resonate as well.

Rachel Barrett, archivist and researcher, specialises in nineteenth century Poor Law, specifically the Irish in London. She'll be joining us in beautiful Inish Beg to speak on the removal of Irish paupers (many but not all of whom fled the Famine) from London and Britain.

Tickets are selling fast fast for the 7th to the 9th of August, so grab yours while you can at our website now! 🎟️

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

29/05/2026

Our ticket desk at Inish Beg won't be quite as intimidating as these signs from the Monaghan Peace Campus!

To make your way past, you'll still need a ticket, and you can get yours now at our website below! 🎟️

We'll have a full programme of wonderful speakers discussing a range of topics around our festival theme of Boundaries.

See you there, from the 7th to the 9th of August, at the beautiful Inish Beg Estate.

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

Photos courtesy of our own Victoria Kingston.

18/05/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

Archaeology is a treasured part of the West Cork History Festival, and Gabriel Cooney will be joining us at Inish Beg this August!

Gabriel's research focuses on the Neolithic, particularly the use of stone, and on mortuary practices in prehistory.

Considering this year's theme of Boundaries, his talk will be focused on the boundary between life and death in prehistoric Ireland.

Tickets are available on our website, and they're going fast, so get yours now! 🎟️

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

14/05/2026

📢 Panel Announcement!

This year's festival will open with a panel discussion on the recently published book The Taoiseach: A Century of Political Leadership.

Edited by Iain Dale, the book features essays on every holder of the office of Taoiseach, including chapters by Stephen Collins (Jack Lynch), Dr Deirdre Foley (Liam Cosgrave), and Professor Gary Murphy (Charlie Haughey).

We're delighted to announce that the panel will feature all four - and what a way to open this year's festival that will be!

For a taster, you can check out the most recent episode of the History Show on RTÉ Radio One, and thanks to Myles Dungan for the shout-out!

You can get your tickets to this year's edition on our website.

We'll see you at Inish Beg from 7-9 August!

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

11/05/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

Beatrice Penati will be joining us this August to speak about how the Soviet "stans" got their borders.

Beatrice's work focuses on Russian and Eurasian history.

The story of the "stans" Boundaries couldn't be more in theme for this year's festival!

You can see Beatrice and our other wonderful speakers at Inish Beg from the 7th to the 9th of August.

Get your tickets on our website now! 🎟️

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

04/05/2026

Speaker announcement 📢

Alexander Morrison will be joining us in Inish Beg this August to speak about boundaries and bordermaking during the Russian conquest of Central Asia.

Alexander's work focuses on European and Asian history as well imperial history and the history of warfare, and his talk is a perfect one for this year's theme: Boundaries.

You can get your tickets for this year's festival from the 7-9 August at our website below. 🎟️

See you there!

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

01/05/2026

📢 Speaker announcement!

A local hero, Castlehaven man Oscar Kelly will be speaking at this year's festival. His research has focused on the founding of Castletownshend has led him to write about Glenbarrahane, a settlement which predated Castletownshend.

His talk will discuss the rise and oblivion of the forgotten Glenbarrahane and what impact it might have on Castletownshend's founding story.

You can get your tickets to see Oscar Kelly and our other wonderful speakers at our website now!

https://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/booking/

See you at Inish Beg from the 7th - 9th of August!

Address

Skibbereen
Cork

Website

http://westcorkhistoryfestival.org/

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