• Tickets 083 096 9345
26 - 29 June 2025

Hinterland Festival 2022

Welcome to Hinterland Festival 2022 where we are delighted to be back in-person with a series of events running from 23 - 26 June 2022. You can browse all events and book tickets below, or view the programme schedule here.

Find out more about our Authors & Artists.

And be sure to check out our LitCrawl events and 'Other Things to Do' during the Festival

Download the programme here.

Catherine Prasifka

None of this is Serious

Event  36 
Venue: Courthouse

Already touted as the next exciting Irish millennial writer, None of this is Serious is Dubliner Catherine Prasifka’s impressive debut novel. Catherine has already been picked as ‘one to watch’ by the Irish Times and the Irish Independent.

Dublin student life is ending for Sophie and her friends. They’ve got everything figured out, and Sophie feels left behind as they all start to go their separate ways.  None of This Is Serious is about the uncertainty and absurdity of being alive today. It’s about balancing the real world with the online, and the vulnerabilities in yourself, your relationships, your body. Catherine Prasifka will read from her work and discuss it with the audience.
This event has taken place
Catherine Prasifka

Eileen Dunne

All-Star Gazing: 50 years of the GAA All-Stars

Event  37 
Venue: Kells Theatre
In 1971 four GAA correspondents started floating the idea of a scheme to reward GAA footballers and hurlers for their achievements on the pitch. Mick Dunne, Paddy Downey, John D Hickey and Pádraig Puirséal approached a potential sponsor and with the GAA on board, the first All-Star awards were born.  Mick Dunne was secretary of the scheme for 25 years and a chance discovery in his office five years ago, led daughters Eileen and Moira to write this account of the first 50 years of the All-Stars. Eileen will recount how the scheme has evolved, what the ‘All-Star’ means to today’s players, the missed flights, parties in San Francisco, the Skydome in Toronto and the many friendships and indeed romances that blossomed on the way ...and they are only the stories she is allowed to tell!!
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Eileen Dunne

Jane Mitchell

Event  Y8 
Venue: Eureka House

Do you have a story in you? Join author Jane Mitchell as she reads from her latest book, Run for Your Life, and provides tips on how to get started with telling a story of your very own. Then have a go at writing your own story!

Age 9-12
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Jane Mitchell

Declan O’Rourke

The Pawnbroker’s Reward - a narrative of the Great Famine

Event  38 
Venue: Church of Ireland
Declan O’Rourke’s abilities as a singer and a songwriter have never been in doubt. The great Paul Weller has described Declan’s song ‘Galileo’ as the song he most wished he’d written from the past 30 years. Then, in 2021, Declan took a new direction. Long a student of the Great Famine, as evidenced by his 2017 album, Chronicles of the Great Famine,  he went ‘long form’ and his best-selling debut novel The Pawnbroker’s Reward, was the result. It's been described by Joseph O’Connor as ‘a powerful and gripping piece of writing from a born storyteller’ and by Michael Harding as ‘full of powerful strength and compassion’. Declan will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.
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Declan O’Rourke

Deirdre Kinahan

RAGING Three Plays: Seven Years of Warfare in Ireland

Event  39 
Venue: Courthouse
Deirdre Kinahan will read from her award-winning cycle of plays commemorating Ireland’s revolutionary period 1916 to 1923; Wild Sky, Embargo and Outrage. These plays give voice to the extraordinary contribution and experience of the ordinary Irish citizen caught up in the rage of change, particularly women. Deirdre will also discuss her inspiration and process in creating these riveting dramas.
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Deirdre Kinahan

Evanna Lynch

The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting – a young adult memoir

Event  40 
Venue: Kells Theatre
What do you do when fame comes to you as an insecure teenager (is there any other kind?). When you have no real idea who you are but you are being fêted for your performances in one of the most successful film franchises in movie history? This is what happened to Evanna Lynch from Termonfeckin when she scooped up the part of Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movie series, starting with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2007. From there on it was anything but plain sailing for the young actor as she navigated stepping into the life she’d always dreamed of, and finding that she didn’t quite fit... Her critically acclaimed memoir The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting is an honest, open, self-appraisal from a vulnerable human being as she explores the many highs and lows, the up and downs, the tragedy and the glory of growing up. Evanna Lynch will be in conversation with Myles Dungan.
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Evanna Lynch

Catherine Carton

A creative upcycling demonstration

Event  41 
Venue: Eureka House

Awaken your creativity with Catherine, author and YouTube creator of Dainty Dress Diaries, for a demonstration of ways you can reuse old china teacups and recycle them into something new.
Get inspired to create something new from something old. Catherine has been sharing creative projects on her YouTube and Blog for the past eight years and will share her upcycling tips and have the creative chats with you.

This event has taken place
Catherine Carton

Bex Sheridan

Children’s Illustration Workshop

Event  Y9 
Venue: Kells Library

Come along and learn to draw your favourite farm animal, or maybe even a woodland creature. Hosted by writer/illustrator Bex Sheridan, this workshop is sure to be fun for all ages from early learners to young art enthusiasts! Art supplies provided, or you can bring along your favourite tools.

Age 6+
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Bex Sheridan

Jan Carson

The Raptures

Event  42 
Venue: Church of Ireland
The Raptures is Belfast-based writer, Jan Carson’s third novel. Set over the summer of 1993 in the fictional County Antrim village of Ballylack it explores how one small, rural and deeply Protestant community respond to tragedy as a mysterious illness sweeps through the local Primary School. Jan will be in conversation with Deirdre Hurley discussing the themes raised by her novel which include the role of women, evangelical Protestant culture and the outsider in Irish literature. Jan Carson will be in conversation with Eileen Dunne.
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Jan Carson

Liam McNiffe

Understanding Traditional Traveller Culture

Event  43 
Venue: Courthouse

At Hinterland 2021, Meath based author and historian Liam McNiffe, looked at the history of Irish Travellers. This year Liam  looks at traditional Traveller culture, marriage, nomadism, trades, language, importance of weddings and funerals. Did you know that there are three distinct groups of Irish Travellers?

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Liam McNiffe

Richie Sadlier

Let’s Talk

Event  44 
Venue: Kells Theatre
Richie Sadlier steps back from the world with which he is most associated, football punditry, for then world in which he spends more time, psychotherapy. In Let’s Talk he will guide his readers through the exciting and challenging world of adolescent sexuality, providing the kind of information, guidance and insights that will help them on their journey. Drawing on his experiences working with teenagers in his therapy practice and delivering workshops in schools about consent, sex, relationships and porn, he delves into issues that are sometimes uncomfortable to discuss but important to understand. Richie will be in conversation with Myles Dungan.
This event has taken place
Richie Sadlier
Hinterland Festival of Literature & Arts
The BOOK MARKet Café, Market Street, Kells, Co Meath, A82 R990
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083 096 9345
info@hinterland.ie