National Library of Ireland

21/06/2026

For Father’s Day, we’re sharing this affectionate letter from James Joyce in Paris to his father, John Stanislaus Joyce. The letter begins “Dear Pappie” and is signed simply, “Jim”.

View the full letter here: https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000017000

21/06/2026

You can visit Yeats: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats, a free exhibition at the National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin.

📆 Open Monday to Sunday: https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/exhibition-yeats-life-and-works-william-butler-yeats-0

20/06/2026

Ahead of next week's Joseph Hassett Annual Lecture, we're revisiting this series of talks celebrating the life and legacy of W.B. Yeats.

Generously supported by Joseph Hassett, lawyer, literary scholar and philanthropist, the annual lecture is inspired by the National Library of Ireland's long-running exhibition, Yeats: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats, home to the world's largest collection of Yeats material, including his Nobel Prize medal.

Watch the lecture series and plan your visit to the exhibition:

Video | The Joseph Hassett Annual Lecture Series Annual lecture series commemorates the work of WB Yeats Audience Post Primary Third Level Lifelong Learning & Communities Resource Type Video Audience Post Primary Third Level Lifelong Learning & Communities Resource Type Video Online Introduction Tex...

20/06/2026

Director's Tour of the National Library of Ireland
As part of Dublin by Dusk 🌃

📅 Thursday, 25 June at 6pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/directors-tour-national-library-ireland-13

Explore the National Library of Ireland with Director Dr Audrey Whitty.

Established by the Dublin Science and Art Museum Act, 1877, the NLI was originally housed at the Royal Dublin Society's premises in Leinster House until the present building at 7/8 Kildare Street was formally opened on 1890.

Discover the history of our beautiful Victorian building on Kildare Street and meet the NLI's Director Dr Audrey Whitty. The guided tour will also visit the magnificent Reading Room and explore our links with some of Ireland’s greatest writers and thinkers.

The tour will last from 6–7pm | Entry free but booking required.

This Director's Tour will be conducted as part of Dublin By Dusk, with the NLI's Main Reading Room being open to visit between 5-8pm.

Director's Tour of the National Library of Ireland Date Thursday, 25 June 2026 | 6.00pm - 7.00pm Location National Library of Ireland, 7-8 Kildare Street, D02 P638 Category Tour Price Free Book now Book now Date Thursday, 25 June 2026 | 6.00pm - 7.00pm Location National Library of Ireland, 7-8 Kilda...

20/06/2026

Live Aid Exhibition Opens in Killarney!

On Friday, 19 June, the National Library of Ireland launched a second location for their Live Aid photographic exhibition in Killarney, Co. Kerry. The exhibition showcases the landmark Live Aid concerts at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia and Wembley Stadium in London. Watched by an estimated audience of more than 1.5 billion people across 150 countries, Live Aid was an unprecedented moment in both global fundraising and television broadcasting.

The free exhibition, on display at the Government Offices in Killarney, features more than 70 photographs capturing the scale, energy and emotion of the historic event. Donated to the National Library in 2017, the images have been carefully curated from the Band Aid Trust Archive. Visitors can see rare photographs of music legends including U2, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Madonna, offering a vivid glimpse into one of the most iconic concerts in music history.

The exhibition, located in the Government Offices in Killarney, is open to the public Monday to Friday, from 8am to 6pm.

The original Live Aid exhibition continues to attract visitors at the National Photographic Archive in Temple Bar, where it has proved a popular destination since opening in autumn 2025.

Live Aid Exhibition Opens in Killarney Historic Live Aid concerts showcased in new Kerry photo exhibition Friday, 19 June 2026 "If there's a problem, you have to go out and solve it" - Bob Geldof On Friday, 19 June, the National Library of Ireland launched a second location for their Live Aid photog...

20/06/2026

🧚 Are you interested in Irish Folklore, and Fairy tales in the Work of WB Yeats?

This downloadable resource introduces students to primary and secondary sources from the Yeats collection at the National Library of Ireland:

Downloadable Resource | Irish Folklore and Fairy tales in the Work of WB Yeats Audience Post Primary Resource Type Downloadable Resource Price Free Audience Post Primary Resource Type Downloadable Resource Price Free Illustration by Victor Brown featuring an extract from The Song of Wandering Aengus...

20/06/2026

Mindful Mondays | Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again

📅 Monday, 22 June at 11.30am:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/mindful-mondays-seamus-heaney-listen-now-again

In the poem ‘Fosterling,’ Seamus Heaney wrote ‘me waiting until I was nearly fifty to credit marvels.’ It is easy to let life pass us by in a hurry with our day-to-day worries. Instead, Heaney asks us to stop and ‘listen now again’ to all the marvels that exist around us.

Come and take a moment to slow down at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again for a mindful tour where we will listen and feel the words of a poet whose works ‘exalt every day miracles and the living past,’ and have the chance to mindfully listen, breathe and even perhaps write your own mindful poem.

Mindful Mondays | Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again Date Monday, 22 June 2026 | 11.30am - 12.30pm Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, Bank of Ireland Culture & Heritage Centre, Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2, College Green, Co. Dublin, D02 VR66 Category Event Tour Price Free. No Booking Required....

19/06/2026

A new photographic exhibition has opened to the public in the Government Offices in Killarney, Co Kerry, showcasing images from the landmark Live Aid concerts held at Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium in July 1985, alongside audiovisual displays.

The National Library of Ireland’s Live Aid Exhibition includes over seventy photographs, of various performers who were among the most popular acts in the world during that period, including Status Quo, Madonna, U2, David Bowie, Tina Turner and Run DMC.

For more, see link in Bio. 🔗

Tá taispeántas nua grianghraf d’íomhánna ó cheolchoirmeacha móra Live Aid i Staid Wembley agus Staid JFK in Iúil 1985 oscailte don phobal anois in Oifigí an Rialtais i gCill Airne, Co. Chiarraí, agus tá taispeántais chlosamhairc mar chuid den taispeántas, leis.

Tá breis agus seachtó grianghraf san áireamh sa taispeántas Live Aid seo de chuid Leabharlann Náisiúnta nah Éireann, ina measc grianghraif de cheoltóirí mór le rá na linne sin, leithéidí Status Quo, Madonna, U2, David Bowie, Tina Turner agus Run DMC.

Tá breis eolais le fáil ag an nasc inár mBio. 🔗

19/06/2026

WB Yeats: National Pride and National Vanity | Joseph Hassett Lecture 2026

This year’s Joseph Hassett Birthday Lecture will be delivered by Fintan O’Toole, who will explore the work of WB Yeats through the themes of national pride and national vanity.

Join us for a reception on Wednesday, 24 June from 5:45pm, followed by the lecture at 6:30pm: https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/wb-yeats-national-pride-and-national-vanity-joseph-hassett-lecture-2026

Now a highlight of Dublin’s literary calendar, the annual Joseph Hassett Birthday Lecture brings leading writers and thinkers together to reflect on the life, work, and enduring legacy of WB Yeats.

19/06/2026

Heaney’s Mythology at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again

📅 Saturdays, 6th & 20th June at 11.30am:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/heaneys-mythology-seamus-heaney-listen-now-again

Drawing from the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, and Ireland’s own heroic cycles, Heaney found a rich tapestry of story and memory—a way to understand who we are and where we come from. Never settling for a simple retelling of these inherited tales instead, Heaney breathed new life into them, weaving the intimate world of Mossbawn with the vast, resonant landscapes of legend.

From the poet’s early encounters with local folklore to his later meditations on classical figures such as Antaeus and Hercules, the tour invites you to follow Heaney’s journey as he transformed the myths he inherited into something wholly his own.

Heaney’s Mythology  | Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again Date Saturday, 20 June 2026 | 11.30am - 12.30pm Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, Bank of Ireland Culture & Heritage Centre, Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2, College Green, Co. Dublin, D02 VR66 Category Event Tour Price Free. No Booking...