Plans in place for follow up Mullingar Literary Festival
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Anne Griffin and Don Mortell (PRO).Image 2 of 14
Jess and Tess McKevitt on Friday in Caffrey's.Image 3 of 14
Tarek Earadi from and Jimmy O'Connell (Inklings) on Sunday evening.Image 4 of 14
John Connell with Johnny and Mick Cronin.Image 5 of 14
Louise Wright from Rochfortbridge and Douglas Raeside from Loughegar.Image 6 of 14
Colm Muldoon from Mullingar Library.Image 7 of 14
Annette Nally from Emper and Rita Tynan from Ballinea.Image 8 of 14
Eugene O'Brien and Ronan Kirby (poets) on Sunday evening.Image 9 of 14
John Smith at the pre launch reception.Image 10 of 14
Jimmy O'Connell, Chele Crawley and Laurence Meehan (chairperson).Image 11 of 14
Jackie Reilly and Samantha McKenna from Inklings.Image 12 of 14
OIivipo on stage on Saturday.Image 13 of 14
Patricia Gibney and Lorraine Murphy on Saturday evening.Image 14 of 14
Cepta Murtagh from Coralstown and Aileen Murtagh at the festival.Packed houses were the order of the day as Mullingar became the centre of the literary world last weekend for a festival of letters.
Mullingar's inaugural Literary Festival ran from July 4 to 6, 2025, transforming the town into a vibrant hub for literature enthusiasts. The festival featured a diverse array of events, including author talks, book signings, workshops, and more, celebrating the rich literary heritage of the region.
The festival kicked off at Caffrey’s Bar on Mount Street with a performance by hip-hop and spoken word artist Olympio.
Chair of the Mullingar Literary Festival, Laurence Meehan, said the weekend was a roaring success: “We had three absolutely packed out days, full days, from the spoken word performance by Olympio to an enthralled audience with Patricia Gibney and Anne Griffin. Victoria Mary Clarke, the renowned journalist and author, was also hugely popular with all who attended her packed out discussion raving about it.”
The festival boasted an impressive line-up of literary figures. Emerging talents such as Nicole Flattery, recipient of the An Post New Irish Voice 2024 award, was also present. Local authors Lorraine Murphy, Dolores Keaveney, Tess McKevitt, and Jimmy O’Connell contributed to the rich tapestry of voices at the event.
The entertainment also spilled beyond the pages with attendees enjoying performances by a number of local acts: “We had music from Paulie Martin, Cronin, jazz artist Raimonda, and Nathan Moore, who goes by the moniker Neeson. He's going to be one of Ireland's rising stars in the music industry.”
The inspiration for the festival came from the vibrant local literary collective: “We're all part of a writing group in Mullingar called Inklings. We meet up to three times a week. We also feature in The Examiner every week. There's a good 30 strong contingents of writers and poets in the group. So we got a committee together last September,” the festival Chair said.
From the initial idea the festival grew: “We went and sourced the participants we wanted to be part of the festival. Our committee worked hard to to build up an audience. We put together a website and promoted it through social media. We got a huge support from local businesses in Mullingar who helped us to funding it.”
Starting from scratch is difficult, but the enthusiastic volunteers persevered: “We didn't get any council funding. It was just literally all the businesses around Mullingar who came together to support us. It was absolutely fantastic, a real community effort.”
The public reaction to every aspect of the event encouraged the committee to start planning for next year's festival: “The feedback we received has give us grounds to go again. The next one will be bigger and better, and hopefully we will get more sponsorship for a bigger “playground” for next year.
“This was the first festival and we have proved it's viable in terms of numbers and participation. We're literally day one into planning for next year. We're all very excited about how it went and we know that the festival has a very, very bright future,” Laurence concluded.