Kilbixy Evening of Poetry returns to St Bigseach’s

The 11th annual Kilbixy Evening of Poetry takes place on Friday next, August 21, bringing culture, comedy and craic to the historic St Bigseach’s Church near Ballynacargy.

This “something different” evening is organised each year by the charming duo Betty Murtagh and Eleanor Murtagh, who started it all with the late Watson Mills, an avid lover of poetry.

Admission is free and any donations on the night go to North Westmeath Hospice. The event is facilitated by Westmeath Rural Arts and is always a lively evening in delightful historic surroundings, and a real example of art in the community.

The setting is a special feature of the Kilbixy Poetry Evening. The historic St Bigseach’s Church, an early 19th century Gothic Revival church, is described as one of the finest Board of First Fruit churches in Leinster.

Just inside the main gate of Kilbixy stand the recently unearthed remains of one of the few leper hospitals in Ireland, while the graveyard contains the impressive mausoleum of the Malone Family of nearby Baronstown House. Among the Malones buried there are Lord Sunderlin, who built the present church in 1798, and his brother Edmund, the celebrated literary expert ‘Shakespeare’ Malone.

Come along on Friday and recite one of your own or favourite poems or ditties, or just sit back and enjoy the varied verses on offer. The fun starts at 7pm, but if you get there early, you can talk a stroll around the history-seeped surrounds and get in the mood for a magical evening of culture, comedy and community entertainment.