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film · Friday 28 August 2026 · Various 
Banbh - Laois Short Film Award Public Screening
At Dunamaise Arts Centre and Theatre · Church Lane, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
At Dunamaise Arts Centre and Theatre · Church Lane, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
A new Irish short film rooted entirely in County Laois comes home for its public premiere this August. Banbh is the 2026 Laois Short Film Award winner - a quiet, emotionally true story set in 1950s Portlaoise, drawn from real memories and brought to the screen by a strong local creative team. If you have any connection to Laois, or simply appreciate Irish short filmmaking that earns its feeling without reaching for it, this is a screening worth making the trip for.
Banbh was written by Kate Heffernan, a writer and theatre artist from Portlaoise, and produced by Willie White, an Abbeyleix native with more than two decades’ experience across broadcasting and the performing arts. The film is directed by Mo O’Connell, filmmaker and founder of the production company 3 Hot Whiskeys. The story was inspired by the childhood of Willie White’s mother, Mary Egan, and is described by its makers as a moving and unsentimental exploration of childhood loss, built around strong female characters and set in Portlaoise in the 1950s. Filming takes place on location in Laois in August 2026, making the public screening a genuine homecoming - audiences in the county will be among the first to see the finished work on screen.
The venue is Dunamaise Arts Centre, one of the best-equipped small arts venues in the Irish Midlands. Its 240-seat raked auditorium is designed for exactly this kind of intimate film event - good sightlines, proper acoustics, and a room that does not swallow a quiet story. The screening is presented through Laois Arts in association with Dunamaise.
Portlaoise is the county town of Laois and sits directly on the M7 motorway, roughly an hour from Dublin and forty-five minutes from Limerick. It is one of the best-connected towns in the Irish Midlands by rail - Irish Rail runs regular services from Heuston Station, and the journey takes around one hour. The Dunamaise Arts Centre is on Church Lane in the town centre, a short walk from both the bus stops on Main Street and the railway station. Town-centre parking is available nearby on Church Street and in the Lyster Square area.
Portlaoise is a town that rewards a bit of time before or after an evening event - the Rock of Dunamaise, a dramatic fortified outcrop three kilometres east of town, is one of the most striking historical sites in Laois and worth the short drive. There is more to see in Portlaoise and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Dunamaise Arts Centre and Theatre in Portlaoise? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Portlaoise area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.