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festivals · Thursday 23 July 2026 · Various 
Boyne Music Festival - 13th edition
At Multiple - Townley Hall, Slane Castle, Boann Distillery · Drogheda area, Co. Louth
At Multiple - Townley Hall, Slane Castle, Boann Distillery · Drogheda area, Co. Louth
Four days of chamber music, poetry, film and song set against some of the most striking historic buildings in Ireland - this is the Boyne Music Festival, now in its 13th year. Founded in 2013 by twin sisters Aisling and Julie-Anne Manning and their cousin Deirdre Brenner, the festival has built a genuine reputation for pairing ambitious, intimate programmes with extraordinary spaces: a castle ballroom, a Georgian hall, an old church. It draws serious music lovers who want something more than a concert hall experience, and its scale stays deliberately human - this is not a crowd-of-thousands event.
The 2026 theme is “Forgotten Spaces” - a meditation on the buildings we inhabit, preserve and let fall into neglect, explored through music, poetry, visual art and film. Concerts take place across Slane Castle (the opening night is in the ballroom), Townley Hall, and St. Peter’s Church of Ireland in Drogheda. Townley Hall, a Francis Johnston-designed mansion built in the 1790s, is the heart of the festival and hosts guided tours alongside the performances. The programme includes an amateur strings workshop on Sunday 26 July (€40 including refreshments), a family-friendly afternoon concert featuring Peter and the Wolf, a screening of Philip Denvir’s documentary Leave Only Footprints, and a photography exhibition of abandoned Irish spaces. Featured artists across the four days include violinists Lotte Betts-Dean and Ioana Petcu-Colan, cellist Jacqueline Thomas, composer Samuel Kane, and poet Kate Wakeling. Ticket prices have typically ranged from around €6 to €25 per event, with weekend passes and various combinations available - check the festival website for the 2026 specifics.
Drogheda sits on the main Dublin - Belfast rail corridor, with regular Irish Rail services from Connolly Station in under an hour. Bus Éireann and GoBus also serve the town from Dublin and other points north. By road, it is just off the M1 motorway at Junction 9 or 10. Townley Hall is a few kilometres west of Drogheda town on the south bank of the Boyne; driving is the practical option for that venue. Slane Castle is roughly 15 km further upriver, again most easily reached by car. Parking at both estate venues is normally available on site.
The town itself rewards time - the medieval walls, the Millmount complex, and the Boyne towpath are all within easy reach of the centre. There is more to see in Drogheda and across Co. Louth.
Heading to Multiple - Townley Hall, Slane Castle, Boann Distillery in Drogheda? Louth has plenty more to see. Read the Drogheda area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.