Caherconnell International Furnace Festival 2026

Caherconnell Stone Fort in the Burren hosts the International Furnace Festival on 29 and 30 August 2026, a weekend built around live iron smelting using methods and furnace designs that echo the Iron Age origins of the craft. It is now in its fourth staging, having previously run in 2022 and 2023, and is organised by Irish Bloomery Iron on behalf of the Irish Iron Heritage Foundation CLG, the body behind a small series of furnace festivals held at heritage sites around Ireland.

What to Expect

The festival centres on live bloomery iron smelting: teams build clay furnaces on site, smelt local bog ore, and refine the resulting metal using traditional hammering and forging techniques, with international smelters and students taking part alongside Irish participants. Visitors can watch the process up close, see blacksmithing and other traditional crafts demonstrated, and walk through an open-air museum explaining the history and science of iron production in Ireland. General admission, including guided tours of the fort and museum, is free. For anyone who wants to do more than watch, Irish Bloomery Iron also runs hands-on smelting courses over the festival weekend, where participants help build a furnace and take part in a live smelt from start to finish. These courses are booked and paid separately through the organiser rather than included in general admission.

Good to Know

• Dates: Saturday 29 to Sunday 30 August 2026
• Venue: Caherconnell Stone Fort, Carran, in the Burren, North Clare
• Price: Free to attend and watch; smelting courses are a paid, separately booked add-on
• Book a smelting course or ask questions via irishbloomeryiron@gmail.com, or see furnacefestival.ie for the full programme
• Runs during National Heritage Week, so expect it alongside other heritage events across the county

Getting There

Caherconnell is on the R480, the road that runs through the heart of the Burren linking Leamaneh Castle and Kilfenora to the Poulnabrone Dolmen and Ballyvaughan further north. It is well signposted as an established Burren visitor attraction, with its own car park on site. There is no public bus service to the fort itself, so a car is the practical way to reach it; the nearest town with services is Kilfenora, a short drive south.