Clones Film Festival

The Clones Film Festival returns to County Monaghan from Thursday, 22 October to Sunday, 25 October 2026, taking over the border town of Clones for its 24th year. Founded in 2001 by Lmb Entertainments, it has grown into the county’s longest-running film event, with four days of Irish and international features, documentaries, shorts and children’s films shown in a scatter of restored heritage buildings around the town rather than in a single fixed cinema.

What to expect

Screenings run across several pop-up venues rather than one purpose-built cinema: the restored Courthouse, a Cinemobile, and the old Post Office on the Diamond, which doubles as the festival box office. The programme mixes new Irish and international feature films, documentaries, a dedicated shorts strand and a run of children’s films on the Sunday, alongside a commissioned short screened on the closing day. The festival’s best-known strand is the Short Film Challenge, in which teams script, cast, shoot and edit a complete short in three days flat, competing for the Francie Award, named after Francie Brady, the young narrator of Patrick McCabe’s “The Butcher Boy,” which was filmed in Clones in 1997. Evenings run into a Festival Club with live music, and Clones Artist Studios in the town serves as a working base for the festival’s programme through the year, not just festival weekend.

Getting there

Clones sits on the N54 near the border with Northern Ireland, about a 30-minute drive from Monaghan town and just over two hours from Dublin. The box office and one of the main venues, the old Post Office, is on the Diamond in the centre of town, within walking distance of the Courthouse and the rest of Clones’s compact centre; on-street parking is available around the Diamond.

While you’re in Clones

Clones is a heritage border town built around a 10th-century round tower and high cross, both a short walk from the festival venues, along with the Ulster Canal Stores and its Clones Lace Museum. There is more to see in Clones and across Co. Monaghan.

Good to know

• Dates: Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October 2026
• Time: screenings run through the day and evening across all four days
• Venues: Clones Courthouse, the Cinemobile and the old Post Office on the Diamond (box office)
• Price: paid, per screening or festival pass; book via clonesfilmfestival.com
• Recurrence: annual, over the October bank holiday weekend
• Note: 24th edition in 2026, run by Lmb Entertainments since 2001