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family · Saturday 15 August 2026 · 2:00pm 
National Heritage Week - Children's Print Workshop
At Donegal County Museum · High Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
At Donegal County Museum · High Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
Every August, National Heritage Week gives families a good reason to step away from screens and into something real - and this free printmaking session at Donegal County Museum is one of the better reasons to spend an afternoon in Letterkenny. Artist Laura Buchanan runs the workshop for children aged 7 to 12, and it is properly hands-on: foam stickers, colourful inks, rollers, and a Woodzilla printing press for relief printing, then letterpress printing with vintage wooden type to design and stamp out a personal message to bring home. Children also get to make a badge as a keepsake. The 2026 National Heritage Week theme is Heritage at Risk, so the session is framed around exploring local places, landscapes and traditions through making. Adults must accompany children, and places are limited so advance booking is essential.
The session takes place in the Donegal County Museum - a handsome stone building that once formed part of the Letterkenny Workhouse, opened in 1845. The museum holds substantial collections covering Donegal from the Stone Age through to the twentieth century: archaeology, geology, natural history, folk life, World War I medals and old railway memorabilia. Arriving a little early and wandering the galleries before or after the workshop is worthwhile and costs nothing - the museum is free admission throughout the year.
The printmaking workshop itself runs at 2pm on Saturday 15 August, the opening day of Heritage Week. Laura Buchanan guides the session, walking children through relief printing before moving to the letterpress machine to compose and print their own short message in vintage wooden type. The combination of analogue printing methods and heritage framing makes it genuinely educational without feeling like a lesson.
Letterkenny is the largest town in Donegal and the commercial hub of the north-west. From Dublin, it is roughly a three-hour drive via the M1 and N2, or a little over two hours from Derry. Bus Eireann and the Expressway network connect Letterkenny with Dublin, Galway and Derry. The museum sits on the High Road, a short uphill walk from the town centre and the main bus stops. Street parking is available nearby, and the town has several public car parks within easy walking distance.
Letterkenny sits at the head of Lough Swilly and is a useful base for the whole county. There is more to see in Letterkenny and across Co. Donegal.
Heading to Donegal County Museum in Letterkenny? Donegal has plenty more to see. Read the Letterkenny area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.