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heritage · Saturday 15 August 2026 · Various 
National Heritage Week - Galway
At Multiple Venues · Galway City and County, Co. Galway
At Multiple Venues · Galway City and County, Co. Galway
Every August, Ireland pauses to look at what it has managed to hold onto - and Galway repays that attention more than most counties. National Heritage Week 2026, running 15 to 23 August, brings over 100 events across Galway city and county, all of them free or very low cost. The programme stretches from the walled streets of Athenry and Loughrea to the Atlantic shore of Inishbofin, covering nine days and a remarkable spread of interests. If you have any curiosity about where Irish places come from - or just want a good day out with some substance to it - this is an easy week to build a trip around.
The range is deliberately broad. Genealogy workshops will help families trace Connacht roots; archaeologist-led walking tours visit ruins and ringforts; and there are talks on the history of the Connemara pony, one of Ireland’s oldest native breeds. On the water side, seashore safaris take participants along the coastline to read the shoreline ecology.
In Galway city, St Nicholas Collegiate Church - founded in 1320 and the largest medieval parish church still in use in Ireland - hosts a full medieval day on Saturday 23 August (11:30 to 15:30). Visitors can try their hand at sword play, calligraphy, lucet weaving, and medieval dance, try on period costume, and take a guided tour with character guide Lady Catherine. It is hands-on rather than passive.
Athenry, the best-preserved walled medieval town in Connacht, marks Walled Towns Day on 16 August. Activities centre on the castle and the community park and include falconry, archery, living history re-enactments, medieval music, and craft stations for children. Loughrea also takes part in Walled Towns Day.
On the eastern edge of the county, Portumna Castle and Gardens hosts a Market and Craft Fair with stalls covering knitwear, ceramics, artisan food, garden produce, and books. The castle itself is a remarkable Jacobean shell, well worth exploring alongside the fair.
Galway city is about two hours from Dublin by road (M6) or by Iarnrod Eireann rail - trains run regularly from Heuston Station and take roughly two hours fifteen minutes. Bus Eireann and Citylink also run frequent express services from Dublin, Cork, and Limerick. For events in the county - Athenry, Portumna, Inishbofin - a car gives most flexibility, though Athenry has its own rail station (15 minutes from Galway city) and Portumna is accessible by bus. City-centre parking in Galway fills quickly in August; the Westside and Headford Road park-and-ride options ease the pressure on match and festival days.
Heritage Week sits in the middle of a busy August in the west - the Galway Races are typically nearby in the calendar, Clifden hosts the Connemara Pony Show (18 to 21 August), and the city itself is good for a day or two of walking, eating, and browsing the Latin Quarter at any time of year. There is more to see in Galway and across Co. Galway.
Heading to Multiple Venues in Galway? Galway has plenty more to see. Read the Galway area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.