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heritage · Wednesday 19 August 2026 · 6:15pm 
Hidden Histories and Local Legends - Ballyconnell Library
At Ballyconnell Library · Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan
At Ballyconnell Library · Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan
Ballyconnell Library hosts local historian Tony Connolly on Wednesday, 19 August 2026 for Hidden Histories and Local Legends, a Heritage Week session digging into the stories and folklore tied to the west Cavan area around the town. It runs as part of the national Heritage Week programme, which every August turns library branches, museums and community halls into venues for exactly this kind of local storytelling, and Cavan County Libraries has built it into a proper season across its nine branches.
Tony Connolly walks the audience through the lesser-known history of the local area: the events, characters and legends that do not make it into the standard history books but get passed down locally instead. The library frames the evening as suitable for families, aimed at children aged seven and up, though the folklore angle tends to draw adults in as much as younger listeners. Expect a talk-and-discussion format rather than a lecture, with room for questions and for people in the audience to add their own family stories, which is often how these local history sessions turn up material the historian himself has not heard before. It sits inside Cavan County Libraries’ wider Heritage Week programme, alongside events at other branches, museums and heritage sites across the county through the same week.
Ballyconnell is a small town in west Cavan on the N87, close to the Shannon-Erne Waterway and the border with Fermanagh. The library is in the town itself; driving is the practical option, with limited direct bus links from Cavan town. On-street parking is available around the town centre.
Ballyconnell sits on the Shannon-Erne Waterway, and the marina and canal walkways make for an easy stroll before or after the talk, particularly on a summer evening. There is more to see in Ballyconnell and across Co. Cavan.
Heading to Ballyconnell Library in Ballyconnell? Cavan has plenty more to see. Read the Ballyconnell area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.