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arts · Saturday 12 September 2026 · Gallery hours 
The Dock Arts Centre Exhibition - September 2026
At The Dock Arts Centre · The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim
At The Dock Arts Centre · The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim
A free photography exhibition opens at The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick-on-Shannon this September, and it is well worth the trip. “Afterimage: Photography in the Digital Age” brings together eight contemporary artists - among them Alan Butler, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, and Luke van Gelderen - to explore what photography means now that images are generated, manipulated, and distributed at a scale no darkroom could ever match. The show runs through to 14 November, so there is plenty of time to visit without feeling rushed. It suits anyone with a curiosity about visual art, and equally anyone who has ever wondered about the gap between what a camera records and what we believe an image to be.
The Dock is Leitrim’s flagship arts centre, housed in what was originally an early nineteenth-century courthouse on the banks of the River Shannon. The building has been converted with care - original architectural features still visible alongside contemporary gallery spaces - and the result is one of those venues that feels right for serious art. The three gallery spaces host rotating exhibitions of this kind regularly, and the programming tends towards work that asks genuine questions rather than decorating walls. “Afterimage” gathers artists working in photography, digital image-making, and mixed-media installation, and the themes - authenticity, memory, the altered image - are likely to keep you thinking on the drive home. After the gallery, the on-site Jury Room café is a good place to sit with those thoughts, and the Leitrim Design House shop carries craft work by regional makers if you want to bring something home.
Carrick-on-Shannon sits on the N4, roughly 160 km north-west of Dublin - about two hours by car. Bus Éireann runs regular services on the Dublin - Sligo route, with stops in Carrick-on-Shannon; journey time from Dublin is around two hours and twenty minutes. The town is compact and The Dock is a short walk from the bus stop and from the town centre car parks. Street parking is available on the quays directly outside the building.
The town is the county town of Leitrim and sits at a wide bend in the Shannon, with the river walkway, the marina, and a good selection of restaurants all within a few minutes on foot of The Dock. There is more to see in Carrick-on-Shannon and across Co. Leitrim.
Heading to The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick-on-Shannon? Leitrim has plenty more to see. Read the Carrick-on-Shannon area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.