Memory Cafe at De La Salle Pastoral Centre

A Memory Cafe runs monthly at the De La Salle Pastoral Centre in Wicklow town on the last Friday of the month, from 2pm to 4pm, with the next session on Friday, 28 August 2026. Memory cafes are a well-established, low-key format used around the country: an informal drop-in for people living with dementia or memory difficulties and the family members or carers who support them, run over tea and conversation rather than as a clinical service.

What to Expect

The session is deliberately unstructured, giving attendees a relaxed couple of hours in a familiar community venue rather than a programme with set activities to follow. Carers get a chance to talk to others in a similar situation, and the person they support gets a change of scene and company in a setting that is calm rather than overstimulating. The Pastoral Centre is one of Wicklow town’s busiest community venues, also hosting Wicklow Parish Bingo, Wicklow Active Retirement Association and Neptune Bridge Club through the week, so the Memory Cafe fits into a hall that is already a familiar meeting point for many local older residents.

Memory cafes of this kind are typically volunteer-supported rather than run by paid clinical staff, and their value lies as much in reducing isolation for carers as in providing activity for the person living with dementia; many carers describe the two hours as one of the only times in the month they get to sit down and talk to someone who understands the situation without having to explain it from scratch. No referral or diagnosis paperwork is needed to attend, and there is no charge for tea, coffee and biscuits served during the session.

Good to Know

• Date and time: last Friday of each month, 2pm to 4pm; next session 28 August 2026
• Venue: De La Salle Pastoral Centre, Saint Patrick’s Road, Wicklow town
• Price: free, drop in, carers and family members welcome alongside the person they support
• Recurrence: monthly, year round
• No referral or diagnosis paperwork required to attend

Getting There

The De La Salle Pastoral Centre is a short walk from Wicklow town centre and the train station, with parking available on and around Saint Patrick’s Road for carers driving in from surrounding areas.