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festivals · Friday 25 September 2026 · 7:15pm 
Kavanagh Weekend 2026
At Patrick Kavanagh Centre · Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan, A91 KT20
At Patrick Kavanagh Centre · Patrick Kavanagh Centre, Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan, A91 KT20
The Kavanagh Weekend returns to Inniskeen from Friday, 25 September to Sunday, 27 September 2026, built this year around poet Patrick Kavanagh’s connection to the Beat Generation. The curatorial team Unreal Cities, actor and director Adrian Dunbar and saxophonist and composer Nick Roth, have shaped the 2026 programme to mark the centenary of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s birth, running poetry, performance, music and conversation across the weekend at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre.
The weekend opens on Friday, 25 September with the Kavanagh Poetry Award presentation and the festival keynote, followed the same evening by Kavanagh and the Beats, a session exploring Kavanagh’s links to Jack Kerouac and Beat literature. The headline ticketed event is on Saturday, 26 September, when comedian, actor and podcaster Tommy Tiernan joins American poet Anne Waldman in conversation, with Dunbar and Roth also taking part, doors at 7.15pm for an 8pm start. The winner of the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, open to poets writing in English, is announced on the opening night. Earlier editions of the weekend have also included walking tours of Kavanagh country, readings and screenings, so the Friday to Sunday programme usually runs beyond the three headline events confirmed so far.
The Patrick Kavanagh Centre is in the village of Inniskeen, a short drive from Carrickmacross and from Dundalk across the border in County Louth. There is no train service to Inniskeen itself, so a car or organised bus travel is the practical way to reach the festival.
Inniskeen is Kavanagh’s home village, and the centre itself, in the old church and schoolhouse where he was taught, is worth building extra time around for anyone attending the weekend. There is more to see in Inniskeen and across Co. Monaghan.
Heading to Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen? Monaghan has plenty more to see. Read the Inniskeen area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.
In town for Patrick Kavanagh Centre? These Dublin tours book out in summer.