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arts · Saturday 11 July 2026 · 11:00am 
Teach Allais Summer Exhibition
At An Chead Tine Art Gallery & Studios · 10 De La Salle House, The Parade, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
At An Chead Tine Art Gallery & Studios · 10 De La Salle House, The Parade, Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
A free summer exhibition at An Chead Tine Art Gallery in Kilkenny city centre, Teach Allais takes its name from the Irish for “house of sweat” - the ancient sweathouses that dotted the Irish countryside for thousands of years. The show draws its inspiration directly from a remarkable local find: a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age sweat lodge uncovered at Rathpatrick, Co. Kilkenny in 2003, the oldest of its kind ever found in Ireland. Contemporary artists respond to that deep local history, making this a good choice for anyone who wants art with something real to say about the place they are standing in.
The exhibition brings together works from the collective of professional artists who make up An Chead Tine, a gallery and studios space on The Parade in Kilkenny. The theme of teach allais - those stone-built, hillside sweat lodges used for healing and ritual across ancient Ireland - runs through the whole show. More than 300 sweathouses survive in the national Sites and Monuments Register, many of them moss-covered and half-hidden in the landscape, so the subject connects the very local (that Rathpatrick Bronze Age structure) to a tradition that spread across the island. Expect paintings, prints, or mixed-media work that interprets this quietly extraordinary archaeological heritage through a contemporary Irish lens. The exhibition runs for three weeks, giving visitors time to come back for a second look.
Kilkenny is well served by Bus Eireann and Expressway coaches from Dublin, Cork, Waterford, and Limerick - the journey from Dublin takes roughly two hours. By road, the M9 motorway brings you from Dublin in under 90 minutes; the N77 connects from the south. The gallery is at 10 De La Salle House on The Parade, right in the city centre, a short walk from the main bus stops. The Parade is close to several surface car parks; the Lacken Road and Market Yard car parks are within easy walking distance. Kilkenny is a compact city and most of it is walkable once you arrive.
Kilkenny rewards a slow look around - the medieval streets, the Castle, St Canice’s Cathedral with its round tower, and the Smithwick’s Experience are all within easy reach of The Parade. There is more to see in Kilkenny and across Co. Kilkenny.
Heading to An Chead Tine Art Gallery & Studios in Kilkenny? Kilkenny has plenty more to see. Read the Kilkenny area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.