Kildare Town Heritage Centre

22/08/2026

Heritage Week finishing on a high with the canal festival at Milltown.tommorrow Sunday 23rd

Check out other events on www.heritageweek.ie

21/08/2026

Last chance to catch one of our free guided WalkingTours tommorrow saturday 23rd at 11.30am (sopported by Kildare Co Council)
Check www.heritageweek.ie for other great events

20/08/2026

20/08/2026

Lovely event in the Library this evening.
Our free guided Walking Tour of the Ancient Town of Kildare continue 11.30am and also you can add to our beautiful Community Mosaic from 11am to 2pm.
And so much more check out www.heritageweek.ie
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19/08/2026

What a great week Heritage week is turning out to be. Check www.heritageweek.ie for all events.
One great event coming up is the first Springsteen Festival in Rathangan on Saturday.
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19/08/2026

Inaugural Féile Springsteen Rathangan: The Ties That Bind Kildare and New Jersey

The first annual Féile Springsteen will take place in Rathangan, County Kildare, on Saturday, 22 August 2026, featuring a full day of music, talks, historical tours, art exhibitions, film screenings, competitions and other activities celebrating legendary musician Bruce Springsteen and his links to Rathangan.

The headline event will be an outdoor concert by The Human Touch, Ireland's first dedicated live tribute band to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, at The Village Pump at 8.00 pm. The band will be supported by Rathangan's own Hot Cross Dunnes. Admission to this special concert is €15.

The festival will begin at 11.00 am with a talk in Rathangan Library entitled "Bruce Springsteen: Rooted in Rathangan", presented by County Librarian and musician Mario Corrigan. The talk will explore the Irish side of Bruce Springsteen's family history and tell the story of how Springsteen’s great-great grandmother Ann Garrity (14) left Rathangan with her younger sisters aboard the SS Arctic to join her family in Freehold, New Jersey.

Another festival highlight will be a guided walking tour, "Ann Garrity's Rathangan", led by noted historian Larry Fullam at 4.00 pm. Participants will be transported back to Rathangan in 1853, visiting places familiar to Ann, including the church where she was baptised, the Rath and the Grand Canal, where her father worked.

Other events throughout the day will include a Bruce Springsteen look-alike competition, with prizes for the best Bruce, and an opportunity to recreate some of the scenes from Springsteen's visit to Rathangan in 2023 at The Burrow at 7.00 pm.

Ma's Kitchen will host an all-day art exhibition featuring works from the An Scríobhláil Collective and the Freehold Art Group, while a Springsteen-themed film will be screened at the RYARC Centre at 2.00 pm.

All events, with the exception of the evening concert, are free of charge. Advance booking is advised for the library talk and can be made by emailing [email protected].

ENDS

Féile Springsteen Rathangan is hosted by the Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association. Media and event enquiries should be directed to the Festival Director at [email protected].

Rathangan, County Kildare, was formally twinned with Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 2025.

18/08/2026

Our Guided Walking Tours of Ancient Kildare continue tommorrow at 11.30am as part of Heritage week. Meet at Heritage Centre.
Check out the amazing range of events happening on www.heritageweek.ie

18/08/2026

Murder on Chapel Hill
Mario Corrigan

The Joe Connelly Lecture
Cill Dara Historical Society
Heritage Week 2026

Wednesday 19 August
8 pm
Kildare Education Support Centre

Come early for a chat and a cuppa
We are there from 7.15

If anyone has any information or stories please contact Mario Kildare Town Footprints or directly via [email protected]

County Kildare Heritage Office
Kildare County Archives & Local Studies
Together, Kildare Will be Better
Kildare Town Projects Group

18/08/2026

17/08/2026

Another chance to add a piece to our community mosaic from 11am to 2pm tommorrow Tuesday 18th and Thursday 20th. Venue old pe hall or scouts hall in the Leader Partnership site on Convent Road ,Kildare Town. This project is supported by the Heritage Council.

For lots more events check out www.heritageweek.ie
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