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News, How we work | 30 September 2026
Delivering the Dublin Festival of History
How our team works together to support access to the city’s history and stories.
In its fourteenth year, the Dublin Festival of History is an annual free festival which has built a reputation for creating fresh perspectives on history and its importance in our everyday lives. The festival’s programme provides the opportunity for people of all ages to add to and learn more about the city’s story by taking part, watching, listening, appreciating history in a variety of forms.
The Festival demonstrates fully how we deliver the ambition and promise of our Company Strategy in practical terms. Working together with historians, academics, writers, community history champions, and cultural institutions, public libraries work alongside the Culture Company team to deliver a citywide programme across the two weeks of the Festival.
Dublin Festival of History is brought to you in partnership with Dublin City Libraries. The Festival Steering Group comprises the Culture Company’s Director of Curatorial and Heritage Programmes, Linda Devlin and the Culture Company’s Social Historian Donal Fallon as Festival Programmer, with Dublin City Libraries’ Deputy City Librarian, Brendan Teeling and Divisional Librarian, Angela Cassidy supported by the Culture Compay’s Festival Manager Heather MacLeod.
Our Festival Manager, Heather MacLeod leads the festival development and delivery from the infrastructure of submissions, programming, programme and partner coordination. Some elements of this work included the workshops held in the Spring with cultural partners, libraries and members of the City’s community of history and heritage. Ensuring that all of the information gathered is transferred into an accessible, easy to navigate programme for the public is also a key part of this role.
Our Social Historian, Donal Fallon is Festival programmer working closely with the Steering Group to curate the Big Weekend and this year’s Europe Day alongside the multitude of events that take place across the city. Supporting the planning and event management of the programme is our Event Manager, Robin Graham.
The Culture Company’s wider work with activities from our programmes and buildings are included for people to enjoy throughout the Festival.
Our six Historians In Residence are delivering a programme of talks, workshops, walks and events across the libraries network and in communities, working closely with local history groups on subjects of local, national and international historical insight and learning. Their work in the Festival is an additional way people can learn more about the Historian in Residence’s ongoing annual programme and find ways to connect with it throughout the year.
Our Culture Connects team in Richmond Barracks have programmed workshops in creative writing, family and children creative workshops and local history walks demonstrating how history can be found on your doorstep.
Our Culture Club programme will present talks at Kilmainham and many of our Culture Club partners are hosting their own events throughout the Festival. The Culture Company team in 14 Henrietta Street will deliver an ISL tour and its Teatime Talks programme.
Dublin City Council Culture Company is delighted to work in partnership with our colleagues in Dublin City Council and Dublin City Libraries and our ninety cultural and community partners this year to bring a diverse range of over 300 events, talks, workshops, exhibition and tours to the festival programme. Find out more about where you can join in www.dublinfestivalofhistory.ie