Wicklow Ready For National Heritage Week With Treasure Trove Of Events

Today sees the launch of the 2026 edition of National Heritage Week.

The annual celebration has the theme this year of 'Heritage at Risk', shining a spotlight on traditions under threat.

Free events will be taking place throughout County Wicklow, with over 100 on offer across the county.

Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council, Cllr Dr Caroline Winstanley, says Heritage Week gives communities across the county a chance to celebrate the places, traditions and landscapes that shape local identity

National Heritage Week 2026 — County Wicklow

15–23 August 2026 | Theme: "Heritage at Risk"

Coordinated nationally by The Heritage Council and locally by the Heritage Office of Wicklow County Council. 111 registered events across the county — most free, some ticketed/booking required.

Full listings, accessibility info and booking links: heritageweek.ie

Running all week (multi-day)

Saturday 15 August

• Ballyknockan Granite Heritage — McEvoy Stone, Ballyknockan Quarries, Blessington · 12pm–4pm

• Blessington & Districts – Through The Ages Photographic Exhibition — Blessington Tourist Office · 2pm–4pm

• 'Bray: Music, Movies and More' — Bray Train Station · 11am–1pm

• Delgany Village Heritage Day — Convent Road, Delgany · 9am–7pm

• Free 'Three Centuries of Building & Rebuilding' — Coollattin House, Shillelagh · 3pm–4pm

• Genealogy Workshops with ITA — Rathdrum Library · 10am–1pm

• Guided Biodiversity Hike — Glen of the Downs — Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve · 10am–12:30pm

• Guided Tour of ReWild Wicklow's Native Tree Nursery — Jacksmill Forest Gardens, Newcastle · 11am–12:30pm

• Heritage to Hold on to — Wicklow Tourist Information Centre · 9am–5pm

• Heritage Week Storytime — Blessington Library · 11:30am–12:15pm

• Kynochs Walk (presented by Diarmaid Murphy) — Arklow Heritage Museum · 12pm–2pm

• Old Connaught Graveyard – Open for Visitors — Bray (also open 23 Aug) · 11am–2pm

• Open House in St Kevin's Church, Glendalough (OPW) · 2pm–4pm

• River Dipping in Dunlavin — Meeting point: Dunlavin Courthouse · 11am–12pm & 12:30–1:30pm

• Shillelagh Heritage Trail — Guided Tour — Village Playground Car Park, Shillelagh · 5pm–7pm

• Tours of Knockmore House — Enniskerry (also 16 Aug) · 2pm–5pm

• West to East Mountain Walk: Wicklow's Sheep Droving Heritage — Granamore, Valleymount · 11am–4pm

• Wicklow in Art and Poetry with Colm Brennan — Greystones Library · 11am–12:30pm

• Wicklow Town Heritage Trail — Fitzwilliam Square (also 22 Aug) · 11am–1pm

• Women, Money & Place – Arklow — Arklow Arts Centre · 10:30am–1:15pm

Sunday 16 August

• Bray's Hidden Gems and Secrets — Bray Train Station · 11am–1pm

• Deep Time Walk, Glendalough — Derrybawn & Glendalough · 10am–1:45pm

• Earth Stories: Nature Writing Walk in Glendalough — Derrybawn & Glendalough · 3pm–6pm

• Grand Launch: 'Exactly Who Were These Kennedys?' — Newtownmountkennedy Community Centre · 2:30pm–5pm

• Meet the Trees of Deputy's Pass — Deputy's Pass Nature Reserve · 11am–1pm

• Michael Dwyer, Man of the Mountains — Bus Tour — Rathdangan · 10am–1pm

• Open Day at Wicklow Head Lighthouse — Irish Landmark Trust · 10am–4pm

• Tour of Headlands Community Garden — Bray · 3pm–4pm

• Tours of Knockmore House continues (from 15 Aug) · 2pm–5pm

Monday 17 August

• Census of Bray 1926 — Ballywaltrim Library · 1:30pm–2:30pm

• Family History Research at the Library — Ballywaltrim Library · 11am–12:30pm

• The Glendalough Graveyard Trail — Glendalough Visitor Centre · 6pm–8pm

Tuesday 18 August

• A Miracle on Djouce: 80th Anniversary Talk — Wicklow Library · 7pm–8pm

• Holding on to Greystones Heritage through storytelling and song — Greystones Library · 6:30pm–8pm

• Holy Wells of Co. Wicklow: The Living Traditions — Blessington Library · 6:30pm–7:30pm

• Launch of the Kindlestown Castle Local Biodiversity Action Plan (OPW) — Kindlestown Castle, Delgany · 6pm–7pm

• Literary Tour of Bray Seafront — Bray promenade · 7pm–9pm

• Siúlóid Staire faoi Bhaile an Chinnéidigh — Óstan Parkview · 7pm–8pm

• Step Back in Time in Baltinglass — Baltinglass Library · 7pm–8pm

• Stepping Back in Time — Discover the Stories of Tinahely — Tinahely Library · 6:30pm–7:30pm

• Things That Go Bump in the Night — Parkview Hotel, Newtown Mt. Kennedy · 8:45pm–10pm

• Walking Tour: Field Notes on Human Rights Activism from Bray — Bray Town Hall · 11am–12:30pm

• What Was, What Is, What If: Exploring Wicklow Town's Heritage — Fitzwilliam Square · 1pm–4pm

Wednesday 19 August

• 80 Years of The Queen of Peace Church, Bray — Our Lady Queen of Peace Church · 11am–12pm (also 20 & 22 Aug)

• A Guided Tour of Baltinglass Abbey (OPW) · 2pm–4pm

• Arklow Graveyards GIS Project Talk — Arklow Maritime Museum · 7:30pm–8:45pm

• Art in the Wild — Journaling in an Ancient Irish Wood — Tomnafinnoge Wood · 11am–1pm

• Famous Men & Women from North Wicklow — Enniskerry Library · 6:15pm–7:15pm

• Heritage Week — Movie Afternoon for Children — Blessington Library · 2:30pm–4pm

• Jim Rees and Yvonne Whitty Graveyards Presentation — Arklow Heritage Museum · 7:30pm–8:45pm

• Spiritual Stroll: Stories that Shaped Hollywood's Sacred Landscape — St. Kevin's Church of Ireland, Hollywood · 7pm–8:30pm

• Wellness in the Laneway Project (Creative Ireland) — Arklow Arts Centre (through 22 Aug) · 1pm–4pm

• Wicklow Placenames Project Workshop — Enniskerry Library · 2pm–4:30pm

Thursday 20 August

• 80 Years of The Queen of Peace Church, Bray continues · 7:30pm–8:30pm

• Beneath Your Feet: Conserving Russborough's Historic Floors — Russborough House · 4pm–5pm

• Circular Economy — Art from a Skip — Stable Lane, Bray · 5pm–7pm

• National Heritage Week: Children's Meadow Minibeast Hunt — Upper Vartry Car Park · 11am–1pm

• Nature Walk and Talk with Éanna Ní Lamhna — Daisy Meadows, Newtownmountkennedy · 7:30pm–8:30pm

• See Inside the Freemasons Lodge, Arklow — Abercorn Masonic Hall · 4pm–8pm

• Talk: Wicklow Town Irish Historic Towns Atlas Project (Liz D'Arcy & Catherine Wright) — Wicklow Town Library & Archives · 6:30pm–7:30pm

• The History of Blessington — Blessington Library · 6:30pm–7:30pm

• Tours of Christ Church Bray · 10:45am–1:15pm

• Walk Through 5,000 Years of Farming on Newtown Hill — Glencullen · 7pm–9pm

• Wicklow Placenames Project Workshop — Arklow Library · 6pm–8pm

• Wish You Were Here… Bray Through Edwardian Postcards — Ballywaltrim Library · 11am–12pm

Friday 21 August

• A Guided Tour of Rathgall (OPW) — Rathgall Hillfort · 3pm–5pm

• Batty About Bats — Guided Walk and Talk — The Shaking Bog, Enniskerry · 9pm–10:30pm

• Plant & Seed Swap at Blessington Library · 2pm–5pm

• Reviving Carnew's Craft: Restoring a Historic Shopfront · 6pm–8pm

• St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Bray (also 22 Aug) · 2pm–4pm

• Wicklow Placenames Project Workshop — Carnew Library · 6:30pm–8:30pm

• Wildacres Open Day Nature Experience — Scratenagh · 10am–5pm

• Women Water & Place — Heritage Walk, Arklow — Arklow Heritage Museum · 10am–12:30pm

• Women, Money & Place — Arklow — Arklow Heritage Museum · 2pm–4:30pm

Saturday 22 August

• 80 Years of The Queen of Peace Church, Bray concludes · 3pm–4pm

• Black Sheep — Open Day (artists Caroline Byrne & Sharon Wells) — St Patricks NS, Curtlestown · 10am–2pm

• Derralossary Work Party — Derralossary Graveyard · 10am–4pm

• Free Woodland and Biodiversity Walk at Altidore Castle · 11am–1pm

• Genealogy Workshops with ITA — Arklow Library · 10am–4pm

• Helen Macdonald — Reading & Conversation — St. Patrick's Church, Curtlestown · 4pm–5pm

• Heritage Week Storytime — Blessington Library · 11:30am–12:15pm

• Hidden Gems and Secrets — Bray Train Station · 2:30pm–4:30pm

• Nature in History — Discover the Hidden Gems of Glendalough (OPW) · 9:30am–10:30am

• "The Root of All Evil: the Irish Boundary Commission" — Greystones Library · 3pm–4pm

• Wicklow Placenames Project Workshop — Baltinglass Library · 10am–12:30pm

• Wicklow Town Heritage Trail — Fitzwilliam Square · 11am–1pm

• Who Lives Where? — Donard Community Hall · 3pm–8pm (also 23 Aug)

• St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Bray continues · 2pm–4pm

Sunday 23 August

• All About Bogs — Walk & Talk, Liffey Head Bog (Andrea Webb) — meet at St Patrick's NS, Curtlestown · 8:30am–10am

• Big Dig at Glendalough — Glendalough Visitor Centre · 11am–4pm

• 'Bray: Music, Movies and More' — Bray Train Station · 2:30pm–4:30pm

• Dunlavin Guided Heritage Walk — Imaal Hall · 5pm–5:45pm

• Family Fun Heritage Day at Glendalough Visitor Centre (OPW) · 10am–4pm

• Hollywood Village History Seminar — St. Kevin's Church of Ireland, Hollywood · 11:30am–3:30pm

• Library Talk with Peter Cox: Heritage At Risk — The Library at Killruddery House · 12pm–1:30pm

• Mining Music (The Barn Ensemble) — Brockagh Resource Centre, Laragh · 3pm–4:30pm

• Observe a Stone Carving Workshop in Action — The Haggart, Ballyknockan, Valleymount · 11am–3pm

• Old Connaught Graveyard – Open for Visitors — Bray · 11am–2pm

• Our Native Hedgerows Walk & Talk (Neil Foulkes) — Curtlestown, Enniskerry · 11am–12:30pm

• Placename Project Unveiling and Bazaar Commemoration — Imaal Hall, Dunlavin · 5:45pm–7pm

• Sara Baume — Reading & Conversation — St. Patrick's Church, Curtlestown · 6pm–7pm

• The Babbling Brook, in a Slow Meandering River — Newtownmountkennedy Woods Car Park · 11am–1pm

• The Gathering Field — A Celebration of Place, Nature & Community (Edwina Guckian) — Burton's Field, Curtlestown · 1:30pm–3:30pm

• The Gathering Field — In Concert: Edwina Guckian, Seamas Hyland & Friends — St. Patrick's Church, Curtlestown · 7:30pm–9pm

• Three Exceptional Ladies of Killruddery — The Library at Killruddery House · 3pm–4:30pm

• Who Lives Where? concludes · 10am–1pm