Hinterland Festival 2022

Get ready for a new twist on ancient Irish legends. Join author Niamh Donnellan and illustrator Brian Fitzgerald for storytelling and art based on their new book, Little Irish History Heroes. Niamh will tell stories of the giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill, pirate queen Grace O'Malley, high king Brian Boru, bold Queen Maeve, kind St Brigid and young hurler Cú Chulainn. Then draw along with Brian as he brings these little heroes to life!

A masterclass in storytelling and narrative construction from one of Ireland’s most renowned writers and a contributor to the creative writing programme at the Trinity Oscar Wilde Centre for many years where he currently teaches the 'Writing for a Living' course.

Hear the fascinating story of the newly restored Victorian Printing Presses. Print your own personalised Tote Bag on the Albion Beam Press – the collection’s oldest press dating from 1832!

From the author of Academy Street, comes a heart-breaking yet hopeful best-selling novel of love, loss and self-discovery. In 1985 Dublin, nineteen-year-old Anna falls for Peter, an older, worldly man. Her obsessive longing for him leads to marriage and, eventually, a crushing betrayal. Mary will be in conversation with Sophie Grenham.

Bestselling author & festival favourite Liz Nugent returns to Kells with her hotly anticipated new novel, The Truth About Ruby Cooper. With her trademark blend of psychological tension and pitch‑black humour, Nugent offers an inside look at her creative process and the characters who haunt her pages. Liz will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.

It’s 50 years since the death of Agatha Christie, who has sold more than 2 BILLION books. It’s also 100 years since the great mystery that neither Poirot nor Miss Marple were permitted to investigate, her baffling disappearance for ten days in 1926. Myles Dungan looks at the highlights of Christie’s writing career and this lowlight of her personal life.

Carlo Gébler is the son of two famous writers, Edna O’Brien and Ernest Gébler. Eoin McNamee’s father Brendan was the inspiration his most recent work, The Bureau. Both now teach creative writing at the Trinity College Dublin, Oscar Wilde Centre. Here they come together to discuss the formative and/or problematic influence of their respective parents.

Alex Wintour has only got this far in life by living off her wits. Well, that and an ability to see glimpses of the future – a useful talent when you need to stay one step ahead of the law. Alex first appeared in the Wintour’s Game, now she’s back in Part 2 of the Wintour saga in Wintour’s Fate.

Join journalist Fintan Drury for the Liam Cahill Memorial Lecture as he re-examines the mass displacement of Palestinians between 1947 and 1949. In Catastrophe II: Nakba, Fintan maintains that a second Nakba is unfolding today. He explores the long history leading to the October 7th Hamas attacks and critiques Israel’s response and the role of Western powers, a theme also taken up in his new book Genocide: Sponsoring the Destruction of Palestine which argues that without Western sponsorship, the current Palestinian genocide could not have happened.

For decades, Terry Prone has been the person Irish public figures turned to when they needed to find the right words - or the right way to say them. Her chatty, ‘tell-all’ memoir, I’m Glad You Asked Me That, looks back on a life that brought her into close contact with figures like Charles Haughey, Garret FitzGerald, Pádraig Flynn, Albert Reynolds and many others - a front-row seat to how politics and broadcasting evolved in modern Ireland. Terry will be in conversation with Myles Dungan.

After two phenomenal successes Edel Coffey is back with a third twisty thriller to follow up Breaking Point (2022) and In Her Place (2024). In Glass Houses is a mystery featuring a journalist doing what journalists are supposed to do, uncovering secrets, this time the setting is upper crust Manhattan. Edel will be in conversation with Deirdre Hurley.

Emilio the Emoo! Is a heartwarming tale of self-discovery, bravery and embracing what makes us unique. With vibrant illustrations this beautifully crafted story, centred around a neurodivergent Emu, encourages all children to embrace their individuality, and is a joyful reminder that being different is something truly special. 

Children will meet a life size Emilio puppet at the reading, followed by a fun, sock puppet making workshop. All materials provided.

Children's workshop, an exciting opportunity to print your own postcard at the new Kells Printing Works & send to family & friends from Hinterland.

Spaces limited, must be pre-booked.  Times available 2pm, 2.15pm, 2.30pm & 2.45pm

"Nobody listens to me because I’m too handsome." (Patrick Freyne, Irish Times, 22 January). 

 ‘They’ will be listening to him in 2026 with the publication of his first novel Experts in a Dying Field and his incisive and timely takedown of the AI industry in a December 2025 Irish Times article, ‘From the removal of joy to global destruction, 16 reasons I hate AI.’. He will be discussing novel and AI beefs with Gerry Foley.

Katriona O’Sullivan has been defying the odds her entire life.  Raised amid poverty, addiction and abuse, her debut memoir Poor became a testament of resilience.  She returns with Hungry, a raw and courageous exploration of survival and the lifelong search for self-acceptance - examining how trauma, class and gender shape women’s sense of their bodies and their worth. Katriona will be in conversation with Deirdre Hurley.

Drawing on years of experience as a Certified Financial Planner and Broadcaster, McGee (author of How to Be Good with Money) offers a roadmap to building wealth, making smart choices and designing a future that aligns with your values. With practical tools, this book empowers readers to move from surviving to thriving, to creating a life where you can choose to work but need no longer depend on it financially.

A study of Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald, which was shortlisted for History Book of the Year at the 2025 Irish Book Awards. With wit, clarity, and a flair for the telling detail, Eoin O’Malley unpacks power, personality, and the high‑stakes clashes that defined an era.

It’s fifty years since rock music raised its middle finger to society, to a flabby self-satisfied music scene, and reinvented itself. God Save the Queen took on a whole new meaning in the hands of the Sex Pistols, and punk was born. Tom Dunne loved it all as a teenager but missed the short-lived phenomenon as lead singer of Something Happens.

Eamon Carr, journalist, author and founding member of the influential band Horslips, winners of the RTE Choice Music Prize Classic Album Award 2026 at this year’s Choice Music Awards, returns home to Kells to discuss Pure Gold, his vivid collection of remarkable interviews with famous people gathered across a lifetime. A chance to welcome back one of the town’s most distinctive cultural voices. Eamon will be in conversation with Gerry Foley.