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community · Saturday 22 August 2026 · 2:30 PM 
In Her Words, Memoir Writing Workshop at Athy Library
At Athy Library · Convent Lane, Athy, Co. Kildare R14 DK33
At Athy Library · Convent Lane, Athy, Co. Kildare R14 DK33
Athy Library hosts In Her Words, a free memoir writing workshop, on Saturday 22 August 2026 from 2.30pm to 3.30pm as part of National Heritage Week. The session marks the centenary of the Quaker author Mary Leadbeater, whose journals and letters from Ballitore are among the most valuable first-hand records of life in south Kildare in her period, and it is led by the writer Megan Wynne, who has kept a journal herself since she was twelve.
The hour is built around journaling exercises and the techniques of memoir composition, with a particular emphasis on using sensory detail to bring a remembered scene back to life. That makes it a taster rather than a course, and it works for anyone who has been circling the idea of writing family history down without ever starting. The workshop is for adults. It is part of a wider Heritage Week programme that Kildare Library Service runs across its branches from 15 to 23 August, including lace workshops at Celbridge and a Dublin Zoo session at Leixlip.
Athy Library is on Convent Lane in the centre of Athy, close to Emily Square and a short walk from the Barrow bridge. Athy sits on the N78 in south Kildare, roughly 20 minutes from Kilcullen and about 30 minutes from Carlow town, with the M9 accessible at junction 3 near Castledermot. There is on-street parking and public car parking around Emily Square and the town centre. Athy railway station is on the Dublin Heuston to Waterford line, about a ten minute walk from the library, which makes the train a genuine option here rather than an afterthought. Bus Eireann routes serve Athy from Carlow, Naas and Portlaoise.
Heading to Athy Library in Athy? Kildare has plenty more to see. Read the Athy area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.