Heritage Week Trad Music with Brendan McCreanor, Carlingford Library

What to Expect

Carlingford Library marks National Heritage Week with an hour of traditional music from Brendan McCreanor, one of the north east’s better known multi instrumentalists and an accomplished uilleann piper. McCreanor is the musician who runs Droichead Arts Centre’s Slow Sessions in Drogheda, and his playing habitually comes with context: where a tune came from, which region shaped its style, and how it changed as it travelled. That fits the Heritage Week brief, which is less about performance for its own sake and more about how a living tradition gets handed on.

The session is free, no booking is needed, and the library says all ages are welcome, so it works as an easy afternoon stop for families walking Carlingford in late August. The library is a small room rather than a concert hall, which means you hear the instruments unamplified and close up, and there is usually space for questions. Heritage Week 2026 runs across County Louth with a wider programme of talks, walks and workshops at the county’s libraries and heritage sites, and this is one of the music entries in it.

Good to Know

• Saturday 22 August 2026, 3:30pm to 4:30pm
• Venue: Carlingford Library, Carlingford, Co. Louth
• Free admission and no booking required
• All ages welcome
• Performer: Brendan McCreanor, traditional musician and uilleann piper
• Part of National Heritage Week 2026 in County Louth
• Library phone for queries: 042 9324113

Getting There

Carlingford sits on the R173 on the Cooley Peninsula, about 20 minutes’ drive from Dundalk and roughly 25 minutes from junction 18 of the M1 at Dundalk North. The village is compact and the library is within the central cluster of streets, so park once and walk. There are public car parks near the harbour and at the tholsel end of the village, and they fill quickly on August Saturdays, so arrive early. Bus Eireann route 161 links Carlingford with Dundalk and Newry, and the Carlingford Lough Greenway comes in from Omeath for anyone cycling or walking the coast route.