Family Carers Support Group at Dundalk Library

What to Expect

Dundalk Library hosts a Family Carers Support Group on the last Wednesday of every month, from 10:30am to noon. The library lists it with no booking required, which matters more than it sounds: carers rarely know a fortnight in advance whether they will be able to get out of the house, so a group you can simply arrive at is a great deal more usable than one that needs a reservation. The next meeting falls on Wednesday 26 August 2026, and it is free.

Family carers are the largest and least visible group of unpaid workers in the country, and the isolation is usually cited as the hardest part of it, harder than the physical work. A ninety-minute morning group in a public library is a low-stakes way in: no referral, no assessment, no form to fill, just a room with other people who understand the shape of the week without being told. Groups like this generally cover practical ground alongside the conversation, from what supports are available and how to apply for them, to respite, to the everyday problems of managing appointments and medication for someone else. Dundalk Library pairs it with a monthly Memory Cafe on the second Tuesday of each month for people living with dementia and their carers, so the branch has become a fixed monthly point of contact for carers in the town.

Good to Know

• Last Wednesday of each month, 10:30am to 12:00pm; next meeting Wednesday 26 August 2026
• Venue: Dundalk Library, Roden Place, Dundalk
• Free, and no booking is required, just turn up
• Open to family carers
• The library’s Memory Cafe runs on the second Tuesday of each month, 2:30pm to 3:30pm, returning in September after the summer break
• Dundalk Library: 042 9353190 or libraryhelpdesk@louthcoco.ie

Getting There

Dundalk Library is on Roden Place in the centre of Dundalk, beside St Patrick’s Cathedral and a couple of minutes’ walk from Market Square and Clanbrassil Street. The bus station on the Long Walk is close by, and Dundalk Clarke rail station on the Dublin to Belfast line is about fifteen minutes on foot. Drivers coming off the M1 at junction 16 or 18 should follow the town centre signs; the Marshes Shopping Centre multi-storey and the Park Street car parks are the nearest, and there are accessible spaces near the library entrance.