The Allingham Arts
Festival Archive

The 2025 festival brought an outstanding lineup to Ballyshannon. Booker-longlisted novelist Donal Ryan was interviewed by fellow author Nuala O'Connor, just months after his novel Heart Be at Peace won the Orwell Prize for political fiction. The Allingham Lecture was delivered by Nelofer Pazira-Fisk, the award-winning Afghan-Canadian journalist and filmmaker. John Creedon of RTÉ appeared in conversation with broadcaster Seán Perry, and historian Paul O'Brien explored the life and legacy of Peadar O'Donnell. Theatre came courtesy of the acclaimed one-man show Paddy, with Don Wycherley as Guildford Four member Paddy Armstrong. A showcase of work by local film-makers was included. The music of Shauna Mullin and Alan Colfer provided the musical highlight of the weekend. Recurring festival favourites – the Literary Lunch, History Ireland Hedge School, Christine Fox's Children's Art Workshop, Open Mic at McIntyre's, and the closing Sunday concert at St Anne's Church – all returned to warm audiences.

The 2022 festival returned to full capacity with an outstanding lineup. Booker-shortlisted author Claire Keegan (Small Things Like These, Foster) appeared in conversation with RTÉ’s Sinéad Crowley. Belfast actor Ian McElhinney - known to millions as Granda Joe in Derry Girls and Ser Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones - shared career highlights in a packed interview session. Musician David Rooney performed in concert alongside singer Chanele McGuinness. The Saturday night headline was Bird on the Wire - The Songs of Leonard Cohen, featuring Pauline Scanlon and The Whileaways, which sold out in advance. The History Ireland Hedge School focused on Donegal in the Civil War, and a run of book launches included Pauric Travers’s Donegal - The Irish Revolution, 1912–23 and Richie Fitzgerald’s Cold-Water Eden. The Emerson Lecture with Anthony Begley was a very popular event, alongside the Literary Lunch, Schools Awards and other annual highlights.

The 2021 festival marked a welcome return to live events. The Allingham Lecture was delivered by journalist Tommie Gorman, one of Ireland’s most respected broadcasters. Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, V for Vendetta, Breakfast on Pluto) appeared in an acclaimed in-conversation event with Seán Rocks, and Cavan comedian Seamus O’Rourke brought his hit one-man show Indigestion to Ballyshannon. The Whileaways headlined the Saturday night concert. The programme also featured book launches, an art, poetry and music extravaganza entitled Nets of Wonder by Olive Travers and Barry Britton, an art launch by Catherine McGagh, and the live debut of a new audio guide to St Colmcille’s Donegal, commissioned as part of the Colmcille 1500 commemorations. Schools awards, the Gather Again Sunday session and the Sunday Concert in St. Anne’s rounded out a richly packed weekend.

With in-person events impossible due to the pandemic, the 2020 Allingham Festival moved online - and delivered a memorable virtual programme streamed free on YouTube. The headline event was a conversation with Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty, The Crying Game, Hear My Song), interviewed by Michael Daly of the Donegal Democrat. The Schools Fiction and Poetry Awards, sponsored by Donegal ETB, were presented live, and the Flash Fiction and Poetry Awards ceremony was broadcast via Zoom with judges Gerard Beirne and Denise Blake. The Saturday programme featured repeats of digital content from previous festivals: Poetry in Motion - animated versions of William Allingham’s poetry, and the another chance to hear Francis Harvey’s radio play Farewell to Every White Cascade. A remarkable achievement under difficult circumstances.

The 2019 festival opened with a tribute to Donegal playwright Frank McGuinness, including a staging of his play The Bread Man, a joint production by the Allingham Festival and Ballyshannon Drama Society, and an intimate conversation with McGuinness himself, interviewed by Seán Rocks. The Allingham Lecture was delivered by Eamonn McCann, the Derry politician, activist and broadcaster, on the theme of power and the people. Beloved comedian Kevin McAleer brought the house down with his one-man show Guru. The visual arts were strongly represented with an exhibition by former Children’s Laureate and illustrator PJ Lynch. Olive Travers and gardener Brendan Little presented an illustrated talk of the garden paintings of Helen Allingham. Internationally renowned documentarist Garry Keane screened ‘Gaza’, his portrait of life in Palestine. The festival closed with the annual concert at St Anne’s Church.

The 2018 festival paid special tribute to the late Donegal poet Francis Harvey, with a performed reading of his acclaimed radio play Farewell to Every White Cascade and a dedicated tribute evening featuring poets Theo Dorgan and Moya Cannon, journalist Gerry Moriarty, and Harvey’s daughter Attracta Harvey Kinsella. The Allingham Lecture was delivered by Denis Bradley, former vice-chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, on the impact of Brexit on border towns. A screening of the critically acclaimed film Black ‘47, with a Q&A featuring members of the creative team, was a major highlight. Niamh Currid and the Donegal Youth Orchestra headlined the Saturday concert. The Stephens Family Archives featuring antiquated books and newspapers was available to view over the weekend. Ken Fox delivered a fascinating lecture on ‘The Irish Border in Contemporary Cinema’. The Literary Lunch, Poetry and Flash Fiction Awards, Schools Writing Awards, and the Sunday Gather Again session at the Thatch all continued as beloved annual traditions.

The 2017 festival opened with a powerful Allingham Lecture from Susan McKay - journalist, author and cross-border commentator - exploring No Woman's Land: the territory still to be mapped by women writers in Ireland, drawing on the work of Eavan Boland, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Rebecca Solnit. Novelist Paul Lynch appeared in conversation and seminar - a visit that would take on added lustre when his novel Prophet Song was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023, with the festival proudly noting him as a long-time Allingham associate. The Saturday night headline concert featured The Henry Girls from Inishowen, whose gorgeous harmonies and multi-instrumental brilliance had just earned their album Far Beyond the Stars RTÉ's album of the week. YouTube phenomenon John D. Ruddy (Manny Man) packed the Abbey Centre on Friday morning, and BBC sports documentary producer Jo McCusker shared behind-the-scenes stories for filmmakers and sports fans. Songs of Erne filled St Anne's Church on Friday evening, and Maurice Lennon's For the Right Reason, featuring original music, storytelling and photography, drew strong audiences on Saturday. Schools awards, the Songwriting Competition finals, Open Mic sessions and the Sunday Gather Again tradition rounded out a warm and wide-ranging weekend.