The cream of Westmeath’s literary talent gathered in Caffrey’s Bar on Friday night, 20 September, for the launch of the inaugural Mullingar Literary Festival, making it a culture night to remember.
The three day family-friendly event will take place in Mullingar over three days from 4 to 6 July, 2025 and chair, Laurence Meehan, shared the committee’s exciting plans with the packed room.
“It’s been a long time in the making but we are well on the way now,” he said. “We’re here to celebrate the remarkable writing talent that has flourished in Mullingar both in the past and present day. William Wordsworth once stood gazing out across the stream waters of Lough Ennell and James Joyce stood in this very building which is pretty remarkable.”
“We have a right to celebrate what we have in writing in the past and then looking at the future we have so many names starting with our very own Anne Griffin here tonight, Patricia Gibney also here tonight, Dolores Keaveney, Lorraine Murphy, I could be here all night, but Mullingar’s literary legacy doesn’t stop there.”
“We are going to make this very special,” promised Laurence, a talented writer himself. “What we are looking to do is present a festival that is not just for writers but for every kind of creative person who wants to come and enjoy creativity. A festival that people can bring families to understand history, understand our past, and we have some great plans in place to do that. We have so much planning to do. It’s the first time we’ve put this out but the reaction has been absolutely incredible.”
Following a huge round of applause, PRO of the committee Don Mortell invited Anne Griffin to join him in conversation on stage before CAP-nominated poet Jimmy O’Connell from local writing group Inklings led an open mic session.
The committee would like to thank Buckley’s Supervalu, A Gorman Carpets, Amber Court Restaurant for their sponsorship and Niall Caffrey for his support to date.
For more details see mullingarliteraryfestival.com and follow them on socials.
