More book dealers than ever for Kilkenny’s Graignamanagh Town of Books Festival

More book dealers than ever before are set to descend on picturesque Graignamanagh as the ‘Town of Books Festival’ returns from Friday, August 21 to Sunday, August 23.

Every available space in the picture-postcard town is turned into a bookshop for the event. It has drawn big names and renowned collectors to the Kilkenny town down through the years, is now a nationally-recognised festival.

Beginning as a small experimental event in 2003, it has burgeoned into an annual celebration where literature takes centre stage and the town itself transforms into a bibliophile’s paradise.

Every nook of Graignamanagh bustles with the fervor of book-enthusiasts. Former shops, once dormant, teem with life as they are reborn as temporary book emporia. 

The size of the town is a major reason why the festival works so well. You can walk it in a few minutes, or a few hours depending on how much time you have and how much time you wish to spend perusing.

More than 30 book dealers will travel from across Ireland and the UK for this year’s festival, offering everything from rare first editions and specialist titles to general fiction, children’s books, comics, graphic novels and manga.

Among those returning are Black Gull Books from London and Mark Skipper Rare Books from Cheltenham, as well as John Edmondson of Acanthophyllum Books, which specialises in second-hand and antiquarian books on subjects including botanical art, botany, ecology, gardens and geology.

Regular festival dealer Pat Dunne from Kildare will return with GAA books and programmes, while Nerd Up from Wexford will also be back with a wide selection of comics, graphic novels and manga.

The practice of en plein air painting became popular thanks to the impressionists, who liked to capture nature directly by completing their paintings outside.

Alongside the expanded gathering of book dealers, the 2026 festival programme will feature events covering writing and storytelling, traditional crafts and the natural heritage of the Barrow.

The programme gets under way on Friday, August 21, with an evening of conversation featuring chef, food writer and broadcaster Edward Hayden, documentary maker and author Frank Shouldice and novelist Patrick Doherty.

Beginning at 8pm at Abbey Lane, ‘Edward Hayden in Conversation with Frank Shouldice & Patrick Doherty’ will explore storytelling across journalism, documentary filmmaking and fiction, including the creative process, the inspiration behind their work and the ways stories connect people to places and history.

Graignamanagh native Edward Hayden is a chef, food writer, broadcaster and culinary lecturer.

He makes regular cookery appearances on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM, presents The Saturday Show with Edward Hayden on KCLR and runs the Edward Hayden School of Cookery. He is the author of three cookery books, including Food to Love, which won the Kerry Food Book of the Year.

Frank Shouldice is an award-winning documentary producer, director and author with RTÉ Investigates.

His documentary work has covered subjects including street violence, diesel smuggling, psychiatric care, working conditions, moneylending and charity fraud.

He directed ‘The Man Who Wanted to Fly’ and ‘Once We Were Punks’ and is the author of ‘Grandpa the Sniper’ and the novel ‘Beneath the Cedar Tree’. He also writes and directs for stage and screen.

Patrick Doherty is the author of the novel ‘Pure Innocent Boy’, published by Dedalus Books in 2025.

His short stories have appeared in the Irish Independent and have been broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1, and he has been nominated for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Awards and the PJ O’Connor Radio Drama Awards. Born in Longford in 1987, he now lives in Seville, Spain, with his wife and two daughters.

Nature and citizen science will take centre stage at the Barrow Valley Activities Hub on Saturday, August 22.

At 12pm, a ‘Citizen Science for Children’ event will offer a hands-on kick-sampling session at the Duiske River where it meets the River Barrow. Participants will have an opportunity to discover the creatures living in the rivers and learn about protecting them. The event is open to all and is drop-in.

At 2pm, Éanna Ní Lamhna will lead a guided walk around the hub, followed by a question-and-answer session under the tent. The events are being held in conjunction with the Graignamanagh Town of Books Festival and are aimed at families, nature lovers and those interested in the natural heritage of the Barrow.

Traditional craftsmanship will be highlighted on Sunday, August 23, with an event at O’Driscoll’s Pub in Tinnahinch, the site of Graignamanagh’s old forge.

Beginning at 12pm, heritage researcher Shem Caulfield will give a talk on County Kilkenny’s traditional wrought iron heritage gates and the skilled blacksmiths who made them.

Master stonecutter and storyteller Martin Matthews will present ‘Stories in Stone’, looking at the ancient craft of stone carving and the living tradition that has helped shape Ireland’s landscape for centuries.

A light brunch will be served before the talks in the historic pub, bringing together the traditions of ironwork and stone carving in a location where one of those crafts was once practised.

Graignamanagh Town of Books Festival runs from Friday, August 21 to Sunday, August 23, 2026.

Further information is available at graiguenamanaghtownofbooks.ie, with more festival details to be announced.