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Rathfriland WI, Rathfriland & District Regeneration Company and Hilltown Community Association are joining forces to organise and deliver what is believed to be the first Literary Festival to ever take place in Rathfriland.
The Rath Literary Festival will be held from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 June 2025 with leading poets, writers, story tellers and songwriters set to participate.
Local schools have been contacted and are invited to enter poster, writing or poetry competitions in advance of the Festival with the winners announced in June. Events will be held in Chandler’s House and, in association with ABC Council, Drumballyroney Church and the Brontë Homeland Interpretative Centre.
Margot Groves from the organising committee said, “We have a rich heritage of writing in the area given the connection to the Brontë family and we wanted to celebrate this. We also want to showcase many of the talented writers that live locally and also inspire the younger generations too with the schools’ competition.
“We chose to incorporate Rath in our title to pay tribute to the history of the town and the stories that have been carried down through generations. Rathfriland was the chief citadel for the territory of Iveagh which covered about half of Co Down. The Magennis Clan were lords of Iveagh for 500 years up until the mid 1600s. They ruled from their castle base, which was protected by a rath, a type of walled enclosure.
“We will be shortly announcing the various events taking place during the Festival, including the artists and details on how to get tickets. For now, we want everyone to look forward to the weekend and save the date in their diaries!”
The Rath Literary Festival is being supported by the National Lottery Community Fund as part of Rathfriland WI’s two-year programme of community events.
You can follow developments via the festival's Facebook page or by emailing Rathliteraryfestival@gmail.com
