Ionad Lachtaín Church, Arts and Heritage Centre, Freshford
Ionad Lachtaín Church, Arts and Heritage Centre was established to provide a visitor centre with information on the locality and local history of Freshford.
The centre hosts a local heritage museum and gallery to exhibit the work of local artists and crafts people. It provides a venue for cultural activities such as lectures, concerts, artistic and training workshops. It provides access to, support for and information on the historic St. Lachtain’s Church, showcasing in particular the 12th century Hiberno Romanesque doorway and the story behind more than 1400 years of continuous worship on the site. St. Lachtain’s today is a living church with an active community centre. Church service is held every Sunday at 10am and all are welcome. Ionad Lachtaín is run by a secular and intercultural committee of local volunteers.
The centre is open to the public every weekend from 11.30am – 4.30pm from March to December, and at other times by arrangement. The committee is pleased to host suitable activities such as concerts, exhibitions, courses or projects in the church or the annex.
We have previously hosted musicians such as Don Baker, Ciara Dalton, local band the Super Noodles and guitarist Will Killeen. Our most recent concert was led by Kilkenny-based musician Jack McHugh and we are looking forward to hosting Mick Hanly on the 26th of July.
Past lectures have included topics such as 19th century artist Edmund Fitzpatrick by local historian Ned Kennedy, artist Margaret Allen by author and historian Dervla Murphy, and the architecture of the church site hosted by Margaret Quinlan and Dr. Rachel Moss. Our 2024 festival has, so far, featured a lecture on beekeeping in Ancient Ireland by Shane Lehane and a talk on Bealtaine and Druidry in Modern Ireland held by local Druid and Seanchaí Eimear Burke.
This year we are excited to be taking part in Culture Night with an evening of music, story-telling, poetry and more in an event called ‘Local Voices’ and, of course, we are looking forward to hosting our third annual art exhibit with the theme ‘Nature is the best artist.’ Details for entering paintings will be available on this website or through our socials.
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