Féile Filíochta Fhine Gall
WELCOME !!
FÁILTE !!
Fingal Poetry Festival was back in 2026
Bhí Féile Filíochta Fhine Gall ar ais arís 2026
FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER IN SKERRIES MILLS FROM 8 PM
Aoine 11ú Meán Fómhair, 8 i.n.
We were back, ready to rekindle some poetry and music magic.
We had decided to return to our origins – POETRY @ THE MILLS. This is where we started out during the Skerries Soundwaves Festival more than 20 years ago.
POETRY @ THE MILLS, 11 September 2026:
A night of poetry and music at Skerries Mills
‘My latest collection due out in a few weeks is called The Coracle. The coracle for me symbolises both vulnerability and resilience, which seems to fit with these times we find ourselves in’, spoke Jane Clarke to the enthralled audience. Jane was the third poet to read her work, at the recent Poetry at the Mills event. Clarke, who has the most magnetic smile, read from her three previous collections as well as from the forthcoming The Coracle. She held us in a hush as images of birds, weather, stonewalls, a gifted yellow cardigan by her Mam to her Dad, amongst others, studded her lines of rhythm and meaning, yielding resonances and appreciation. She shared, to much laughter, that a reviewer of her first collection described her as a Marxist, after she read her poem, ‘Who owns the fields?’
The Poetry at the Mills evening opened with Keith Burke and friends offering the musical ignition to allow us all settle in for an evening of imagination in togetherness. Their rich harmonies and the relaxed banter wove around each poet’s performance. They can do it all- lonesome ballad, soulful funk and their song, The Last 33 Bus, had the audience, eating out of their metaphorical musical hand.
Into this atmosphere of receptivity, Keith Payne, a gifted poet and translator, and author of eleven collections, began with a reading from his poetry collection, Building the Boat. We could imagine being in a currach as he read, the synchronised heaving of the oar in the hazel framed vessel, especially resonant for people familiar with curachaí na Sceirí in action. Payne’s gentle and humorous presence opened a lovely conversational rapport as he progressed to reading from his latest collection, Savage Acres, poems exploring the once new urban estates of Dublin, where he grew up. We recognised ourselves in the people and community in these poems.
Following Payne, Aine Uí Fhoghlú, poet and writer from the Gaeltacht area of Waterford, the Déise, and author of five poetry collections, read from her latest, trilingual collection, Scéal ó Caroline/News from Caroline/Noticias de Carolina. This collection traces her venture to re-connect with her godparents, across continents, over five decades. A remarkable endeavour of loving and connecting. The musicality of her reading was wondrous, especially to those of us without fluent Irish, as the sounds washed in and around us. The translations to English by other established poets, including Paddy Bushe, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Theo Dorgan, rendered the specificity and completeness of the originals. Chur si iontaisí romhainn agus sceitimíní ar ár gcroí (she presented us with wonders and had our hearts skipping).
Poetry at the Mills will continue to offer poetry events; I’m looking forward to the next one already.
An article for Skerries News by Angela Murphy, Fingal Poetry Festival
Photos by Donal Greene, Kim Tully (2) and Nunce McAuley (1).
We had a wonderful night with readings by three exceptional poets and wonderful music:
Bhí triúr filí den scoth ann agus ceol iontach:
Jane Clarke
Editor of the anthology Windfall: Irish Nature Poems to Inspire and Connect (Hachette Books Ireland, 2023) and co-author with Catherine Cleary of The Hare’s Corner: Making Space for Nature (New Island Books, 2025). Jane’s third collection, A Change in the Air, was shortlisted in 2023 for both the Forward Prize for Best Collection and the T.S. Eliot Prize. Her new collection with Bloodaxe Press, Coracle, will be published later this year. Read more
Áine Uí Fhoghlú
File den scoth is ea Áine Uí Fhoghlú, máistreacht iontach aici ar mheafar, friotal agus rithim. Ceiliúradh ar chultúir, ar dhaoine agus ar theanga, atá sa chnuasach is déanaí uaithi, Scéal ó Carolina seoid de chnuasach trí theangach: Gaeilge, Spáinnis agus Béarla.
Áine Uí Fhoghlú is an Irish language poet. Her poetry delights the ear and the heart. Her latest collection is a trilingual one with a cast of stunning translators who transpose her work to Spanish and to English, a work which transports us so readily to Argentina with all of that country’s flavours. Read more
Keith Payne
A Katherine and Patrick Kavanagh Fellowship recipient in 2025, author of eleven collections of translation and original poetry, Keith’s work has also featured on BBC radio 3’s The Essay.
Curator of the Aodh Ruadh O’Domnaill Poetry Exchange Ireland/Galicia, his most recent collection, Savage Acres, was published by the Dedalus Press in 2025. Read more
Music by Keith Burke and Friends
Ceol le Keith Burke agus Cairde
Dublin Songwriter and Skerries native Keith Burke has released four original albums: The Dancer who Stole your Shoes in 2004, No One Wants to Move in 2008, These Boys in 2016, and in 2025 he returned with A Day to Celebrate.
Recent singles “I’ll Begin This Letter,” “Before You Go” and “That’s Where the Bees Loved to Go” have been well received and played on national and regional radio stations in Ireland and the UK, with the latter featuring on Derek Mooney’s nature show Mooney Goes Wild. Read more
OUR SPONSORS
Funding for the 2026 festival from Fingal County Council and the Arts Council is gratefully acknowledged. With support from Poetry Ireland.
A look back to the 2024 festival
The 2024 Fingal Poetry Festival was our fifth outing as Ireland’s friendliest, most inclusive poetry festival. Running from the 13th – 15th September 2024, we had something for everybody! Take a look at our events and photos here.
