{"id":395182,"date":"2026-04-12T19:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/395182\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T19:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:49:08","slug":"mayo-town-event-to-explore-future-of-irelands-small-towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/395182\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayo town event to explore future of Ireland\u2019s small towns"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major cultural and academic event exploring the future of small Irish towns is set to take place in Westport<\/a> next month.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cSamhl\u00fa \u2013 Seeing Things\u201d, the event will be held on Friday, May 1 and is being jointly hosted by Westport Civic Trust and the UCD Centre for Irish Towns.<\/p>\n

The initiative aims to reflect on how Ireland\u2019s small towns can evolve by drawing on their past, with organisers asking whether historical development patterns can help shape more liveable and imaginative futures.<\/p>\n

John Mulloy of Westport Civic Trust said the event\u2019s name reflects its ambition.<\/p>\n

\u201cSamhl\u00fa means imagining or creating something new,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe want to explore whether the material culture of towns \u2014 their buildings, streets and social life \u2014 can help us figure out a better way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event comes at a time when many towns across Ireland are facing challenges such as vacancy, dereliction, and the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

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Orla Murphy of the UCD Centre for Irish Towns said small towns remain rich in history but are under pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir streets and spaces hold stories that shape how we live today,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we also need to address issues like declining public spaces and how to keep towns socially inclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day-long programme will take place in the former Dunnes Stores building on Castlebar Street and will feature contributions from leading voices in architecture, heritage, planning and the arts.<\/p>\n

The event will begin with a guided walk through Westport, exploring local traditions such as May Day customs, before a keynote address by S\u00edle de Cl\u00e9ir of the University of Limerick, whose research focuses on folklore and material culture.<\/p>\n

A series of talks will follow, including contributions from Nessa Cronin of the University of Galway on colonialism and place, Karen Keaveney of UCD on rural development, and Victoria Durrer on creativity and cultural policy.<\/p>\n

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Further sessions will explore topics such as Traveller culture, vacancy and dereliction, and the historical development of Irish towns, with speakers including Fiona White of ATU Mayo.<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, attendees can take part in workshops and guided tours, including a creative writing session led by Alice Lyons and a visual arts workshop with Tom Brawn, as well as site visits and heritage walks around the town.<\/p>\n

The event will conclude with a public discussion on the day\u2019s themes, followed by the launch of a new website for the Westport Civic Trust.<\/p>\n

Organisers say the event is designed to encourage fresh thinking about the role of small towns in modern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom ancient traditions to contemporary challenges, this is about understanding continuity and change,\u201d Mr Mulloy said. \u201cIt\u2019s about imagining what our towns can become.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for the event are available online<\/a>, with reduced rates for students and members of the Westport Civic Trust.<\/p>\n

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ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major cultural and academic event exploring the future of small Irish towns is set to take place…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,8764,43,7729],"class_list":{"0":"post-395182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-mayo","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-westport"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}