The Seanchaí Centre is open to the public during the following times :
Open 7 days from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm - Last tours at 4.30 pm. (Restaurant open at weekends for group bookings only)
Open 5 days Monday to Friday from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm - Last tours at 3.00 pm (Available to open weekends for group bookings by appointment)
Listowel, and indeed North Kerry has been described as the 'Literary Capital of Ireland' and has produced an abundance of world famous writers, giving it a uniqueness not to be found in any other part of Ireland. Seanchaí honours over eighty Kerry-based writers, some of whom have become national and international figures in the world of literature.
Take a journey with the Kerry writers through historical and scenic North Kerry in a stunning audio-visual presentation. Learn about the places, people, traditions and customs that influenced the writers in their works – from the harshness of the Atlantic waves crashing against Ballybunion’s rugged cliffs to the magnificent spectacle of the Wren Boys as they perform through the streets of Listowel.
On entering you will see Maurice Walsh writing his his summer house in Scotland. Quite a lot of his novels are set in North Kerry and The Highlands of Scotland, where he spent much of his early life. He is probably best known for his short-story ‘The Quiet Man’ which was later made into a Hollywood film, directed by John Ford. Other novels he wrote include ‘The Key Above The Door’ and ‘While Rivers Run’.
Discover how Bryan MacMahon’s life working as a school teacher influenced him greatly in his writing. You may listen to extracts from his plays and prose performed by local actors who knew and worked with Bryan.
Much of his writing is conjured from encounters in his pub, on William St., Listowel. Visitors can sit at the bar and hear of the tragic demise of ‘Sive’ and the stubbornness of ‘Bull McCabe’ in ‘The Field’. A playwright novelist, poet and short-story writer, John B. Keane's writings are filled with an abundance of rich characters, humour, romance and tragedy.
Professor of English literature at Trinity College, Dublin, Brendan Kennelly is one of Ireland’s most esteemed poets. His poetry is drawn from the rural community in which he grew up. As he served in his father’s pub he listened to the country-men telling their stories and singing their songs and he used this experience in his poetry. He captured in poem the essence of the average, the naivety, the scepticism and fun-loving nature of the people where he grew up.
The oldest of the writers featured in our exhibition George Fitzmaurice was born in Duagh just outside Listowel in 1877 and twenty-three years later he moved to Dublin. We now visit him in his rented bed-sit where he spent the last years of his life. He moved in circles with W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and John Millington Synge and his first play ‘The Country Dressmaker’ was staged by the Abbey in 1907.
Enjoy a taste of the writings of the many Kerry writers along the halls & corridors of the Centre. These range from the stories of The Great Blasket Islanders, Peig Sayers, Tomas O Criomthain, to the humorous verse of Robert Leslie Boland, and many more.