Ashford Castle 2025 History Festival announced
ASHFORD Castle has announced details of its 2025 History Festival, featuring four of Ireland’s leading historians, broadcasters and historic writers who will explore the rich, complex and fascinating history of the west of Ireland.
The now annual event will take place over two days, February 28 and March 1, in the historic castle in Cong.
This enriching event will feature lively discussions and talks covering key historic moments, pivotal players and previously untold stories from the west.
The west of Ireland themed festival will take place in the castle’s private cinema featuring:
Prof. Diarmaid Ferriter, one of Ireland’s best known historians, who will reflect on the trials and triumphs of the west of Ireland through the ages in his talk All that had Edge.
Ryan Tubridy returns to one of his favourite spots in Ireland with his talk Tubridy’s West. Covering 1913-1923, a period in history with which he has long been fascinated, the broadcaster will explore critical moments and the key players of the time, from Roger Casement to his maternal grandfather, Todd Andrews.
Myles Dungan’s talk will explore the fascinating life and legacy of ‘Captain’ Charles Cunningham Boycott, an English land agent who took up residence in Co. Mayo, and whose ostracism by his local community gave the English language the term ‘boycott’.
Festival regular Turtle Bunbury will address guests on Vanishing Ireland, homing in on the people and professions whose stories are rarely told and whom Turtle interviewed for his Vanishing Ireland books and podcasts.
The festival will conclude on the Saturday evening with an entertaining panel discussion moderated by Ryan Tubridy, the self-professed history fanatic who, in 2016, explored his connections with 1916 for an RTÉ documentary series on The Rising.
Guests will enjoy also dinner in Ashford Castle’s George V dining room on one evening of the festival where each speaker will host a table, and the discussions and debates will extend long into the evening.
Guests will enjoy world-class hospitality and a true west of Ireland welcome on the Ashford estate and can choose to stay in Ashford Castle or sister hotel, The Lodge at Ashford. See https://ashfordcastle.com/.