This May we are celebrating the arts and creativity as we age with the Bealtaine Festival. Taking place across Ireland Bealtaine engages with people, inspiring creativity among older people and promote the skills, experiences and exposure that can help your creative life. This year activities Westmeath Libraries feature a variety of free events, including arts […]
The Knitting and Crochet group in Kilbeggan Library have been busy creating purple hearts as part of a new initiative at Regional Hospital Mullingar. Elizabeth Donaghy, Grace McPaul, Emma Cassidy, Mary Connolly and Patricia Dowd have used their skills, knowledge and time to crochet purple hearts which will be given to bereaved families in the […]
Did you know that there was once a bloody battle in the streets of Kilbeggan? In the 1798 Rebellion many Irish people, inspired by revolutions in France and America, rose up against landlords and British rule. While the major fighting took place in Wexford, Mayo, Antrim and Down, there was plenty of drama in these […]
The second ever Irish Astronomy Week took place from the 9th - 16th March 2024. Westmeath Libraries were delighted to be able to take part this year, and hosted events in Athlone and Mullingar Libraries. Mullingar Library hosted Ivan Merrick, the current Chairperson of the Midlands Astronomy Club, on the 12th March for his talk […]
a Westmeath Libraries podcast where we chat to local historians and uncover the gems of the local history collection here in Westmeath. Libraries play a central role in remembering and preserving the county’s history and sense of place, as well as promoting and developing the culture of Westmeath. The local history rooms in our libraries […]
Engineers Week 2024 took place from the 2nd March – 8th March. The Aidan Heavey Library had lots of exciting schools events taking place during the week. On Tuesday the Westmeath Fire & Rescue Service visited the library to give a talk on the fire & rescue service, including how engineering is an important part […]
In the run up to #IrelandReads on Saturday 24th February 2024 we have asked our reading ambassadors to tell us why they love reading and what types of books they love to read. Author and illustrator Dolores Keaveney tells us all about the non-fiction books she enjoys. Reading is like "lighting up your brain" so go visit your […]
In 2023 Kilbeggan Library continued to explore strange new worlds with our Science Fiction Book Club. At our last meeting of the year, one of our members said: ‘Everyone thinks Science Fiction is just battles in space and laser guns, all Star Wars and Star Trek.’ ‘Not that there’s anything wrong with that,’ another member […]
Text by Gearoid O'Brien, photography by Paul Moore Cumann na mBán Bridge In 1968 Westmeath County Council commissioned a traffic study from Transportation Planning Associates (TPA) of Birmingham, to analyse the existing traffic in Athlone and to make projections regarding future traffic. TPA recommended that an East-West Relief Road was needed and concluded that it […]
As we move into the colder months of the year, our demand for energy rises. The Home Energy Saving Kit by Codema is an easy way to measure your energy usage and discover practical ways that you might be able to reduce your bills. The kits are available to borrow from Mullingar Library and Aidan […]