A Day of Exploration: Sligo Town 

Architectural  Walking Tour

Sunday 28 September 2025, 11am - 12.30 

Meet at 11am on The Mall, at the gates of The Model’s Art Gallery

The walking tour will be led by former Senior Architect of Sligo County Council, Seán Martin. Seàn’s tour will focus on the architecture and significant streetscapes of Sligo on The Mall, Stephen St. and High St. 

Urban Sketching / Painting Event 

Sunday 28 September 2025, 2pm - 4pm

Meet at City Hall at 2pm

Sketchers, painters, dabbers and total beginners are invited to an afternoon of sketching in Sligo Town. High St., Stephen St and The Mall are suggested, but the choice is yours.  Sketching provides a wonderful way to look at and experience a place, it’s architecture, atmosphere and to consider the way the urban landscape has evolved.

All are invited to reconvene at 4pm at the Top Bar in The Glasshouse Hotel to review the Day’s experiences.

What to bring: Sketch books, pencils, pens, inks or paints, depending on your choice of medium. 

Also recommended: warm and waterproof clothing, hat, gloves, flasks of tea or coffee, perhaps a fold-up seat and a good umbrella.

NB indoor venues will be arranged, if weather should prevent external sketching. 

Workshop & Talk

Denise Murray, CoLab 

Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley 

Seamus Ruttledge 

Teresa O’ Sullivan

Ethna Rose O’Regan 

in conversation with 

Maeve O Rourke (Chair) 

Preceded by Exhibition Tour in the Festival Printworks Gallery.

Photography and the Built Environment 
with Mark Shiel and Alice Clancy 

Tickets: €25 - prebook via Eventbrite

A one-day workshop, guided by two conveners, in which participants make, reflect on, and discuss architectural photographs of selected buildings in Galway city centre.

Architectural photography is a key medium in disseminating knowledge and ideas about our built environment. Focusing attention on selected still images of buildings in place and time, it heightens our understanding of their visible aspects while bringing invisible details and processes to light, making the unseen seen. Architectural photography is also a professional and commercial technique used to visualise buildings according to a brief for a client (architect, developer, or property owner). Bearing in mind this tension between art and function, this workshop provides specialists and non-specialists alike an opportunity to explore and reflect on architectural photography, using Galway city centre as a studio. Guided by the conveners and working in small groups, participants will take photographs of selected buildings and locations that they will then edit, present, and discuss, expanding their technical ability and their understanding of the principals involved.

A Space In-Between
Kilcolgan Village

A community celebration on Kilcolgan’s Old Road with art, music, and dialogue, showcasing its potential as a vibrant shared public space.

A Space In-Between will transform part of Kilcolgan’s Old Road into a vibrant, car-free community space. Central to the project are local children, who will take part in fieldwork with artists and architects and a creative workshops in school. Their findings will form a temporary installation, giving voice to how they see Kilcolgan today, and how its public spaces might support play, safety and connection in the future. The installation will be open to all, offering a sensory, reflective space that invites visitors to pause and experience the qualities that define Kilcolgan. The space will allow for gathering, imagination and dialogue – providing an opportunity to share ideas for the village’s future and to view concept designs. During the day, the event will celebrate community - a space shaped by community, and responsive to it. 

Project credits:

Kilcolgan Community Development Committee in collaboration with Helena McElmeel Architects - Róisín McConnon, Ellie O’Connell, Joanna McGlynn, Scoil Mhuire, Clarinbridge, Kilcolgan Educate Together National School.

Supported by Galway County Council.

Workshop / Roundtable Talk

Tithe ón Seansaol / Lost Houses

Laura O’Connor, Will Judge & Morgan Davies

Explore Lost Architecture  

Through presentations, round-table talks, and a hands-on workshop, exhibitors will unveil their design research and creative investigations into sites of lost buildings, forgotten homes, and overlooked architectural fragments scattered across Galway City’s rich cultural and social landscape.

Share Your Story

We invite you to bring a memory— a photograph, a story, an object, or a personal recollection. These prompts will spark a round-table discussion on themes of cultural identity, conservation, social history, and the unseen layers of our built environment.

Connect, Reflect, Reimagine 

Join us in a welcoming, inclusive setting for an afternoon of conversation, debate, and discovery. Together, we will recall and reimagine Galway City’s architectural heritage—lost or unseen, but not forgotten. Don’t miss this chance to be part of a unique celebration of local architectural history. Let’s uncover the stories that still live in the walls, streets, and memories of Galway City. Ready to join the conversation?

Project credits

Laura O’Connor, Will Judge and Morgan Davies are a dynamic collective of architectural designers based in Wales, they interpret heritage, landscape, and local traditions through drawing, writing, photography, and media. Their multidisciplinary research spans the Celtic nations, embracing diverse languages and cultures to reimagine architecture as a living dialogue shaped by social histories.

Supported by Galway City Council Architectural Conservation Office & Galway City Council Arts Office.