👋 Hi FingalEMers,
Good morning and welcome to another week across Fingal East. We’ve plenty to get through between now and Thursday, including a look ahead to Culture Night, some significant investment taking place in the infrastructure beneath our feet, more local history, planning and traffic updates — and another packed events calendar with everything from cricket and yoga to crafts, local history and community groups.
This week’s Featured Business is Prints of Ireland, a lovely example of a local idea growing well beyond Fingal East. Started by Skerries couple Heather Gilroy and Peter O’Neill after they couldn’t find the kind of contemporary artwork of their hometown they wanted for their own wall, their work is now stocked around Ireland — while the business itself remains based locally at Ardgillan Castle Studios.
We’re also looking for your help with something we’re developing. Following our work on the Fingal East events directory, one of the next services we’re exploring is a local business directory — but we want to understand how you would actually use it before deciding exactly how it should work.
In particular, recommendations and reviews could become an important part of helping people find trusted local businesses and service providers. So this week we’re asking whether reviews from other Fingal East Media readers would influence which local business you chose. Your answers will help us understand how important that element should be as we develop the idea.
Now, let’s see what’s happening across Fingal East this week…
Would you trust recommendations/reviews from other Fingal East Media readers when choosing a local business?
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED BUSINESS
Prints of Ireland
Sometimes a business starts simply because somebody can't find the thing they're looking for. Skerries couple Heather Gilroy and Peter O'Neill had collected pieces of local art while travelling around the world, but realised there was something missing from their walls at home — a contemporary piece celebrating their own hometown. Unable to find what they wanted, they created their own, and in 2020 Prints of Ireland was born.
Beginning with Skerries, Heather and Peter have gone on to create illustrated prints and maps celebrating towns, counties, landmarks and Irish culture from across the country. Heather is a graduate of the National College of Art and Design, while Peter brought a background in digital marketing to the business. Today they work from Ardgillan Castle Studios near Balbriggan, with the range having expanded beyond prints to include greeting cards and tote bags, while also placing a strong emphasis on the Irish language.
What started with one missing picture of Skerries now reaches considerably further than Fingal. Prints of Ireland products are stocked around the country — and you don't have to travel far to find them either. Locally, they're available at The Rock Bakery in Skerries, Taylor Made Crafts at Ardgillan Castle, Newbridge House in Donabate, Malahide Castle Gift Shop, McNally Family Farm Shop and Kilkenny Design in the Pavilions. It's a lovely example of an idea inspired by Fingal East growing into an Irish design business while still keeping its roots firmly at home.
News
Tracking all the developing stories that affect our community.
🎭🌙 One Night, dozens of reasons to explore Fingal East
Culture Night returns on Friday 18 September for its 21st edition, with 46 free events and activities taking place across nine locations in Fingal. What began in Dublin in 2006 as a relatively small evening of late-opening cultural venues has grown into a national celebration of art, music, heritage and creativity — and this year's Fingal programme gives us plenty to explore close to home.
Among the Fingal East highlights, Carnegie Library in Swords will host a special exhibition celebrating Fingal artist Pamela Leonard, while Malahide Castle marks 50 years of being open to the public with a curator-led tour of its contemporary art exhibition. In Lusk, visitors can see inside a newly created residential artist studio at Ballough Place and meet the designers behind its handcrafted interior, while Ardgillan Castle launches Making Waves, bringing together 11 local artists and community groups from Balbriggan with live music, demonstrations and open artist studios.
There are plenty of other ways to spend the evening too. Libraries in Swords, Malahide, Skerries and Balbriggan will host family activities, performances and workshops; Fingal Local Studies & Archives in Swords will offer genealogy advice; and some of our best-known heritage attractions, including Newbridge House, Skerries Mills and the Casino Model Railway Museum in Malahide, will open their doors for special Culture Night experiences. All Culture Night events are free, although some require advance booking.
💧🏗️ Uisce Éireann quietly investing in Fingal East’s growth
Two new projects highlight just how much water infrastructure is being upgraded across Fingal East. In Skerries, Uisce Éireann has completed a €2 million water and wastewater project on Shenick Road, replacing around 540 metres of water main and upgrading more than 200 metres of gravity sewer. The significance goes beyond fewer bursts: the extra network capacity is expected to support up to 900 new homes in the town. Just a few kilometres away in Balbriggan, work has started on replacing more than 1km of ageing water main along the Dublin Road/R132 at Kilsough. Those pipes had become prone to bursts and leakage, and their replacement is intended to improve pressure, water quality and reliability. Read about the Skerries project or the Balbriggan upgrade.
Look a little wider and a substantial programme of work has been taking place across the rest of Fingal East as well. Uisce Éireann has undertaken a major wastewater upgrade along Balheary Road in Swords, designed to create enough additional network capacity to facilitate 2,980 new homes. In Donabate, around 1.3km of problematic water mains on New Road has also been replaced, following earlier investment in new trunk infrastructure designed to provide capacity for further development. Malahide and Swords have benefited too from the wider €21.7 million upgrade of the Malahide, Balbriggan and Howth water supply schemes, including a new 2.5km main between Swords and the Seamount Reservoir in Malahide.
Behind all of these individual projects is a much bigger North County Dublin network. Uisce Éireann has also completed a second major trunk water main between Ballycoolin Reservoir and Swords, strengthening security of supply for around 350,000 customers and serving communities including Swords, Malahide, Portmarnock, Donabate, Rush, Skerries and Balbriggan. The pattern is becoming clear: much of the underground infrastructure being upgraded today isn't simply about fixing leaks — it is also about creating the capacity needed for the large amount of housing planned across Fingal East. The capacity for 900 homes in Skerries and almost 3,000 homes linked to the Swords wastewater works are two particularly clear examples of infrastructure having to arrive before housing development can follow.
Fingal Festival of History
🏛️🌍 Part 1 of 2: From Roman Fingal to Brussels — 2,000 years of connections with Europe
Fingal’s connections with Europe stretch back almost 2,000 years. At Drumanagh near Loughshinny, archaeological finds point to trade and contact with the Roman world in the first century AD. In later centuries, Viking settlement and the arrival of the Normans brought further outside influences, linking this part of north Dublin to trading and cultural networks stretching across Britain and continental Europe.
Those connections continued through the centuries. Generations of the Talbot family of Malahide Castle travelled extensively in Europe, bringing home ideas, art and influences from cities including Paris, Florence, Vienna, Naples and Copenhagen. Their story is one example of how Fingal’s history was shaped not just by events in Ireland, but by people, ideas and relationships moving back and forth across Europe.
That wider story will be explored at History at the Library in Swords on 3 October. Dr Declan Brady will look at Fingal’s links with Europe before Ireland joined the EEC, Dr David McCullagh will examine Ireland’s changing relationship with Europe and Britain, while Cathal Dowd Smith will focus on Malahide Castle and the Talbots’ European connections. Together, the talks show that Fingal’s relationship with Europe began centuries before Brussels or Ireland’s entry into the EEC in 1973.
Civil
Planning decisions, road closures & community notices.
Planning
🏗️ Belcamp/Clonshaugh — 1,350-home development
Glenveagh Homes is seeking 10-year permission for a major 1,350-home development on 48.4ha at Belcamp and Clonshaugh, Dublin 17.
The scheme includes 802 houses, 296 apartments and 252 walk-up apartments, alongside a childcare facility, retail and health/recreation space.
A 1.08ha school site, playing fields, public open space, a mobility hub and new roads, cycle lanes and bus stops are also proposed.
The plans include a new bridge over the River Mayne, part of a greenway and works around the protected Belcamp Hall and its walled garden.
Traffic
Main roadworks, traffic changes and public-transport diversions across Fingal East from Monday 7–Thursday 10 September.
🚧 Swords
- North Street: Phase Two of the Swords public-realm works continues. North Street remains a single northbound lane between Main Street and Fingal Community College. Southbound traffic is being diverted via Watery Lane or the R132, while businesses remain open throughout the works.
- Seatown Road–Estuary Road: Active-travel works continue around the IDA Roundabout, Estuary Road Roundabout and beneath the M1 flyover. Two-way traffic is expected to be maintained during the day from 7–11 September while ducting, drainage, kerbing and footpath works continue. The northern footpath between the IDA and Estuary Road roundabouts remains closed, with alternative pedestrian routes provided.
- R132: Construction on the R132 Connectivity Project continues between the Estuary/Bostik area and Pinnock Hill. Fingal says two lanes in each direction will generally remain available during the peak periods of 06:30–10:00 and 16:00–19:30, although traffic may be reduced to one lane in each direction outside those times.
- Route 101: Bus Éireann continues to warn that services may experience delays and reduced reliability as a result of the ongoing R132 works.
🚧 Balbriggan
- Flemington Road / R132: Cycle-track improvement works continue on the western side of the R132 between Brecan Close and Harry Reynolds Road. The existing footpath and cycle track on that side remain closed while the works are carried out, with pedestrians directed to use the eastern side.
Traffic arrangements can change at short notice. Allow some extra time around active roadworks and check your public-transport service before travelling.
Events Calendar
Things to do in the week ahead.
📚🎶 Featured Event: Poetry @ The Mills
The Fingal Poetry Festival returns to where it all began on Friday, 11th September, with Poetry @ The Mills — a one-night celebration of poetry and music in the unique surroundings of Skerries Mills. The event has its roots in the original Poetry @ The Mills evenings held during the Skerries Soundwaves Festival more than 20 years ago.
This year's line-up brings together three acclaimed poets. Jane Clarke, whose collection A Change in the Air was shortlisted for both the Forward Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize, is joined by Irish-language poet Áine Uí Fhoghlú and 2025 Katherine and Patrick Kavanagh Fellowship recipient Keith Payne.
There will also be live music from Skerries native Keith Burke and Friends. Burke returned in 2025 with his fourth album, A Day to Celebrate, with recent singles receiving airplay on national and regional radio in Ireland and the UK. It promises to be a relaxed evening bringing poetry, music and one of Skerries' most distinctive venues together for one night only.
📅 When: Friday, 11th September
🕗 Time: 20:00
📍 Where: Skerries Mills, Skerries
🎤 Featuring: Jane Clarke, Áine Uí Fhoghlú, Keith Payne and Keith Burke & Friends
Monday 7th September
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | Scrabble Club | A friendly adults’ Scrabble session for word lovers. | 11:00-12:30
• Balbriggan | Glebe North Clubhouse | Dance Fitness for over 60s | Easy low-impact movement with music, chair work and balance exercises. | 11:30-12:15
• Balbriggan | ASTER Family Resource Centre | You First Wellness Café | Drop in for a cuppa, a chat and peer-led wellbeing support. | 14:00-18:00
• Swords | Swords Library | eServices Help | First-Monday support with useful library and digital services. | 14:30-15:30
• Donabate | Donabate Library | Sensory Friendly Quiet Time | A calmer library hour with reduced noise and activity. | 17:30-18:30
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | Knitting & Crochet Club | A relaxed adults’ craft meetup for knitting and crochet. | 18:00-19:00
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | Sensory Friendly Quiet Time | A quieter library hour with reduced noise and activity. | 18:30-19:30
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | Irish Conversation Group | Friendly Gaeilge conversation and practice for adults. | 18:30-20:00
• Swords | Thornleigh ETNS | Zumba Class | A welcoming dance-fitness class suitable for a range of abilities. | 19:00
• Balbriggan | The Lark | The Lark Cinema Club: Nosferatu (1922) | A special screening of the landmark silent horror classic. | 19:00
• Swords | Swords Castle Entrance | Swords Men’s Walk & Talk Group | A relaxed 5-6km community walk with conversation along the way. | 19:15
• Swords | Holywell Community Centre | Self-Protection Training | Practical training focused on confidence, awareness and personal safety. | 20:00
Tuesday 8th September
• Swords | Swords Parish Centre, Brackenstown | Hatha Yoga | A gentle morning Hatha yoga class with Caroline. | 09:30-10:45
• Swords | County Hall | Crafting for Scale – Growth Bootcamp | A practical Local Enterprise Office workshop for businesses planning their next stage of growth. | 09:30-16:30
• Swords | Swords Parish Centre, Brackenstown | Chair Yoga | Accessible seated yoga focused on movement, mobility and relaxation. | 11:15-12:15
• Skerries | Skerries Library | Knitting & Crochet | A sociable afternoon drop-in for knitters and crocheters. | 14:30-16:30
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | Creative Poetry Writing Club | An evening writing group for adults who enjoy poetry and creative expression. | 18:30-19:45
• Rush | Rush National School | Zumba Class | A lively dance-fitness class with a friendly local group. | 19:00
• Malahide | Bridgefield Car Park | Green Nuts Men’s Group – Walk & Talk | A friendly evening walk and chat for local men. | 19:00
• Skerries | Skerries Community Centre | Adult Dance Fitness | An upbeat all-levels dance-fitness class with no previous dance experience needed. | 19:30-20:30
Wednesday 9th September
• Malahide | Malahide Library | Malahide Connect Café | Coffee, chat and community connection with a focus on mental health and wellbeing. | 10:00-12:00
• Swords | River Valley Community Centre | Iyengar Yoga with Sue | A midweek Iyengar yoga class focused on alignment, strength and flexibility. | 10:00-11:00
• Rush | Rush Library | Baby Book Club | Stories and library fun for babies and toddlers with their parents or guardians. | 10:00-11:00
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Cancer Support Group | Sound Bath | A relaxing sound-bath session in a supportive community setting. | 14:00
• Skerries | Skerries Library | Embroidery Drop-In | A relaxed afternoon embroidery session for local crafters. | 14:30-16:00
• Rush | Rush Library | Summer Stars Awards Extravaganza | A Summer Stars awards celebration at Rush Library. All welcome. | 15:30-16:30
• Donabate | Parish Hall | Strength & Conditioning Classes | An evening strength and conditioning session for the local community. | 17:00-18:00
• Malahide | Malahide Library | Sensory Friendly Quiet Time | A quieter library hour with reduced noise and activity. | 17:30-18:30
• Swords | Swords Library | Irish Conversation & Practice | A friendly evening session for practising spoken Irish. | 18:30-19:30
• Swords | Thornleigh ETNS, Applewood | Zumba with Gill | An energetic and welcoming midweek dance-fitness class. | 19:00
• Skerries | Otter Space, Holmpatrick Shopping Centre | Books Cosy Corner Chats | A relaxed adults’ meetup for book lovers and cosy conversation. | 19:00-21:00
• Malahide | Grand Hotel | Malahide Toastmasters Meeting | A welcoming club meeting for anyone interested in public speaking and communication. | 20:00
Thursday 10th September
• Swords | Swords Parish Centre, Brackenstown | Mat Yoga | A morning mat-yoga class combining movement, mobility and relaxation. | 09:30-10:45
• Malahide | Malahide Library | Toddler Time | A sociable library session for toddlers and their grown-ups. | 10:00-11:30
• Balbriggan | The Kitchen Studio, Ardgillan Castle | Ceramics in the Castle – 4 Week Handbuilding Course | A four-week handbuilding course for beginner and intermediate ceramic makers. | 10:00-12:30
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Cancer Support Group | Jewellery Making Course | The opening session of a six-week creative jewellery-making course. | 11:00-12:00
• Balbriggan | Balbriggan Library | HSE Balbriggan Breastfeeding Group | A weekly HSE breastfeeding support group at Balbriggan Library. | 11:00-12:00
• Donabate | Donabate Library | Knitting Group | A friendly morning meetup for knitting, chat and shared creativity. | 11:00-13:00
• Rush | Rush Library | Age Friendly Social Club | A weekly social get-together for adults at Rush Library. | 11:00-13:00
• Swords | Swords Parish Centre, Brackenstown | Flex & Stretch | A gentle mobility and stretching class for an easier-moving day. | 11:15-12:15
• Balbriggan | Glebe North Clubhouse | Dance Fitness for over 60s | Easy low-impact movement with music, chair work and balance exercises. | 11:30-12:15
• Malahide | Malahide Library | Age Action Computer Classes | Friendly digital-skills support for older adults. | 12:00-14:00
• Donabate | The Shoreline Hotel | Kid’s Disco | An early-evening kids’ disco with music and family fun. | 18:00-21:00
• Swords | Swords Library | The Stones of Swords: New Perspectives in Local History | Week two of Mike Power’s three-week course exploring the local heritage, stone remains and artefacts of Swords and Fingal. Booking required: [email protected] | 18:00-19:30
• Malahide | Malahide Library | Spanish Conversation | An informal evening group for practising conversational Spanish. | 18:00-19:30
• Swords | Swords Library | Sensory Friendly Quiet Time | A calmer library hour with reduced noise and activity. | 18:30-19:30
• Rush | Rush Library | Scrabble | A relaxed evening game of Scrabble with fellow word lovers. | 18:30-19:30
• Swords | Swords Parish Centre, Brackenstown | Mat Yoga | An evening mat-yoga class for movement, flexibility and relaxation. | 19:00-20:15
• Skerries | Skerries Community Centre | Parent First Aid Class | A practical first-aid class designed for parents and carers. | 19:00-21:00
• Swords | Holywell Community Centre | Combat Cardio | A high-energy cardio session combining fitness with combat-style movement. | 20:00
• Donabate | Donabate Portrane Community Centre | DPCC Community Bingo | A lively community bingo night with a friendly local crowd. | 20:30
• Swords | Rivervalley Community Centre | Badminton | A late-evening community badminton session. | 21:00-22:00
Thanks for reading and for being part of this growing Fingal East community. Every share, reply and recommendation helps us reach more local people and shine a light on what’s happening around us.
Enjoy the next few days, and we’ll talk again on Thursday morning.
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