Irish Presidency of the EU 2026

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) rotates among the member states every six months, and Ireland will assume the role of host from July to December 2026. The National Library of Ireland (NLI) is proud to support this opportunity with a programme of public events, travelling exhibitions and online engagement.

Translating a Nation | Public Lecture Series

The first in a series of talks presented by Literature Ireland in partnership with the NLI, join Mary Costello, Niamh Campbell and Enrico Terrinoni for a discussion on how Ulysses and its many translations have influenced the perception of Ireland across Europe and helped to form generations of new Irish writers. 

'James Joyce's language legacy: three perspectives on his infinite influence'
Thursday 9 July, 6:30-7:30pm, Joly Theatre, 7-8 Kildare Street | Book here

Travelling Exhibitions

The NLI is delighted to announce a series of travelling banner exhibitions hosted at multiple venues across the country as part of the official Cultural Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026. Each banner exhibition features a curated selection of images and materials from the NLI’s extensive national collections for touring and will be free for the public to visit.

Strangers to Citizens
People, ideas and goods have always moved over and back between Ireland and Continental Europe. That exchange quickened after 1600 as profound social, religious and economic upheaval pushed successive waves of Irish migrants to the continent. This banner exhibition explores the story of the Irish in Continental Europe over centuries of migration.

• De Valera Public Library, Ennis, Co Clare | 1 – 22 July 
• Edna O’Brien Library, Scariff, Co Clare | 23 July – 5 August 
• Séan Lemass Public Library, Shannon, Co Clare | 6 – 26 August 
• North Mayo Heritage Centre, Co Mayo | 1 September  – 29 October

• Claremorris Town Hall Theatre, Co Mayo |  3 November  – 13 January 2027 

   

Portraits of the Invisible
This poignant exhibition explores the experiences of Irish servicemen, medics, nurses and non-combatants in the First World War (1914-1918) through a series of portrait photographs. The portraits are part of Europeana (www.europeana.eu), a Europe-wide digital archive created to mark the centenary of the conflict.

• North Mayo Heritage Centre, Co Mayo | 1 July – 13 August
• Castletown House, Celbridge, Co Kildare | 18 August  – 30 September
• Cavan County Museum, Cavan | 5 October – 30 November

Photo Detectives
The NLI’s online Flickr community has grown to over 35,000 followers worldwide and amassed over 125 million views. In that time, this online community of photo and history enthusiasts have helped the NLI to uncover some of the fascinating stories and details behind the photographs posted. This banner exhibition celebrates the ingenuity, generosity and humour of the NLI’s Flickr community, and the remarkable stories revealed by their research.

• Claremorris Town Hall Theatre, Co Mayo |  1 July – 27 August
• Séan Lemass Public Library, Shannon, Co Clare | 1 – 22 September
• Kilrush Public Library, O'Gorman Street, Kilrush, Co Clare | 23 September –13 October
• De Valera Public Library, Ennis, Co Clare | 14 –28 October
• North Mayo Heritage Centre, Co Mayo | 3 November –  16 December

Yeats: The Life and Works of WB Yeats
The NLI is home to the largest collections of books, manuscripts and personal items relating to WB Yeats in the world. These form the basis of the award-winning exhibition ‘Yeats: The Life and Works of WB Yeats’. The travelling banner edition of this exhibition brings together some 30 images from the NLI’s collections of manuscripts, rare books, ephemera, prints and drawings donated to the NLI by the Yeats family. The banner exhibition invites visitors to explore Yeats’ engagement with Ireland, literature, folklore, theatre, politics, mysticism and the occult.

• County Hall, Riverside, Co Sligo | 1 –  12 July 
• Sligo Local Studies & Archive, Co Sligo | Tuesday, 14 July –  4 August 
• City Hall, Quay Street, Co Sligo | 6 August –  14 September 
• Ballymote Library, Co Sligo | 16 September –  24 November 
• Tubbercurry Community Library, Co Sligo | 26 November – 12 January 2027.

For further information, including opening hours, please visit www.sligolibrary.ie.

The National Library of Ireland acknowledges the support of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026 in helping to display these NLI exhibitions in various venues throughout the country during the EU Presidency, after which they will be available to borrow as part of the 'Borrow a Banner' initiative. 'Borrow a Banner' enables local venues around the country to borrow a banner exhibition featuring imagery of original NLI collection items. For further details and the range of exhibitions available see here.

Funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.