Last year saw audiences, local and from further afield, enthralled with a variety of concerts, comedy acts, exhibitions, tours, the Christmas market and film screenings in Saint George’s Arts and Heritage Centre, Mitchelstown.
The 2026 programme of events has just been announced and promises to continue building on the remarkable success of this dynamic and ever improving arts, culture and heritage venue. Here’s the line-up for the coming weeks – further listings will be carried next week.
Cinema at Saint George’s
It’s been almost 45 years since Mitchelstown residents could stroll to the movies, names like Sharpes, The Star Cinema, The Oisin, Central Hall and Russells will conjure up memories of silver screen fascination to an older generation. Next Friday, 23rd January sees cinema return to Mitchelstown at Saint George’s. The newly formed Mitchelstown Cinema Club will show the Oscar nominated movie, Palestine 36, starring Liam Cunningham and Jeremy Irons. Palestine 36 is a historical drama set in 1936, during the Arab revolt against British colonial rule in Mandatory Palestine. The film follows Yusuf, who navigates between his rural village and Jerusalem amidst escalating tensions from increased Jewish immigration and rising Palestinian resistance.
Palestine 36 will show at Saint George’s next Friday (23rd) at 7pm. Tickets €10 (students/seniors €8) available on the door. This is the first in monthly film screenings.
Blackwater Valley Fit-Up Theatre Festival
The annually enjoyable and successful Blackwater Valley Fit-Up Theatre Festival returns with a trio of amazing shows starring superb performers and thought provoking and sometimes side-splitting themes.
The first is Seamus O’Rourke in The Love Hungry Farmer on Friday, 30th January at 8pm. O’Rourke stars in John B. Keane’s play as John Bosco McLaine, a man who has never lain down with a woman, but has had romantic blood pulsing through his veins all his life. Always an optimist, and virgin in equal measure, he embarks on a search for an ideal companion regardless of age, failure rate or dammed advice!… and in a community where advice is ample and women few, he follows his heart in an ultimate bid to procure himself a wife.
HubCap Theatre returns with Mary’s Hopes and Dreams on Friday, 6th February at 8pm. From the boys who brought The Parish to the festival two years ago. This is a delightful comedy about life in a rural community. The story unfolds with a large cast of colourful characters including cattle dealers, tennis players, greyhound trainers, ‘80’s Pop Stars and the much loved Two Marys!
Fresh from his recent appearance on The Tommy Tiernan show on RTE, Aindrias de Staic returns with A Little de Staic of Stories on Friday, 13th February at 8pm. Blending traditional fiddle-playing with his tall-tale storytelling, Aindrias de Staic is clearly continuing a longstanding Irish tradition.
All tickets for the Blackwater Valley Fit-Ups in Saint George’s are available on Eventbrite or on the door on the night.
