Cultural Birr
Birr is a town where culture and arts are the beating heart of the community. Visitors to the County Arms have a range of artistic and cultural activities to choose from right on the hotel doorstep. Catch a concert, a theatre show or an exhibition in the vibrant Birr Theatre and Arts Centre or head over to Birr Library for local history and rare literary editions.
Birr is renowned across Ireland for its diverse and dynamic festival season, which includes the classical sounds of Birr Festival of Music, the longstanding Birr Vintage Week and Arts Festival, OFFLine Film Festival and Hillabaloo! Offaly’s Children’s Arts Festival.
Explore our website to find out more about the cultural experiences that await in Birr.
Birr Library
Bookworm visitors to the County Arms will love a trip to historic Birr Library and can even join in with some of the regular events including Parent and Toddler groups, Kids’ Book Club, Story Time and even a Knitting Club.
Or you can just bask in the incredible history of the magnificent Gothic Revival building designed as a Convent for the Sisters of Mercy by architect A.W. Pugin in the mid nineteenth century. It was purchased in 1996 by Offaly County Council when major conservation works began. As well as hosting a collection of artefacts showcasing local history including a facsimile of the Macregol Gospels and an exhibition of memorabilia, books and information about the Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment whose Home Depot was in nearby Crinkle until 1922.
View our website and location.
Birr Theatre & Arts Centre
First opened in 1889, Birr Theatre, The Oxmantown Hall, was an integral part of life in Birr until the 1980s when it fell into disrepair and lay idle for several years. In 1993 an extensive refurbishment was undertaken and completed by 2000.
Birr Theatre is now the beating heart of the arts community in Birr. From weekly arthouse film screenings to professional touring theatre productions, visual arts exhibitions, concerts, performances, and recitals, along with a dynamic community arts programme, Birr Theatre & Arts Centre is a thriving creative community, inclusive of all arts forms and audiences. Just a three minute drive or a 15 minute stroll from the County Arms, we encourage all our guests to take a trip to the Centre to experience a live show or simply enjoy a coffee and an exhibition.
View website here.
Clonmacnoise Monastery
Clonmacnoise Monastery was founded by St Ciarán on the banks of the River Shannon in the 6thCentury. Over time it became a major centre of religion, learning, craftsmanship and trade and by the 9th century it had become one of the most famous places in Ireland, attracting scholars from all over Europe and becoming a University of its time.
Clonmacnoise Monastery was clearly an inspiring location as historical manuscripts were written here including the11th-century Annals of Tighernach and the 12th-century Book of the Dun Cow. In 1979 Pope John Paul visited here during his visit to Ireland.
Today, under the management of the Office of Public Works, the site is a preserved ruin which features three high crosses, a cathedral, seven churches and two round towers.
The onsite interpretive Visitor Centre includes displays of a number of cross slabs and the 10th century Cross of the Scriptures. The graveyard surrounding the monastery continues to be in use and religious services are held regularly on the site in a modern chapel.
If you’d like to visit Clonmacnoise during your stay at the County Arms it’s just over half an hour’s drive away and any member of our friendly staff will be happy to point you in the right direction.
Cumberland Column, Emmet Square, Birr
Located at the heart of Emmet Square, Cumberland Column once held a statue of the Duke of Cumberland and was designed by Sir Lawrence Parsons and Samuel Chearnley. Originally featuring a statue of the duke of Cumberland, it was created in commemoration of his victory in the battle of Culloden, Scotland in 1746. The statue was removed in the early twentieth century but the Doriccolumn still stands and a plaque was inserted to commemorate the bicentenary of the execution of Robert Emmet 1778-1803. Emmet Square was renamed in his honour in 1922.
Saint Brendan's Church
Located to the east of Oxmantown Mall with the entrance to Birr Castle at the western end, Saint Brendan's Church of Ireland Church was built by the architect John Johnson in 1815 and extended in1876 by architect Sir Thomas Drew who added a new chancel. The east window was commissioned from Charles Kempe by the fourth Earl of Rosse in 1891. Representing a beautiful example of ecclesiastical architecture, the church is very grand with fine stonework, boasting perpendicular tracery on the east window and elaborate hood mouldings above door and window openings.
The Christian community in Birr dates back to St. Brendan the Elder who chose Birr for the location of his monastic community in the middle of the 6th Century. For centuries, St. Brendan's Monastery was renowned for hospitality and scholarship and the famous copy of the four Gospels, better known as "The Book Of Birr" or "McGregol Gospel", was created here. A facsimile copy of this Gospel is on display in Birr Library located in Birr Civic Offices on Wilmer Road.
