We’ve spent the Winter here at the Castle reading and reading to find the best books to bring to you, but strangely, some of our favourite books have mysterious chew marks, devoured chapters and nibbled book endings (but how does it end?!) and some even are rather yuckily covered in a green gooey drool of some kind. It has us wondering- and wondering is wonderful.

There is a tall tale, a Lismore legend if you will, that a Book Monster named ‘Feeney’ lives in one of the Towers of Lismore Castle, and from the grumbles and tummy rumbles we’ve heard, and the munched-on pages, we think this monster might be a hungry one.

Maybe you’ll find Feeney, the friendly book loving monster, a monster who’d rather a good ‘Bookie’ over a ‘Cookie any day, at the festival this year. And what better way to feed the grumbling tummy of a Book Monster, than to invite some of the best book lovers we know to come and share their stories with us.

We hope that you’ll enjoy this year’s theme, ‘Finding Feeney’, and find monstrously good fun around every corner.

This year, the twelfth iteration of the festival, is brought to you by a new creative team, as Festival Founders and Artistic Directors Niamh Sharkey and Elaina Ryan, along with Festival Producer Aisling Fitzgerald begin new chapters. We are deeply grateful to Niamh and Elaina especially, for being the first to Knock for a Story on the Castle doors over a decade ago and for their dedication to filling the towers with tales year after year.

We cannot wait to bring you more of what you love at Towers and Tales 2026, this May at Lismore Castle. It’s going to be a festival packed with incredible experiences, artists, authors, makers, storytellers, dancers, and performers and we cannot wait for you to meet them all. There’s something for everyone and all ages.

Muireann Ní Chíobhán (Festival Curator)

Ann-Marie Ahearne (Festival Producer)