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6 After 6 Summer Cultural Series at the Museum

6 after 6 launch kk
PHOTO Vicky Comerford

Looking for things to do in Kilkenny this summer or a creative evening experience with a difference? The 6 After 6 Summer Cultural Series returns to the Medieval Mile Museum with a unique programme of hands-on workshops inspired by medieval skills, traditional crafts and historic creativity.

6 after 6 launch kk
In the photo, Martina Comerford (Tourism Officer, Kilkenny County Council), Cllr John Coonan (Kilkenny City Mayor), Grace Rinehart Macrae and Debbie Mangan (Medieval Mile Museum), and Feargus Dunne (Night Time Advisor, Kilkenny City)

 

Taking place on selected Friday evenings from June to September, this much-loved series invites adults to slow down, learn something new and explore the remarkable traditions that shaped life centuries ago, all within the atmospheric surroundings of St Mary’s Church in the heart of Ireland’s Medieval Mile.

From ancient textile techniques and embroidery to illuminated manuscripts, basket weaving and calligraphy, the 6 After 6 Summer Cultural Series offers an engaging and welcoming space for creativity, learning and conversation.

Led by archaeologists, artists, historical costumers and experienced practitioners, each workshop combines history with hands-on making and offers participants the opportunity to leave with both a finished project and a new skill to continue at home. All workshops are suitable for participants 18+, with materials included and no previous experience required.

 

Nålbinding & Cordage Workshop

Friday 12 June | 6 pm | Madison Blankenship

nailbinding

Begin the series with experimental archaeologist Madison Blankenship and discover the ancient craft of nålbinding, a yarn technique dating back to 6500 BCE, older than both knitting and crochet. Participants will also explore cordage making using nettle and alpaca fibres while learning how ropes and lacing were created by cultures around the world.
Participants will take home both their project and their own nålbinding needle to continue the craft beyond the workshop.

15 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Illuminated Manuscripts Workshop

Friday 26 June | 6 pm | Jade Butler

Explore the realm of medieval art with artist Jade Butler and create your own illuminated page inspired by the Book of Kells and Ireland’s renowned Insular artistic tradition.

This workshop introduces participants to the colours, patterns and decorative techniques used by early Irish scribes and offers the chance to create an illuminated-style canvas to take home.

15 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Tudor Blackwork Embroidery

Friday 10 July | 6 pm | Grace Rinehart Macrae

Tudor Blackwork Embroidery

Join Grace Rinehart Macrae, Assistant Manager and historical costumer, for an evening exploring Tudor blackwork embroidery, once popular among the Tudor upper classes.
Participants will create their own embroidered sampler while learning about historic clothing, decorative traditions and the beautiful geometric patterns that defined this distinctive craft.

20 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Bayeux Tapestry Embroidery

Friday 24 July | 6 pm | Grace Rinehart Macrae & Lyn Keane

bayeux tapestryInspired by the upcoming Year of the Norman 2027 and the 1000th anniversary of William the Conqueror’s birth, this workshop explores the famous Bayeux Tapestry and the stories stitched into its remarkable scenes. Grace Rinehart Macrae and Lyn Keane will guide participants through the techniques and storytelling traditions behind the tapestry as they begin creating their own tapestry-inspired scene.

20 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Basket Weaving Workshop

Friday 7 August | 6 pm | Madison Blankenship

Discover one of the oldest crafts in human history with Madison Blankenship.
Dating back more than 10,000 years, basket weaving combines practicality with creativity and tradition. Participants will learn the history and techniques behind weaving while creating their own medieval-style basket to take home.

15 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Tablet Weaving Workshop

Friday 21 August | 6 pm | Grace Rinehart Macrae

tapestry

Dating back to at least the 8th century BCE, tablet weaving has been used throughout history to create decorative trims, belts and textiles.
Grace Rinehart Macrae will guide participants through this historic craft and demonstrate how tablet weaving techniques can still be used today, including creating a traditional crios belt.

20 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Calligraphy Workshop

Friday 4 September | 6 pm | Dr Julia Skinner

calligraphy

The series concludes with Dr Julia Skinner, who will introduce participants to medieval calligraphy and the beautiful uncial script found throughout illuminated manuscripts.
Whether continuing illuminated artwork or learning calligraphy for the first time, participants will leave with practical skills and creative inspiration.

15 places available | €15 per person

Click Here to Book Your Place

 

Event Information

Location: Medieval Mile Museum, Kilkenny
Time: 6 pm
Price: €15 per workshop
Suitable for: 18+
All materials included

Places are limited and early booking is recommended.

A Different Kind of Evening in Kilkenny

The 6 After 6 Summer Cultural Series offers a unique opportunity to enjoy creative workshops and evening cultural experiences in Kilkenny within some of the city’s most historic and inspiring settings.

Featuring 36 free and ticketed events from June to early September, the Six After 6 – Summer Cultural Series brings many of Kilkenny’s leading visitor attractions to life after hours, creating memorable evenings for both locals and visitors throughout the summer.

The six attractions taking part in the series are:

◆ Medieval Mile Museum
◆ Butler House & Garden
◆ Smithwick’s Experience
◆ Rothe House
◆ St Canice’s Cathedral
◆ Butler Gallery

Whether you are seeking a new hobby, a cultural evening out or simply looking for something different to do in Kilkenny, the Six After 6 programme offers a rich mix of creativity, heritage and discovery across the city.

At the Medieval Mile Museum, our workshops provide an inspiring opportunity to connect with medieval history through making, learning and creativity in the remarkable surroundings of St Mary’s Church.

Join us this summer and discover the stories, skills and creativity of the past in the heart of Medieval Kilkenny.

The Six after 6 – Summer Cultural Series is supported by Kilkenny County Council, Fáilte Ireland – Ireland’s Ancient East and the Kilkenny Night Time Economy Pilot.

Discover more about Medieval Kilkenny through our
guided tours, immersive exhibits, and special events.

Click here to book your visit today.

For more info
Visit: www.medievalmilemuseum.ie
Call: 056 781 7022 | Email: info@medievalmilemuseum.ie

 

 

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Liber Primus Kilkenniensis Now Online

Liber primus kilkenny

Liber Primus Kilkenniensis – Kilkenny’s Oldest Civic Record

Some objects do more than record facts. They give us a living sense of a place and the people who shaped it. In Kilkenny, few documents achieve this as profoundly as Liber Primus Kilkenniensis, often called the First Book of Kilkenny.

liber primus

At first glance, it is a modest manuscript: a vellum book bound in oak boards, measuring approximately 23.5 by 17.6 centimetres and written in multiple medieval hands. Yet within its 174 pages lies a remarkable journey through more than two centuries of city life, spanning the early 1200s into the 1500s.

This was no book of saints or scripture. It was a town book, meticulously maintained by the Corporation of Kilkenny, documenting how the city governed itself. Here, one can trace early civic ordinances, elections of town officials, appointments of freemen, and even rules governing the price of bread and ale.

One entry, dated 1231, marks a defining moment in Kilkenny’s municipal life: an annual gathering of the community to elect its leaders. This is among the earliest independent records of its kind in Ireland, revealing a community actively shaping its own future.

As the centuries pass, the entries grow richer in detail. They record not only routine civic business, but also disputes, legal agreements, public works, and the rules that determined civic status. Liber Primus Kilkenniensis is more than ink on vellum, it is a testament to the real people, leaders, merchants, tradespeople, and citizens, whose choices shaped the city.

When you looking at the Liber Primus, you are not simply looking at old writing. You are connecting, page by page, with the living heart of Kilkenny’s past.

 

Kilkenny’s Oldest Civic Record Goes Digital

Some books are more than objects, they are voices carried across centuries, holding the memories, decisions, and daily lives of those who built our cities. For Kilkenny, that voice lives in Liber Primus Kilkenniensis, now carefully digitised and made available worldwide through Irish Script on Screen (ISOS).

What was once accessible only to a select group of scholars can now be explored by anyone with curiosity and a love of history.

liber primus

A Book Born with the City

Liber Primus is no ordinary manuscript. This small vellum volume, consisting of 86 folios bound in oak, records civic life in Kilkenny from 1230 to 1538. At nearly 800 years old, it is one of Ireland’s most significant surviving town books.

Its pages preserve:

  • Grants and charters from the 13th century
  • Early civic regulations issued under William Marshal and his son
  • Legal agreements between feudal lords and townspeople
  • Records of governance, authority, and responsibility within the medieval city

 

Through these entries, we see how Kilkenny functioned as a living, breathing community: who held power, how disputes were resolved, and how order was maintained.

Yet what makes Liber Primus so compelling is not only its political significance, but its humanity. Its pages reveal the lives of ordinary people: stubborn, hopeful, ambitious, flawed, the same qualities that shape communities today.

 

The Ordinary Lives Behind the Ink

Between formal records lie glimpses of daily life: penalties for misconduct, notes on behaviour, and rules designed to keep peace in a bustling medieval town. These details animate the manuscript, transforming it from a historical record into a personal connection with Kilkenny’s past.

 

Preserving the Past, Opening Access

Manuscripts are fragile. Vellum ages, ink fades and handling leaves its mark. Digitising Liber Primus ensures its long-term preservation while opening it to the world.

Through the work of ISOS, part of the School of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), every page has been captured in exquisite detail. Readers can explore the texture of the vellum, the medieval handwriting, and marginal notes that reveal centuries of civic life. The manuscript is no longer confined to a single archive. It can now be studied in schools, universities, libraries, and homes worldwide. Kilkenny’s story has become part of the world’s story.

 

Collaboration and Expertise

This work has only been possible through dedication and collaboration. Special thanks are due to Dr Anne Marie O’Brien, Professor Pádraig Ó Macháin (University College Cork), and the continued support of Kilkenny County Council. Their scholarship ensures that one of Kilkenny’s greatest cultural treasures is preserved with care, accuracy, and respect.

liber primus digital

Returning to Public Display

Following a period of conservation, Liber Primus Kilkenniensis will return to public display at the Medieval Mile Museum. Visitors will once again encounter the book not merely as an object behind glass, but as a witness to nearly three centuries of civic life.

For locals, it offers a tangible connection to the foundations of their city. For visitors, it presents a rare opportunity to engage with one of Ireland’s most significant civic manuscripts in its original context.

 

Why Liber Primus Still Matters

In a world where history can feel distant, Liber Primus reminds us that communities are shaped slowly, collectively, and carefully. Its pages speak of responsibility, identity, fairness, and belonging, values as relevant today as they were in 1230.

By bringing this manuscript online, Kilkenny does more than preserve its heritage. It invites curiosity, conversation, and connection. The past is no longer silent. It is here to be read, questioned, and understood.

 

Explore Liber Primus Online

Click Here to View the Liber Primus Manuscript.

And when it returns to display, we invite you to visit the Medieval Mile Museum and experience the real manuscript, where ink, vellum, and centuries of history meet in the heart of Kilkenny.

Discover more about Medieval Kilkenny through our guided tours, immersive exhibits, and special events.

Click here to book your visit today.

For more info
Visit: www.medievalmilemuseum.ie
Call: 056 781 7022 | Email: info@medievalmilemuseum.ie