Testimonials

 

“I found Dromineer to be a warm and welcoming festival, full of people who love the written word. It was a place to meet poets and novelists and enjoy the banter. The Dromineer Literary Festival is, in every sense, in the heart of Ireland. Long may it run.” 

Tony Curtis

 

“Intimate, immediate and local, all in the best possible senses, The Dromineer Literary Festival was a joy to attend.” 

Dermot Bolger

 

“For their kindness and hospitality to writers and visitors alike the Festival organizers and good citizens of the area deserve plaudits. Dromineer is a beautiful spot for an intense and intimate forum right on Lough Derg. Catch the Festival while it’s still fresh and eccentric.”

Paula Meehan

 

“Dromineer Literary Festival is a delight. It’s friendly, well-organised and hospitable, packed with fun, good people and literary gems. I even saw a murmuration of starlings wheeling across the sky above beautiful Lough Derg. Absolutely brilliant.”

Madeleine D’Arcy

 

“I had a great time at Dromineer, not least because of the spectacular setting and the interest of all those involved in what they are doing.
But I also spent time driving around with Tom McCarthy, talking so much that we got literally lost. What else are literary festivals for, I ask myself?”

Gerald Dawe

 

“A visit to the Dromineer festival is a visit to home, to the warmth of words,  to the family of poets and the love of poetry…”

John Saunders

 

“My introduction to Tipperary and Dromineer began in 1990 when I was first shown around the area by my boyfriend, now my charming husband, James Harrold, a native of Nenagh. His parents had lived in Dromineer.  Over the years I gained both a knowlege and love of the lake and the surroundings from him. I am well acquainted with lakes – their beauty and their danger – having grown up in Killarney. After art college I moved to the Wexford coast, then Connemara – a preference to be within sight of water has influenced where I live.
When the first Dromineer festival was announced I knew it would be a magnet for readers and audiences alike. Incorporating a visual aspect added an extra angle to the programme, so I was delighted to transform from avid attendee to eager participant as exhibiting artist in the 2013 festival. I decided that the work should reflect the places I had come to know over the years staying in Nenagh through all the seasonal changes. I showed an etching of Church Island, and another reflected a dramatic murmuration at Lough Derg, while the paintings referenced both the familiar and the near forgotten. They tracked vistas of a timeless nature. Choosing a non realistic palette I used my own experience of the landscape, both real and imagined as a filter, to effect a different take on what exists. Working from my base in Nenagh and making forays into the countryside was a real pleasure. Just as one celebrates a good crop this time of year, the festival gathers the best and provides food for thought to nourish us over the dark winter nights.”

Dolores Lyne

“Congratulations! I won’t forget having been involved… It was a really lovely experience…”

Yvonne Cullen

 

“I was so very touched by my award and also the kindness, professionalism and nurturing atmosphere at Dromineer. It’s a real gem”. 

Mari Maxwell (Short Story Prizewinner 2007)

 

“Dromineer Literary Festival is that wonderful thing – an event that mixes the intimacy of a small place with the adventure of big ideas.”

John MacKenna

 

“The DLF is seriously good fun – that is, the people there are deadly serious about books and writing, but it’s all huge fun, too.”

Kevin Barry

 

“Dromineer is just what a festival should be, intimate, inspirational and inclusive. I loved being beside the lake in October with the leaves turning and the air alive with poetry.”

Grace Wells

“Warm and welcoming, Dromineer Literary Festival is a rare treat for lovers of literature. Curated by connoisseurs of contemporary literature, each year sees a diverse selection of Irish and international writers on the shore of Lough Derg. It was a pleasure to participate in the 2014 festival.”

Doireann Ní Ghríofa

 

“The Dromineer Literary Festival is a very special one. I felt very privileged to be invited to speak and what really stood out for me was the cultural engagement of the audiences at my event and at others. Also, it was lovely to meet so many other poets and writers and most importantly, readers! Without them, we are nothing. It was an extraordinary weekend and I am most grateful to organisers Paul O’Dwyer and Eleanor Hooker for putting me on a platform with writers and poets of such standing and experience. I was awfully afraid I might lower the tone, but they treated me as one of their own!”

Liz Nugent

“The Dromineer Literary Festival manages to be both warm and elegant simultaneously. Having read there as an emerging writer was crucial in bolstering my confidence, giving me the fortitude to continue working on my craft. Nowhere else would I have been given the chance to read alongside Michael Longley and Mark Roper. This kind of programming sets the Dromineer Festival apart in its breadth and inclusiveness. And Dromineer is such a beautiful spot, nestled up to Lough Derg with brightly coloured Shannon One Designs bobbing along the shoreline. The whole experience is exceptional.”

Jennifer Matthews

“[The] friendly, informal atmosphere embraces and enchants everyone”. 

Mary Arrigan

 

“Autumn in Dromineer, what could be better? Beside the lake, golden hues, great readings, in amongst our own tribe. What’s there not to like?”. 

James Martyn Joyce

 

“It was a real pleasure to be associated with the Dromineer Literary festival. It was organised not just with efficiency, but even more importantly, with energy and enthusiasm”.

Michael D. Higgins

 

“I had heard about it [Dromineer Literary Festival] for years and was delighted to see it at last. The festival is so well run in every way…”

The late Caroline Walsh, Former Literary Editor, The Irish Times

 

“I was very happy to be interviewed at the Dromineer Literary Festival in 2014 about the writers who have influenced me, and to have had the opportunity to read some of my poems to a receptive audience. It was a gentle and intimate experience, filled with warmth and goodwill. I had the opportunity to get to know my fellow writers, in the most beautiful, tranquil surroundings. Throughout I felt minded and cared for, and I left the festival grateful that hard-working volunteers had managed to achieve such a friendly celebration of the human spirit, the memory of which continues to encourage me. So a big congratulations is due to all concerned!”

Michael Murphy

 

“With its lakeshore setting and generous energy; its enthusiastic audiences and engaged organisers, this festival has a charm all of its own. In my own case I feel it has been a lucky charm. And so when asked to recommend a literary festival, Dromineer is where I encourage people to go.”

Alan McMonagle

 

“I arrived at the Dromineer Festival by boat, appropriate as I was to read from my book, The Skipper & Her Mate. From that point on I was so well looked after by the organisers. The setting was glorious. The Yacht Club is an amazing venue for readings, overlooking Lough Derg. Friendly, good variety of events and workshops. We even had the weather.”

Nicki Griffin

 

“The Dromineer Literary Festival is a model of its kind; professional, welcoming and properly ambitious. 
May it strive and prosper!”.

Theo Dorgan

 

“Dromineer Literary Festival is a joy. Intimate yet international, it’s a heady mix of deep commitment to poetry, hospitality, dogs and the beautiful outdoors. I can’t think of a happier way to spend a week/end.”

Fiona Sampson

 

“Dromineer Literary Festival was wonderful. Picturesque setting, acclaimed line up, friendly locals, dedicated organisers, inspiring conversations – great craic. The passion for literature within this warm atmosphere is something I would recommend to anyone with an interest in poetry and prose.”

Elizabeth Reapy

 

“I loved being at the Dromineer Festival! It’s very warm and welcoming, and the setting by the lake is lovely. There’s a great mix of Irish and international writers, and the festival has retained its friendly ambience, with writers and audience mixing easily over a pint after readings.”

Mary Noonan

 

“I had the great fortune of participating in the 2014 Dromineer Literary Festival. The festival takes place against dark beauty of Lough Derg. And something of this simple natural beauty is at the heart of the festival itself. I cannot even begin to describe how warm and generous the hosts and organisers were! The best way I can think of describing my experience is to say that the festival brought home to me the value and the depth of the community of poets and lovers of writing that extends through the human heart and beyond. The Dromineer Festival left me with that sense of quiet unforced belonging that is found in friendship.”

Kobus Moolman