Mullingar’s deep literary history will be brought to life this July as part of Mullingar Literary Festival, with a special guided heritage tour led by local historian, writer, broadcaster and tour guide Ruth Illingworth.

The Mullingar Literary Heritage Tour will take place on Sunday 5th July 2026 at 11.30am, beginning at Market Square, Mullingar. The event forms part of the wider Mullingar Literary Festival 2026, which runs from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th July.

Led by Ruth Illingworth, the walk will explore the people, places and stories that have shaped Mullingar’s literary identity. The tour will highlight the town’s connections with major cultural and literary figures, including James Joyce, William Carleton, Ira Aldridge, Josephine Hart, Patrick Pearse, Anna Akhmatova, Leo Daly, Pat Layde and Patricia Gibney.

The route begins at Market Square, where Ira Aldridge once staged Shakespeare productions and where William Carleton lived and taught. From there, the walk will continue through key locations including Mount Street, the Joyce mural, the Courthouse, the Arts Centre, County Buildings, the History Mural, Dominick Street, Mary Street, Bishopsgate Street, Friars Mill Road and Pearse Street, before concluding at the historic Greville Arms Hotel, associated with both James Joyce and William Carleton.

Ruth Illingworth is widely recognised for her work in preserving and promoting the history of Mullingar, Westmeath and the wider Irish Midlands. She is President of the Westmeath Historical and Archaeological Society, a history graduate of NUI Maynooth, and has written and published several books on Mullingar and Westmeath history.

A spokesperson for Mullingar Literary Festival said:

“The Mullingar Literary Heritage Tour is one of the most important events in the festival programme because it connects the town itself with the writers, artists and cultural figures who have passed through it, written about it or helped shape its story. It is a wonderful opportunity for people to see Mullingar not just as a town, but as a place rich with literary memory, imagination and historical significance.”

The tour will be of particular interest to readers, writers, historians, students, visitors, local families and anyone curious about Mullingar’s place in Ireland’s wider literary landscape.

The event also reinforces one of the key aims of Mullingar Literary Festival: to celebrate the town’s existing creative community while also recognising the remarkable literary heritage on which it stands.