The Brian Friel Centre:
On its way 

We look forward to welcoming tourists and local people to The Brian Friel Centre. A visionary space dedicated to celebrating the life, work, and legacy of one of Ireland's most beloved playwrights.

Our Centre will offer visitors a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of theatre, literature, and Donegal life and landscape. Located in the town of Glenties in the heart of  Donegal, Ireland, this is the place that inspired Brian’s short stories and plays. This is where he spent his childhood holidays and where he returned throughout his life.

The Brian Friel Centre is a locus for anyone passionate about theatre, Irish literature, and the power of storytelling. Whether you are a local visitor or an international traveller, we invite you to immerse yourself in the world of Brian Friel. Experience the place that haunted his imagination and inspired his work.

“Glenties, Co Donegal, the north-west of Ireland. There could not be a more appropriate place to establish a cultural initiative dedicated to this great Irish playwright. Donegal was Brian Friel’s home place. He lived most of his life in the county and it is there that he rests. ”
— Liam Neeson

WHAT’S COMING…

The Courthouse

Situated in the centre of Glenties, the Courthouse will be transformed into a dynamic cultural space, a place of creativity and community, bringing to life the work of Brian Friel and exploring the arts more broadly. Exhibitions, performances, arts programmes, community events and youth activities can thrive in this imaginatively renovated historic building and its beautiful courtyard. See Brian’s library of Irish Writers.

What’s Coming…Exhibitions and Performances

  • Explore the exhibition about Brian Friel’s life and works

  • Watch a performance or enjoy a reading

  • Enjoy Festivals and Events

What’s Coming…Reading and Creating

  • Create something new in a workshop or drop in arts or writing activity

  • Read and search the Digital Archive and library

The Laurels Cottage

Dancing at Lughnasa took the theatre world by storm in 1990. 

The play is set in the home of the Mundy sisters in the fictional village of Ballybeg. The year is 1936. The Laurels Cottage inspired the play and the setting. 

Restored, renovated, reimagined, the cottage will be refurbished and fitted out in authentic period style with furniture and artifacts from the house when the McLoone sisters lived there. Visitors will experience Ireland of the 1930s as part of their engagement with the work of one of Ireland’s greatest writers. The gardens surrounding the cottage, an oasis for reflection and relaxation, will be an integral part of the experience with a performance space.


What’s Coming…Guided Tours

  • Tour The Laurels

  • Enjoy the Gardens

  • Imagine you are in Dancing at Lughnasa

The Frielscape Heritage Trail

Donegal, with its mountains and coastline, is one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland. Visitors to the Brian Friel Centre will have an opportunity to walk the Brian Friel Town Trail from the Courthouse to The Laurels and beyond.

Why not explore the Frielscape more widely: the lakes where he fished with his father, the roads they walked, finishing perhaps at the playwrights’ final resting place with its view of the Blue Stack Mountains.

What’s Coming….Self-guided walks

  • Walk the Brian Friel Town Trail linking the Courthouse to The Laurels

  • Hear and See Digital Stories on your phone

  • Use the paper map and signposts to go up and down Glenties Main Street

  • Talk to local people and see real places that inspired Brian Friel’s stories and had a connection with his family and memories

    Visit Brian Friel's Grave

  • Navigate your way safely by road to the new graveyard

  • Discover other McCloone family graves in the new and old graveyards