Seanchaí Kerry Literary & Cultural Centre

Seanchaí is a museum of words & spirit where the imaginative worlds of the great Kerry writers are evoked.

Located in a beautifully restored 19th century Georgian Residence next to Listowel Castle, in Listowel’s magnificent Square, Seanchaí – Kerry Literary & Cultural Centre celebrates the works and lives of some of Kerry’s most esteemed writers in a unique audio-visual interpretative museum. Seanchaí features five of the County’s most esteemed writers – John B. Keane, Bryan MacMahon, George Fitzmaurice, Brendan Kennelly and Maurice Walsh.  The writings of these national and internationally renowned literary figures are filled with an abundance of rich characters, humour, romance and tragedy drawn from the towns and villages of North Kerry.  The works of the writers will make you laugh and cry, but above all you will come away from your visit to Seanchaí with a sense of the people and places that shaped Kerry’s literary genius.

During the summer months Seanchaí presents a daily programme of live theatre performances as part of the tour of the Kerry Writers’ Museum.  See the characters created by the writers come to life as you move through the museum. On commencement of your visit sit and listen to Ireland’s most famous ‘Seanchaí’ (pronounced shanakey) or ‘Storyteller’ Eamon Kelly tell of this old Irish tradition, and how it was the precursor to the art of writing, in ancient Ireland.

Take a journey with the Kerry writers through historical and scenic North Kerry landscapes that influenced them in a unique audio-visual presentation.  Or listen to the voices of the writers themselves in the audio presentations in the individual writer’s rooms. Following your tour why not enjoy some refreshments in the Literary Café, a fully equipped restaurant serving the freshest of local produce or peruse the many books of the writers and local craft products in the centre's gift shop.