Queer lives were always part of Ireland's story. Join us at Waterford's Medieval Museum to hear the ones that got left out. Free to attend!About this Event
Queer histories from medieval manuscripts to the streets; join us at Waterford's Medieval Museum to open Pride of the Déise 2026 with history, art, and stories you won't find in any school curriculum. Spoiler: queer lives have always been part of the documented record. Like, always.
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Free to attend | Limited capacity, registration is essential.
Open Pride of the Déise 2026 where it belongs: in the heart of Ireland's oldest city, surrounded by centuries of history that was never quite as straight as it seemed.
reQueering the Record brings together a medieval historian, a visual artist, and a few stories that got left out of the official version - and puts them in one of Waterford's most extraordinary spaces. This isn't the history you learned in school. But it probably should have been.
Dr. Gillian Kenny, Adjunct Associate Professor at UCD and Visiting Research Fellow at TCD, guides us through queerness in medieval and early modern Ireland. From the manuscripts to the margins, queer lives were always part of this island's story. She's here to tell us those stories.
Róibí Ó Rua, Pride of the Déise's 2026 Artist, takes us into the bold visual archives of queer liberation - the pamphlets, zines, and punky community art of movements past, and how they're shaping the look and feel of this year's festival.
Your host for the evening is Amy Uí Ríordáin, Pride of the Déise volunteer and a historian herself, who'll be weaving in a few queer stories from across the centuries that deserve to be told - and leading a Q&A to close out the evening.
Centuries of history. One room. Come find out what they didn't put in the textbooks.
📍 The Garden Room, Medieval Museum, Waterford
🕕 Doors open 5:45pm | Talk begins 6:00pm sharp
🏁 Finished by 7:00pm
This event immediately follows our flag-raising ceremony on the Mall at 5:30pm - just across the road. Come straight from there and open the festival in style.
Free to attend. If you'd like to support the festival, donations are warmly welcome on the night and via the add-on below.
Capacity is strictly limited Register now, don't let history leave without you.
reQueering the Record is an event by Pride of the Déise / Bród na nDéise, Waterford's LGBTQ+ community organisation, now in our seventh year. Supported by Waterford City and County Council Festival Grant Fund 2026. Find out more at prideofthedeise.com
Event Venue
Waterford Treasures: Medieval Museum, Cathedral Square, Waterford, Ireland
EUR 0.00 to EUR 5.00
