Conference Programme Outline
Thursday 20th August 2026:
15:00 onwards: conference team arrival; campus check-in. Informal evening gatherings : local restaurants and/or pubs - use our Facebook page to form groups with others. Conference team and volunteers will be eating in Brady's Clockhouse pub in the evening, where you will be welcome to join us for drinks afterwards. Cost is not included in your conference ticket.
Friday 21st August 2026:
Registration will be available in the TSI Building Foyer from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.
See map for TSI building location.
Choice of Excursions during the day, starting from Maynooth Campus - it is not necessary to register prior to your excursion as your name will be on the group leader's list. You can register when you return.
One-to-ones with agents and publishers, Room 110, TSI Building
2.00 to 5.00 pm, Jessica Bell - Book Cover Critiques, TSI Building, North Campus.
6.00 to 9.00 pm, welcome buffet reception in Pugin Hall, South Campus
Breakfast is available in Pugin Hall, South Campus from 08.00 - self service refectory (cost is not included in your conference ticket)
Registration desk open 08.20 - 08.50 and during breaks.
Plenary and parallel sessions in TSI building, North Campus.
One-to-ones with agents and publishers, Room 110, TSI Building
Evening Gala Dinner (6.30 pm Doors open, Seating at 7.00 pm) at Glenroyal Hotel with after-dinner speakers, musical entertainment, presentation of Novel Competition category winners and announcement of Overall Winner
Sunday 23rd August 2026:
Breakfast is available in Pugin Hall, South Campus from 08.00 - self service refectory (cost is not included in your conference ticket)
Registration desk open 08.30 - 08.50 and during breaks.
Plenary and parallel sessions in TSI building, North Campus.
One-to-ones with agents and publishers, Room 110, TSI Building
Close of conference at 16.40
Informal evening gatherings : local restaurants and/or pubs - use our Facebook page to form groups with others. Cost is not included in your conference ticket.
Click on underlined links for more information
Click on underlined links for more information
A printed programme of conference sessions on Saturday and Sunday will be distributed at the registration desk in the TSI Building
The floor plan can be consulted at the registration desk in the TSI Building
Saturday 22nd August
Conference programme, TSI Building, North Campus
NOTE: Any changes will be updated here but will not appear on the printed programme
8.30 - 8.50 REGISTRATION - FOYER
9.00 – 10.00 PLENARY SESSION 1 – LT2
9.00 - 9.10 Welcome & Introduction - HNS 2026 Team: Dianne Ascroft, Ben Bergonzi, Nicola Garrett, Katherine Mezzacappa, Aidan Morrissey, Rebekah Simmers, Margaret Skea, Maybelle Wallis, Tracey Warr
9.10 – 10.00 Keynote Speaker - Prof Terence Dooley, Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates, Maynooth University: Tracing a tragedy through estate papers: the life and death of Hermione, 5th Duchess of Leinster (1864-95) (Chair: Maybelle Wallis)
10.10 – 11.00 PARALLEL SESSION 1
10.10 – 11.00 (LT2) Laurence O’Bryan: Pitching Your Novel - The Essence of Marketing (Chair: Dianne Ascroft)
10.10 – 11.00 (Room 109) Kevin Connolly: Unearthing the Irish Past With a Digital Spade (Chair: Maybelle Wallis)
10.10 – 11.00 (Room 126) Tracey Warr: Transforming Sources into Fiction: Vikings and Normans in Ireland (Chair: Ben Bergonzi)
11.00 – 11.30 - CONFERENCE BOOK SHOP (Room 028) & FOYER - BOOK SALES, SIGNINGS & TEA/COFFEE/PASTRIES
11.30 – 12.20 PARALLEL SESSION 2
11.30 – 12.20 (LT2) Laura Morelli: Looking for Stories in Art (Chair: Margaret Skea)
11.30 – 12.20 (Room 109) Aidan Morrissey: Unearthing Tacnbora: How an Archaeological Excavation Brought a Lost Legend to Life (Chair: Tracey Warr)
11.30 – 12.20 (Room 126) Jenny Barden, Carol McGrath: Tudor Secrets in Film, Fiction and Fact (Chair: Ben Bergonzi)
DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, CAROL McGRATH'S CONTRIBUTION WILL BE PRESENTED BY HER AGENT LISA EVELEIGH.
12.30 - 13.20 PARALLEL SESSION 3
12.30 - 13.20 (LT2) Kate Forsyth: Research and Writing Across Time Periods (Chair: Dianne Ascroft)
12.30 - 13.20 (Room 109) Kate Braithwaite: Sister Stories - Illuminating the Past and Firing Up Your Fiction (Chair: Tracey Warr)
12.30 - 13.20 (Room 126) Fiona Whyte, Laura McKenna: Deconstructing the Legend: Humanising Heroes in Historical Fiction (Chair: Margaret Skea)
13.20 – 14.10 - CONFERENCE BOOKSHOP (Room 028): BOOK SALES, SIGNINGS & FOYER: LUNCH
14.10 – 15.00 PARALLEL SESSION 4
14.10 – 15.00 (LT2) Lenore Hart: Winning First Chapters: Targeting Novel Competitions and Crafting Competitive Submissions (Chair: Aidan Morrissey)
14.10 – 15.00 (Room 109) Ann Murtagh: 'Whose Legend Is It? Power, Prejudice And Perspective In 1600s Ireland’ (Chair: Margaret Skea)
14.10 – 15.00 (Room 126) Alison Morton: Alternative history – the stuff of legend or made-up twaddle? (Chair: Maybelle Wallis)
15.10 – 16.00 PLENARY SESSION 2 – LT2
Keynote Speaker: Martina Devlin in conversation with Lia Mills (Chair: Katherine Mezzacappa)
16.00 - 16.30 - CONFERENCE BOOKSHOP (Room 028): BOOK SALES, SIGNINGS & FOYER: TEA/COFFEE
16.30 – 17.20 PLENARY SESSION 3– LT2
Keynote Speaker: John Banville in conversation with Katherine Mezzacappa
17.20 - 18.00 BOOK SALES AND SIGNING IN CONFERENCE BOOKSHOP (Room 028)
Click on underlined links for more information
A printed programme of conference sessions on Saturday and Sunday will be distributed at the registration desk in the TSI Building
The floor plan can be consulted at the registration desk in the TSI Building
Sunday 23rd August
Conference programme, TSI Building, North Campus
NOTE: Any changes will be updated here but will not appear on the printed programme
8.30 - 8.50 REGISTRATION - FOYER
9.00 – 10.00 PLENARY SESSION 4 – LT2
9.00 - 9.10 Welcome & Introduction - HNS 2026 Team: Dianne Ascroft, Ben Bergonzi, Nicola Garrett, Katherine Mezzacappa, Aidan Morrissey, Rebekah Simmers, Margaret Skea, Maybelle Wallis, Tracey Warr
9.10 – 10.00 Keynote Speaker - Vaseem Khan: Who Owns The Legend? (Chair: Margaret Skea)
10.10 – 11.00 PARALLEL SESSION 5
10.10 – 11.00 (LT2) Jean Gill, Justin Hill, Matthew Harffy: Beyond Kings and Queens: Giving Voice to the Hidden Folk (Chair: Tracey Warr)
10.10 – 11.00 (Room 109) Constance Emmett, Anne M. McLoughlin, Maybelle Wallis: Legends of the Irish Diaspora(Chair: Katherine Mezzacappa)
10.10 – 11.00 (Room 126) Maryka Biaggio, Carol Cram, Jonathan Putnam: Who Owns the Legend’s Story? Navigating Ancestry, Authority, and Authorial License (Chair: Aidan Morrissey)
11.00 – 11.30 - CONFERENCE BOOKSHOP (Room 028) & FOYER - BOOK SALES, SIGNINGS & TEA/COFFEE/PASTRIES
11.30 – 12.20 PLENARY SESSION 5 - LT2
11.30 - 12.20 Keynote Speakers - Essie Fox and Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books): Gothic Legends for Today’s Readers (Chair: Ben Bergonzi)
12.30 - 13.20 PARALLEL SESSION 6
12.30 - 13.20 (LT2) Margaret Skea: History in Historical Fiction: Icing On The Cake? Or Main Ingredient? (Chair: Dianne Ascroft)
12.30 - 13.20 (Room 109) Marie Powell: Location, Location, Location: On-Location Research And How To Use It In Historical Fiction (Chair: Tracey Warr)
12.30 - 13.20 (Room 126) Louise Fein, Amanda Geard, Gill Paul: Discovering The One: How to Find that Attention Grabbing Historical Fiction Idea (Chair: Ben Bergonzi)
13.20 – 14.10 - CONFERENCE BOOKSHOP (Room 028) & FOYER - BOOK SALES, SIGNINGS & LUNCH
14.10 – 15.00 PARALLEL SESSION 7
14.10 – 15.00 (LT2) Pam Lecky, Fiona Veitch Smith, Tim Kinsey: The Vintage Detective: Weaving Together Character, Plot and Mystery (Chair: Dianne Ascroft)
14.10 – 15.00 (Room 109) Leslie Carroll, Anne Easter Smith, Margaret George: When The Facts About The Legends are so Juicy - Tell the Truth! (Chair: Maybelle Wallis)
14.10 – 15.00 (Room 126) Christopher Cevasco, Michelle Moran and Sophie Perinot: Confronting the Legend (Chair: Aidan Morrissey)
15.10 – 16.00 PLENARY SESSION 6 – LT2
15:10 – 16.00 Keynote Speakers - Kate Nash (Kate Nash Literary Agency Ltd) and Paula Campbell (Publisher, Poolbeg Press) in conversation with Katherine Mezzacappa: The Saga and the Slushpile
16.00 - 16.10 CONFERENCE CLOSE – HNS 2026 Team
16.10 - 16.40 - CONFERENCE BOOKSHOP (Room 028) & FOYER - BOOK SALES, SIGNINGS & TEA/COFFEE/BISCUITS
Click on underlined links for more information
A printed programme of conference sessions on Saturday and Sunday will be distributed at the registration desk in the TSI Building
The floor plan can be consulted at the registration desk in the TSI Building
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend..."
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