Harold Johnson (1910-1967) was a skilled amateur filmmaker, a Quaker, and a businessman. Heir to Belfast’s Johnson Brothers business founded in Belfast in 1893, his family recently deposited his collection of over 150 films (30 hours) for preservation in the IFI Irish Film Archive. Shot between the 1930s and 1960s on 8mm and 16mm sound and silent film, the collection records family holidays, workers in the Irel Coffee Factory, mountain climbing adventures, water skiing, motor sport, trips to Africa and the Holy Land, and Quaker gatherings in Dublin, Newtown School, Waterford and elsewhere. Meticulously edited, often playful, historically invaluable – these films are a joy to behold.

A series of short films shown will be shown on Thursday 29 October at 7.00pm at the Black Box, Belfast. The films will be introduced by Harold’s grandson, Alan Johnson and Sunniva O’Flynn (IFI).

To book tickets, follow this link.

The Dublin Area Quaker Community will hold an October Gathering on the theme “Exploring the Spiritual Life through the Writing of Quaker Author Thomas R. Kelly”. The gathering will take place on Sunday 18 October during 1.00-4.30pm at Churchtown Meeting House.

No booking is required, and all are welcome. You can get more information about the programme for the event in this flyer.

An All Age Gathering of Friends in Europe and the Middle East was held in August 2026 at Haus Altenberg, in a beautiful valley with woodland walks.

A Churchtown Coffee Morning reflecting on their experience at the Gathering will be given by Carmel O’Hara, Tom O’Connor and Siobhan Walshe on Tuesday 6 October during 10.30-12.00.

You can find more information, including the Zoom link for joining online in this flyer.

Earlier this year, RTE’s Nationwide team carried out a series of interviews with Friends in Dublin (at Temple Hill, the Historical Library, and a Meeting House) about the Society and its history, and during their trip to Waterford, spoke to Friends about the impact of Quakers on the community there.  It should be a very interesting watch and great opportunity to raise our profile – please encourage as many f/Friends to watch as possible.

It’s expected that these interviews will air on their programme next Friday, 2^nd October at 7pm.  This date has been chosen by the producers to coincide with World Quaker Day, Sunday 4th October.

Note, however, that the programming schedule can change at the last minute, and this segment could be re-scheduled.  Hopefully not.

Once aired, it may be available via RTE Player; the link for this will be sent out once it is confirmed.

For World Quaker Day this year FWCC is holding a massive global online worship meeting, lasting 8+ hours, themed Let Peace Be Among Us. Each hour of worship will be hosted by a different part of the world where prayers for peace are particularly needed. While the worship will span many hours, we’re expecting most people will join for an hour or two.

Date: 4th October 2026

Time: Starting 12.00 noon Irish Time, lasting for 6 hours; Friends in New Zealand will end the day at 11pm Irish Time with a final hour reflection on peace and justice. (Note that starting time was erroneously given as 14.00 UTC in a previous post.)

Where: Online via Zoom

You can find more information at the World Quaker Day 2026 webpage.

Extended worship is a period of sitting with and in the divine spirit. In the manner of Early Friends, we gather for a prolonged period of silent reflection and inward searching, usually remaining in waiting worship for about 3 hours, with time at the conclusion for afterthoughts and sharing. An extended Meeting for Worship will be held at Waterford Meeting House on Saturday October 3 during 2.00-5.30pm,

You can find more information in this leaflet. More information about Extended Meeting for Worship is also given at the following links:

https://www.friendsjournal.org/extending-into-the-eternal/

https://www.friendsjournal.org/a-people-who-dwell-in-the-living-stream/

Culture Night is coming up on Friday, September 18. A great variety of cultural events will be held all over Ireland.

Eustace Street Friends Meeting House will be open on Culture Night during 16.30 – 20.30, with an exhibition “Quakers in Dublin: Light, Silence, Peace”. For more information, see https://culturenight.ie/event/quakers-in-dublin-light-silence-peace/

Help will be needed at Eustace Street with things like door keeping, tea, logistics, and chatting with visitors about Quaker practice. If you would like to volunteer to help at this event, please contact Marianne through the Office (office@quakers.ie).

Edenderry Meeting House will host an event by the Eden Chorale called “Autumn Airs at the Meeting House”. Eden Chorale, a community based
mixed voiced choir, will perform a varied repertoire of music including contemporary and popular classics, sacred pieces and a
selection from musicals. The evening will run during 19.30-21.00, and will also include poetry readings from local poets. No booking required. For more information, see https://culturenight.ie/event/autumn-airs-at-the-meeting-house/

Each year, a fundraising sale in support of IQFA is held in Dublin in December.

This year, the sale will be held on Saturday December 5 at Monkstown Meeting House. For now, mark the date in your calendar, and more information will be posted about this fun and worthwhile event once it is available!

The date of the annual Lecture of the Quaker Historical Committee has been fixed for Wednesday 30 September at 7 o’clock  in the National Maritime Museum, Dun Laoghaire. It will be in-person only.

The lecture is entitled ‘Lighting the Sea,  the John R Wigham story.’

Jonathan Wigham will speak about his distinguished great-grandfather, John R. Wigham, an engineer who pioneered developments in gas lighting, who is particularly famous for his inventions for  lighthouses and on buoys. His products were used literally all over the world. The  enormous lens or optic from the Bailey Lighthouse, installed in 1902, is now housed in the National Maritime Museum, Dun Laoghaire and will be switched on during the lecture. Originally it emitted two million candlepower! John Wigham was offered a knighthood on two occasions but turned down both as being against Quaker belief in equality.

The lecture will be accompanied by slide show, and a collection will be held on behalf of the Historical Library.

You can find some more information in this flyer about the lecture.

In 1937, the well known American Quaker Rufus M Jones wrote  “…I have become a good deal disillusioned over ‘big’ conferences and large gatherings. I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transformative events take place.”

It is in the spirit of these words that you are invited to set time aside on the third Saturday of each month, when the Limerick Meeting House will be open for an hour from 2.00-3.00pm for those who wish  to join others silently “sitting for peace”.

The next of these monthly silent vigils for peace will take place on Saturday 19th Aug from 2.00 – 3.00pm.

Please feel free to invite others to share this time of holding an intention for peace in silence together.