The Autumn Diary: Every Irish Design Date That Matters
Open House Dublin, the RIAI conference, Design Week Dublin, the Ideal Home Show and Irish Design Week — all the dates between now and January, checked against the organisers.
Autumn light on a building. Photo: Tsuyoshi Kozu / Unsplash.
Everything worth seeing in Irish design, architecture and homes between now and January, with the dates checked.
THE AUTUMN
Four dates to hold
16–20 SEPT
Design Week
Design Week Dublin. ~25 events, ~35 speakers.
7–8 OCT
RIAI
Architecture for the Common Good, RDS. 30+ speakers.
10–18 OCT
Open House
Open House Dublin. Free. 200+ events.
7–14 NOV
Design Week
Irish Design Week, nationwide.
September
SEPTEMBER
3–25
To Not Design Is To Cost The Earth — an Irish Architecture Foundation exhibition at The Building Centre, London.
9 Sept – 23 Oct
New Life Old Buildings 2026, the IAF’s programme of tours and talks, online and in person. If you are doing up an old house, this is the one.
16–20
Design Week Dublin at Anantara The Marker and the Malt House, Grand Canal Quay. Founded by Jane and Sarah McDonnell of THE GLOSS. Speakers include Róisín Lafferty, Sara Cosgrove, Suzie McAdam, Jasper Conran, Diarmuid Gavin and Níall McLaughlin.
23
First session of the IAF’s The Scale of Distance online talks, which run to 18 November.
October
OCTOBER
5–9
Winners announced in the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2026. DÍON, the rooftop on the former Central Bank on Dame Street, is shortlisted for Global Rooftop.
7–8
RIAI Conference 2026 — Architecture for the Common Good, RDS Main Hall, Ballsbridge. Hybrid, 30+ speakers, with a Rising Stars session for the RIAI Emerging and Student Award winners. An Associated Event of Ireland’s EU Presidency.
10–18
Open House Dublin. Free, more than 200 events, run by the Irish Architecture Foundation. The single best weekend of the year for getting inside buildings you cannot normally enter.
16–18
Autumn PTSB Ideal Home Show, RDS Simmonscourt Hall 8C. Over 220 exhibitors. Adults €20, seniors €10, under-12s free. Friday 10am–5pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am–6pm.
November
NOVEMBER
7–14
Irish Design Week 2026, themed Fáilte Future Europe and timed to Ireland’s EU Presidency. The Standing Ground exhibition at Collins Barracks features Michael Stewart, Natalie B. Coleman and Carrickmacross Lace artisans. Conference days at NCAD (9th), IADT (10th), TU Dublin (11th) and the RIAM (12th), with a regional heritage-craft day on the 13th built around Donegal Tweed, Connemara Marble and Waterford Crystal.
18
Final session of the IAF’s The Scale of Distance.
And into January
Showcase Ireland 2027 runs 17 to 19 January at the RDS — more than 400 Irish brands across Home & Gift, Fashion, Jewellery and Wellness, presented by Design & Crafts Council Ireland with Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices. It is a trade show, but it is where next year’s Irish shelves are decided.
What is already over
Two things worth knowing you missed, so you can plan for next year. The Irish Furniture & Homewares Show ran 23 to 25 August at the National Indoor Arena in Blanchardstown. And August Craft Month finishes this week — more than 600 events and around 3,800 makers across the island, in its fifth year, led by Design & Crafts Council Ireland with Craft NI.
The spring Ideal Home Show returns 23 to 25 April 2027. Bord Bia Bloom returns 3 to 7 June 2027.
One booking to make now
Open House Dublin needs volunteers, and applications close on 30 September. It is the cheapest possible way to get into the buildings with the longest queues.
HOW THIS PIECE WAS SOURCED
Dates are taken from each organiser: the Irish Architecture Foundation (iaf.ie and openhousedublin.com), RIAI (riai.ie), Design Week Dublin (designweekdublin.com), the RDS and idealhome.ie, Design & Crafts Council Ireland (dcci.ie) and showcaseireland.com. The DÍON shortlisting is from Travel Extra, 21 August 2026.
One caution on Design Week Dublin: the published programme contains evident data errors, including duplicated sessions and speaker names that do not match session titles. The festival dates are solid; confirm any individual session with the organisers before travelling for it. We have also not listed IDI awards dates, because we could not reach the Institute’s pages.
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