Friendship Postcards: Jane Austen & Maria Edgeworth
Created to celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th Birthday, this project showcases the talent of young people across the UK and Ireland. After being displayed in the National Library of Ireland, we are delighted to be able to showcase this project here at Jane Austen’s House.22 Jan — 22 Feb 2026
Throughout the autumn of 2025 over 800 young people aged 13-18 made postcards on the theme of Friendship. They created these postcards through a series of workshops, both online and in person, with the National Library of Ireland. They were inspired by excerpts from Jane Austen’s novels, as well as her Irish contemporary Maria Edgeworth, and illustrations from the National Library of Ireland’s Prints & Drawings Collection. The postcards demonstrate a variety of artistic styles – writing, printing, drawing, painting – in response to these classic texts and materials, reconsidering these stories in today’s world.
This is the fourth iteration of the Creative Postcards project led by Fergal Kilkenny of St Louis Secondary School Dundalk. It is a powerful tribute to two of our greatest writers, an exciting glimpse into the future of our young artists, and a demonstration of the rich potential of collaboration across the UK and Ireland.
In partnership with British Council Ireland, British Embassy Dublin and National Library of Ireland.
Friendship Postcards opens on Thursday 22 January 2026 and is free with House entry! This display will run until 22 February 2026.Â