Celestine Phelan

Celestine Phelan co-founded Event Communications and Event Ireland in 1986 in response to growing demand for innovative design solutions for major corporate presentations. The company’s pioneering approach blended story-led design, drama and multimedia, capturing audiences’ imagination and leading to a strong focus on museums and visitor attractions. Over subsequent decades, Event became Europe’s largest specialist in this field, delivering more than 250 museum projects worldwide, from Belfast to Hong Kong and from Gothenburg to Oman. The company has received significant recognition, including European Museum of the Year on six occasions and World’s Leading Visitor Attraction twice, and has often played a transformative role in regional tourism. Irish projects include the Chester Beatty Library, Titanic Belfast, the Guinness Storehouse, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Waterford Museum of Treasures, EPIC, the Book of Kells and the Coolmore Horse Museum. In December 2021, Event was acquired by the French-listed group Chargeurs, which continues to develop the business.

Educated at Mount Anville and University College Dublin, where she studied English Language and Literature, Celestine began her career in research and broadcasting at Vatican Radio. She later worked in the Press Secretariat of the Second Vatican Council before joining RTÉ Religious Programmes. Her early engagement with issues of social deprivation in Ireland and among emigrants informed her later work.

A long-standing attendee of the Wexford Festival Opera, she has also served as a trustee of the WFO UK Foundation. She is married to Bill Phelan, with whom she has four children and eight grandchildren, and returned to Ireland in January 2025 after five decades in London.