Sustainable Heritage Award
Winner
Event: Ballyshannon Historic Town, Conversation and Conservation
Organiser: Ballyshannon Regeneration Group
About: With the help of the Heritage Council, Donegal County Council and property owners, Ballyshannon Regeneration Group aims to breathe new life through the reuse some of the wonderful buildings in what locals reckon is Ireland’s oldest town. The group invited the public for a fascinating ‘walk and talk’ to the town centre, featuring stories and discussion about the buildings that are set for conservation. The event culminated in a visit to the Town Clock building, where the public could inspect documents recently unearthed at the former Belfast Bank building.
Runners-up
Event: Preserving the Fishing Heritage and Local History of Clarecastle in Film
Organiser: Clarecastle and Ballyea Heritage and Wildlife Group
About: The Heritage Group filmed the making of traditional boats by two former salmon fishermen in order to record and preserve their skills for future generations.
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Digital Project: The Cooper, the Glover, the Broguemaker... Kilteevan Trades and Practices Through Time
Organiser: Kilteevan Graveyard Committee
About: This digital project explored how self-sufficient Kilteevan parish was between the 18th and early 20th centuries and highlighted its folklore and traditions.
Biodiversity Award
Winner
Event: Bats About Rooks
Organiser: BirdWatch Ireland in association with Kildare Bat Group and Laois Heritage Office
About: Irish Wildlife Trust Laois Offaly Branch, BirdWatch Ireland and Kildare Bat Group organised a walk for all ages through the People’s Park in Portlaoise to hear all about its bird and bat life. Speakers included ornithologist Ricky Whelan, who discussed the rookery at the nearby Downs, the largest roost in Co Laois. The walk continued along the Triogue River with information about bats from Anna Collins of Kildare Bat Group.
Runners-up
Event: Making Meadows
Organiser: The LIVE Project
About: Visitors joined members of the LIVE Project at the Valentia Meteorological Observatory in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, to learn about the reintroduction of meadows in the area.
Event: Sand Dune Celebration
Organiser: Bertra Connected and Leave No Trace
About: Leave No Trace Ireland, in partnership with Bertra Connected, celebrated sand dunes with a programme of educational and fun events at Bertra Beach in Mayo.
Wild Child Award (sponsored by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth)
Winner
Event: Myshall Community Family Biodiversity Day
Organiser: Myshall Nature
About: A Wild Child day took place to celebrate the rich biodiversity found in the beautiful garden spaces of Myshall in Co Carlow. The event focused on family participation using a ‘dig a little, plant a little and play a little’ approach. Activities included biodiversity flower bed planting, bird feeder crafting, and tree trail and heritage trail scavenger hunts with a picnic to finish.
Runners-up
Event: Dolphin Scavenger Hunt
Organiser: Irish Whale and Dolphin Group
About: The family friendly event encouraged kids to explore the town of Kilrush, Co Clare, while learning about the resident pod of bottlenose dolphins living in the Shannon Estuary nearby. Kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt through the town, searching for clues about where to find ‘missing dolphins’, before returning to Shannon Dolphin Centre.
Event: Guided tour of Lonehort Battery
Organiser: Bere Island Projects Group
About: A guided tour for children and their parents of Lonehort Battery, Bere Island, Co Cork, to learn about what life was like for those who were stationed there during the first World War as well as the variety of wildflowers and butterflies that now call it home.
Water Heritage Award (sponsored by the Local Authority Waters Programme)
Winner
Event: Launch of ‘Blue Dot’ Coomhola River Booklet
Organiser: StreamScapes
About: The ‘Blue Dot’ Catchments Programme is about identifying the means to conserve Ireland’s high-status water bodies. In support of this, StreamScapes, a designer and producer of community engagement projects for catchments around Ireland, developed a template for communicating Blue Dot objectives to local communities. This first Blue Dot Booklet, on the Coomhola River, was launched at a ‘StreamSchool’, in Coomhola, Bantry, Co Cork, and followed by an optional river field trip.
Runners-up
Event: Coastal Education and Beach Clean at Templetown Beach
Organiser: Cooley Community Alert in association with Clean Coasts
About: A family-friendly day at Templetown beach in Co Louth where An Taisce’s Clean Coasts initiative teamed up with Cooley Community Alert, the Irish Coastguard and Local Authority Waters Programme to learn about tides, marine biodiversity, water quality and marine litter.
Event: Murroe-Boher Scouts Citizen Science Project
Organiser: 14th Limerick Murroe-Boher Scout Group
About: The Murroe-Boher Scouts organised an update event on an extensive citizen science project they undertook on the Dooglasha River and the wider Mulkear Catchment in Co Limerick.
Sustainable & Inclusive Event Award
Winner
Event: Selling the Past Exhibition
Organiser: Irish Wheelchair Charity Shop Letterkenny with Donegal County Museum
About: An interactive exhibition of donated items, all with links to Donegal’s history. People were invited to browse through the store to find certain items with tags attached in order to learn more about the history and people of Donegal; an embroidered cloth that connected the finder with the county’s famous cottage sewing and lacemaking, vintage soft drink bottles that told the story of the founder of McDaid’s Football Special and a fireside chair inspired by the tradition of visiting and hearing poems and songs.
Runners-up
Event: Purls of Wisdom
Organiser: iCRAG and Irish Fibre Crafters
About: Purls of Wisdom is a new craft-based approach to raising awareness of climate change that offered a free spinning, weaving and felting workshop with scientists from iCRAG (Science Foundation Ireland’s Research Centre in Applied Geosciences) and experts from Irish Fibre Crafters Caherkelly in Co Galway. Participants could learn the skills and find out about Irish climate science.
Event: SPAB Ireland Working Party 2022
Organiser: SPAB Ireland
About: The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Ireland organised a working party to demonstrate conservation practices on an 18th-century farmhouse, outbuildings and boundary walls in south-east Tipperary.