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From biodiversity to bishops, discover projects of note from 2020’s National Heritage Week submissions

Mapping the Disert site to uncover its secrets

This year, National Heritage Week was a little different. The week, which took place from 15th-23rd August, saw many of the week’s participants embrace the opportunity to offer digital solutions as a way to enjoy our national heritage. Here, we showcase a selection of 2020’s 854 projects from all across the nation.

The hidden history

Irish Workhouse Centre Portumna, Co Galway

David Broderick from the Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna

The Irish Workhouse Centre depicts life in a 19th century workhouse, one of the lesser-known parts of Ireland’s industrial past. 163 workhouses operated in Ireland from the 1840s to the 1920s, many of them being the last resort for the most destitute of the poor. With all seven buildings intact, the Irish Workhouse Centre offers a real insight into what life in a workhouse was like at that time.

Visitors enter through a waiting room which was in itself the room people came through when seeking admission to the workhouse. You are then guided through to the girls’ yard, the women’s dormitory block, the matron’s quarters, the nursery, the women’s workroom and the laundry.

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An ongoing centre for research into all aspects of the workhouse and how it impacted on those who came to work there, this is a fascinating insight into a lost history. David Broderick, who runs the centre, says it is a moving experience to visit. “Half of the workhouse has been done up in recent years and you really get a feel of what it had been like to work there. We made several films for Heritage Week telling the stories of the lives of orphans who spent years there, many are very powerful reminders of that time.”

A monastic gem

Disert Heritage Group, Co Donegal

An early medieval monastery that was reputedly founded in the 6th century by St. Colmcille, Disert includes early ecclesiastical remains, penitential cairns, a holy well, an altar and a cillín also known as a children’s graveyard. Archaeological excavation began in 2019, uncovering evidence of prehistoric and medieval activity as well as more recent farming history.

Perched on excellent farming land, and surrounded by the spectacular Bluestack Mountains, for Heritage Week 2020, the Disert Heritage Group created a series of short videos about the connections between the site and the local community. Dr Fiona Beglane has been working on the project since 2016.

“The site is well known locally as a place of local pilgrimage. Helen Mehan, a local historian, had written about the site so we got together and she gathered up members of the local community and we formed the group. We’ve made 3D maps with drones which gave us a lot of information which we didn’t have before, and done complete digs. It was always thought of as being an early Christian site, but we actually found some stone tools belonging to the Bronze Age, so people have been going there for thousands of years, in fact.”

The book club

The Heritage of County Cork Publication Series, Cork Co Council

The series highlights the best in history and culture that Co Cork has to offer by drawing on the vast knowledge of heritage workers and local community groups. Featuring a series of books which focus on heritage houses, churches, castles, bridges and rebel sites of the county, each publication also highlights a number of sites which the public can visit. The eighth instalment of the Archaeological Heritage of the County will be published in November 2020.

Trail makers

The Clonmel Architectural Trail, Co Tipperary

Using a series of photographs of close up architectural details, much like the clues of a treasure hunt, the Clonmel Architectural Trail highlighted buildings around the town of Clonmel. A separate answer sheet provided information on the architecture, history and folklore of the building.

Julia Walsh Drohan, of Tipperary Museum, came up with the original idea. “The Clonmel Architectural Trail was a project I devised to get locals and visitors to become more aware of the buildings that surround us,” she says. “The buildings featured on the trail give a quick outline of the history and development of the town from medieval to modern times in an alternative format. It was created as a bit of fun, and something all the family can do together.”

Hedge school heritage

Wild Teaching: Cross-curricular Lessons Outdoors for Agoraphobic Teachers, Co Meath

A fantastic resource for teachers

Created by primary school teacher Paul O’Donnell, this book is designed to encourage primary school teachers to transfer learning outside. The lessons are laid out in tandem with the seasons and at a time of year where resources are readily available. His passion for nature and learning shines through on every page.

“The purpose of the book,” says Paul, “was to encourage teachers to use the outdoors as a setting for teaching. I acquired a lesson plan for every week of the school year and laid it out to make it as simple as possible, and created it in tandem with the seasons. It has been a huge success in these current times.”

From beyond the grave 

Preban graveyard committee, Co Wicklow

Carved stone at Preban graveyard

The local Preban community have been researching and looking after this small, once neglected graveyard in rural south Co Wicklow for over 10 years in collaboration with the Heritage Office of Wicklow Co Council.

For Heritage Week, they highlighted some of their amazing finds, which include prehistoric rock art, a medieval church, 18th century stone carvers, 1798 rebellion graves, as well as stories of famine and emigration. ‘Stories from a living graveyard’ was a seven-part podcast series produced for Heritage Week in association with Irish History Podcast focusing on the work at the graveyard. Yvonne Whitty, archaeologist and local committee member says, “we found neolithic rock art, which could date from 4,000 to 2,000 BC, as well as two stone crosses, and much, much more. The area is like an open-air museum.”

Voices of the past

Mount Temple Baylin Heritage Group, Co Westmeath

This project aimed to bring to life the voices of generations past through a social approach, specifically exploring local heritage from the memories of the older members of the community. Part of this was the creation of the video, ‘The Blacksmith of Moydrum’, filmed at a working smithy in Baylin. Exploring the skills of the blacksmith, it features interviews with second-generation smithies Ernie Hatton and his brother George.

The world-famous medieval castle 

Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Co Clare

Set in 26 acres, Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is one of Ireland’s most-loved heritage attractions. From the iconic 15th century Bunratty Castle, which remains one of the most complete and authentically restored and furnished castles in the country, to the folk park, featuring more than 30 buildings in a ‘living’ village and rural setting, the site is packed with history. Explore farmhouses and villages as they would have appeared in the early 1900s, along with rare breeds of animals common from that time in our history, including sheep, goats, cows, pigs and ponies.

The glass act

Harry Clarke stained glass window trail, Co Mayo

Mayo has many outstanding examples of the work of the famous stained glass artist Harry Clarke and his studio. Among them is The Last Judgement window in St Patrick’s Church, Newport. It’s the last window he worked on before his untimely death in 1931 at the age of 41. This and details of other Clarke windows are included in a richly-illustrated booklet, Stained Glass Windows of Mayo by Harry Clarke and the Clarke Studios, published by the Mayo Heritage Office. The booklet is accompanied by a website, mayostainedglass.ie, which also features information on stained glass windows by other artists in the county.

Rock of ages

An Iron Age earthwork – the Black Pig’s Dyke, Co Monaghan

The ancient archaeological earthwork known locally as the Black Pig’s Dyke or Worm Ditch travels over drumlins and abuts lakes for almost 10km in west Co Monaghan.

Appearing like a giant serpent or péist crossing the land, the central earthen bank is flanked by two deep ditches, sandwiched between a large bank of earth to one side, and a long since burnt but once-imposing oak palisade or line of posts three to four metres in height.

It has been claimed, but remains unproven, that these earthworks were in fact the remnants of an old territorial boundary dividing the north and the south along a similar route to the current border. The project focused on restoring the Black Pig’s Dyke monument whose origins to this day remain a mystery.

Operation restoration

Community conservation of medieval churches, Laois Co Council

Across the county, there are various projects to conserve medieval churches within the community. Killabban in South Laois, Kilteale near the Rock of Dunamase, Old St Peter’s in Portlaoise and Kilmanman, deep in the Slieve Blooms, are just some of the ongoing restoration projects.

Many of these historical sites have fallen victim to climate change, so at each site a local committee has raised funds and worked with the Heritage Office of Laois Co Council to hire archaeologists and engineers to help them protect these archival churches.

The chapel that entertained the town

Tea Lane graveyard in Celbridge, Kildare Co Council

Tea Lane in Celbridge

The Tea Lane Graveyard Conservation Group has been actively restoring, caring and promoting Tea Lane since 2015. The origins of the church on the site date back to early medieval times, with the first written record associated with the church dating from the early 13th century. Today, four main structures remain within the graveyard, the Maunsell Chapel (nave of the earlier church), the Connolly Mausoleum, the Grattan Mausoleum and the gable wall of the medieval church.

The site has become a cultural hub in Celbridge, with local and national performers performing in the Maunsell Chapel. In 2019, the project was Regional Winner of the National Lottery Good Causes Awards. Bridget Loughlin, Heritage Officer, helped Breda Considine and the conservation group to create a conservation plan.

“We started managing the horticulture of the graveyard to manage that. Schools and visitors would come to the site, and then it was looked at as a potential music venue. It now seats 70 and it’s also a live crib at Christmas. It has become a kind of music arts hub in the town so it’s really giving back.”

Creating a new quarter

Regenerating Roscommon town’s spire quarter, Co Roscommon

The works proposed under this initiative focus on rejuvenating a key historic quarter of Roscommon town centre, which has, in recent years, been deprived of private and public sector investment resulting in many key buildings being dilapidated and laying empty. With that in mind, the long term aim of this project is to renew the focus in this area on fresh development and planning to rebuild the local area as a thriving space once again.

City spaces 

Cork Heritage open day, Cork City Council

The online Cork Heritage open day featured over 40 videos of Cork city, guided tours of historic buildings, walking tours, archival footage and historic images of the city. Members of the public were able to go on an online adventure and explore nearly 40 of the city’s finest historic buildings including Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills, Blarney Castle, Fota House, the Custom House Port of Cork, Crawford Art Gallery, CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, the National Sculpture Factory and the Everyman – to name a few.

Beat around the bush

Flora and fauna of Coole heritage hedgerows, Co Offaly

Appraising the hedgerow in Coole

Biodiversity is big news and at Coole Eco-Community near Ferbane, Co Offaly, it is high on the agenda. Using the Heritage Council’s Hedgerow Appraisal System, a group surveyed a local feature for the community’s Heritage Week project. Thanks to the number of woody and ground cover indicator plant species, as well as its great age, it scored as “highly significant” and in fact dates back to at least the early 19th century – the field boundary is shown on the six-inch ordnance survey map of 1838. Hedgerows are more than mere boundaries: locals also gathered to enjoy a hedgerow tour and to celebrate with a cup of foraged herbal tea.

The monuments man

The remarkable Bishop O’Higgins, Co Longford

Founder of St Mels, Bishop William O’Higgins

The Drumlish Heritage and History Society has long championed the legacy of Bishop William O’Higgins.

Bishop of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois from 1829 to 1853, he founded St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford town.

He also developed classical schools in towns such as Athlone and Longford, as well as Drumlish, and was behind the creation of St Mel’s College.

A video, specially created for National Heritage Week, discussed his life, works  and legacy.

The wonders of Windgap 

Windgap (Bearna na Gaoithe), Co Kilkenny 

This small village is located in a scenic pass through hills east of Slievenamon and is a hidden heritage gem. It is home to Europe’s largest grotto (four acres), on a hill overlooking the town. This unique site has beautiful walkways decorated with quartz, Italian mosaics and stunning views to the Comeragh Mountains and Slievenamon.

The grotto, the brainchild of the then local parish priest, was built over 100 years ago, funded through donations from Australia. One of Windgap Tidy Towns Group’s recent projects was to attract more biodiversity to the area, with two local heritage walks created. Noreen Hayes of Windgap Tidy Towns says, “we got an ecological survey carried out as part of our group, and we are implementing that at the moment. So all the planting from now on will be about attracting as much biodiversity as possible.”

The podcasters

Connecting through Leitrim’s heritage podcast and YouTube series, Co Leitrim

To celebrate Heritage Week, the Leitrim Heritage Office launched a series of themed videos on YouTube and a podcast series under the title of ‘Connecting through heritage’. Both series’ explored the cultural and natural heritage of Leitrim.

The YouTube series explored the lifestyle of the iconic swift, and why this bird chooses to spend part of its year nesting in towns and villages across the county, while the podcast series focused on Leitrim’s potato planting and traditional farming methods with an overview of ecology and conservation and a focus on the county’s prehistoric archaeology.

The Italian job 

Digging Drumanagh, Fingal Co Council

Drumanagh is an Iron Age promontory fort along the coast of Fingal which is rumoured to have been the site of Ireland’s Roman invasion. With months of community excavation, links to Roman civilisation have been found, creating a focal point for further investigation and community interest in this historic site.

History repeating

Devastated by a 19th-century pandemic, the experience of Sligo Town, Co Sligo

Sligo’s 1832 cholera outbreak has strong similarities to 2020’s pandemic

Sligo Stoker Society is a voluntary local history group aimed at highlighting the historic connections between the author Bram Stoker, and Sligo town. Stoker’s mother Charlotte Thornley Stoker was born in Ballyshannon and grew up here, surviving the cholera outbreak of 1832. Her own ‘Experiences of the Cholera in Ireland’ (1873) is seen as a credible eyewitness account of events in Sligo and is said to have greatly influenced the writing of Dracula. This presentation showed the parallels between the current pandemic and Sligo’s epidemic of 1832.

Upstairs, downstairs

Big house in Co Louth

For National Heritage Week this year, virtual participants were invited to delve into a Story Box made up from a selection of archives taken from a number of different collections of estate records and family papers held in Louth Co archives, many of which were donated to the archives. These included photographs; deeds and legal documents; maps, plans and drawings; account books and rentals; correspondence and sale catalogues.

Stone free 

The story of the pebble, Co Kerry

Granite on Banna beach, Co Kerry

This project was aimed at encouraging people in Kerry, especially the younger generation, to explore and learn about the geological heritage of the northern part of the county in particular.

Gosia Shaikh-Horajska, geologist and GIS consultant, is its founder. “The idea for this project arose from lockdown beach walks along the shores of Tralee bay and a newspaper article ‘Jewels in the ground’ that I came across last year. I noticed that there are many wonderfully shaped and colourful pebbles, so I decided to identify them and share my knowledge with the general public. To make it more interesting I decided to combine geological information with archaeology, history and Irish folklore.”

Join the fan club

Fantastic Irish Fanlights tour of Carlow, Co Carlow

A familiar sight in the cities of Ireland, fanlights are synonymous with Georgian squares and streetscapes. They are also found in many towns and rural buildings, often in unusual variations on common patterns. Fantastic Irish Fanlights explores several “families of fanlights” around Carlow, ranging from the everyday to elaborate, and sometimes eccentric patterns.

The series is now making a county-by-county tour of Ireland accessible via the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage website, buildingsofireland.ie. Fantastic Irish Fanlights is researched and written by Nessa Roche of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. “The creativity and individuality of fanlights make me very proud of our Irish built heritage and the people who designed and made these unique treasures,” she says. Other fanlight trails include counties Donegal and Mayo and Waterford city.

Team peat

Biodiversity of west Cavan bogs, Co Cavan

Rare and special fauna in Cavan bogs

West Cavan Bogs Association volunteers have been recording the biodiversity on some lowland bogs in west Co Cavan for several years, gradually documenting their findings, including the discovery of unique species that have adapted to local habitats.

This year they teamed up with Templeport Community Development, inviting professional entomologists and botanists to bring their expertise and add to the increasing wealth of knowledge. To celebrate the biodiversity of west Cavan bogs, they also made a series of videos to accompany the ongoing work.

Aisling Blackburn was responsible for recording visual and audio data on the project. “Right in the heart of the Geopark, and along with Co Cavan’s numerous lakes, there are a variety of small boglands and wetland areas, home to rare and special flora and fauna waiting to be discovered,” she says.

Search and rescue

Knockboy medieval church restoration, Waterford City and Co Council

This unique and intriguing site contains seven ogham stones, six of which are built into the 14th-century church, located in the heart of historic Sliabh Cua in the townland of Knockboy. Thanks to the initiative of archaeologist Dr Nora White who, in 2014, established a project working group comprising of Knockboy Graveyard Committee, the National Monuments Service and Waterford Co Council, this medieval church has been rescued from its near-collapsed condition.

Contemplation in Clones 

Celebration of St Tigernach, Co Monaghan

Clones Town in Co Monaghan was founded in the 6th century when St Tighernach (more widely known as St Tiarnach) established a monastery, becoming the most important monastic site in Monaghan for centuries afterwards.

This year for National Heritage Week, Clones Community Forum and The Cassandra Hand Heritage Centre celebrated and showcased Clones and its monastic heritage using social media, multimedia and by holding a small socially-distanced outdoor celebration of St Tiarnach’s life and his monastic legacy in Clones, which is still visible today in the form of medieval ecclesiastical monuments and structures such as Clones Round Tower, Celtic High Cross, Clones Abbey and St Tiarnach’s Sarcophagus.