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National Heritage Week takes place from Saturday, August 12 to Sunday, August 20 this year. The Heritage Council is encouraging people, community groups, families, organisations, newcomers, enthusiasts and experts to get involved in National Heritage Week by organising an event or project. This year’s theme is Living Heritage and event organisers are encouraged to address this theme through built, archaeological, cultural and natural heritage events and projects. On-line registration is now open and all events or projects can be registered on the National Heritage Week website at www.heritageweek.ie Organisers are encouraged to register their events by June 15 to avail of an opportunity to be promoted in local media but events can be registered up until the start of Heritage Week.
“People, community groups and heritage organisations in County Donegal work hard ever year to protect, conserve and manage our county’s rich heritage” said Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer. “National Heritage Week provides an opportunity for them to showcase their local heritage and to promote their work. It’s they who make National Heritage Week a success and contribute to it being one of Ireland’s largest annual events. The return of in-person events in 2022 saw over 70 events taking place across County Donegal. We want to build on this success and make Heritage Week in County Donegal a record-breaker. Prior to the pandemic, County Donegal was the county with the most events per head of population in Ireland. As well as in-person events, digital projects can also be undertaken. Heritage Week events will include built heritage open houses, guided walks, heritage site visits, fieldtrips, exhibitions, illustrated talks, historical re-enactments, nature displays, garden tours, traditional skills demonstrations, skills training, launch events, film screenings, storytelling, traditional music and children’s activities.”
National Heritage Week is coordinated by The Heritage Council and Local Authority Heritage Officers and there are support materials available when you register your event or project on-line. There are training and information webinars with useful tips for organising and promoting your events and projects on the Heritage Week website. The County Donegal Heritage Office will assist people, community groups and heritage organisations in County Donegal by providing promotional materials and promoting their events. Two days during Heritage Week have a particular theme: Saturday, August 19 is ‘Wild Child Day’ and encourages children and families to make the most of the outdoors to enjoy and explore the heritage and biodiversity in their locality. Sunday, August 20 is ‘Water Heritage Day’ and celebrates Ireland’s water, our connections with it and how our history and heritage has been shaped by the sea, rivers, lakes and wetlands.
Speaking at the launch of National Heritage Week, Minister of State for Heritage & Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan said: “This year’s theme of living heritage provides a great opportunity for us to explore not only our own skills, traditions and culture, but also the intangible heritage of our migrant communities and those recently arrived in the country. Heritage is as much about telling stories, swapping skills and passing traditions from one generation to the next, as it is about our built and natural heritage, and there is magnificent potential to inspire each other this year.” Chair of the Heritage Council, Martina Moloney explained: “As well as living heritage, we also want to encourage event and project organisers to view built and natural heritage through the lens of cultural heritage this year. There are back stories to every holy well and ruin across the country, traditions associated with our pilgrim paths and their beautiful natural heritage, and skills associated with our water heritage, from currach making to seine boat building to snap net fishing. As custodians of this heritage, it is incumbent on all of us to examine how we can preserve, sustain and share these unique skills, traditions, art forms and ways of life, while engaging contemporary audiences.”
National Heritage Week is part of European Heritage Days, a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union in which over forty countries participate each year. For further information, log on to www.heritageweek.ie, e-mail [email protected] or telephone 056 777 0777. Advice is also available from the County Donegal Heritage Office on (074) 917 2576.
