18/01/18 What should be part of Ireland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage?

Donegal County Council is encouraging members of the public to make submissions to the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht in relation to Ireland's ‘National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage’.  Once compiled, the inventory will acknowledge and promote Ireland’s living culture through official state recognition.  It will also fulfil Ireland’s obligations under the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which Ireland signed up to in December 2015 to raise awareness of, and respect for, our unique living culture.

“Intangible cultural heritage refers to the practices, representations and expressions that are central to the lives and identities of our communities, groups and individuals” said Joseph Gallagher, County Donegal Heritage Officer.  “It can include aspects such as traditional skills (such as the skills of rope thatching or dry-stone walling); our rich oral tradition (such as storytelling or the ways in which we use language); performing arts (such as the Donegal fiddle tradition or sean-nós singing); and social practices, rituals and festivals (such as wakes, pattern days or following a turas).

Successful applicants to the National Inventory may also consider seeking nomination by the State for inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, to which the State is entitled to make one nomination every year.”

Submissions to the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be made using the Expression of Interest form which can be downloaded from the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht website: www.chg.gov.ie.  The information submitted will provide some details about the proposed element of intangible cultural heritage in order to allow the expert committee to reach a decision regarding its inclusion in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.  Successful applicants will be invited to develop their final submission that will become part of the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

All queries and completed forms should be sent via e-mail to [email protected] on or before Wednesday, January 31, 2018.