Three Heritage Heroes Crowned In The Midlands

Friday, 22 October 2021 14:56

They've been working hard to preserve and promote heritage in the region!

Three heritage heroes have been recognised at the National Heritage Awards this week.

The annual event is aimed at celebrating the efforts of individuals, families and community groups across the country, in ensuring the preservation, protection and promotion of Ireland’s built, natural and cultural heritage.

Winners, including one winner each from Laois, Westmeath and Offaly, were announced at a virtual ceremony presented by RTÉ broadcaster, Anne Cassin and attended by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan.

The Col. Fitzmaurice Conservation Committee claimed the prize in Laois.

Its project, ‘The Portlaoise Plane Returns Home’, focused on returning a 1912 plane built by the Aldritts brothers to Portlaoise.

The Athlone No. 1 Gun Battery Heritage Group came out on top in Westmeath.

Its project, ‘Athlone No. 1 Gun Battery - A deafening silence’, focused on Athlone's sole surviving gun battery from the Napoleonic period and the communities' efforts to restore and conserve the site.

While Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival were crowned champions in Offaly.

Their project, ‘Empty Pillars are a Place to Dream’, focused on bringing 18 collage artists from across the world together to research, discuss, investigate and respond to the Cumberland Pillar in Emmet Square Birr, its history, and contemporary issues relating to place, context and colonial past.

Congratulations to all our county winners at the national #heritageweek awards today. #heritageweek2021 pic.twitter.com/h26lf4IF0Q
— The Heritage Council (@HeritageHubIRE) October 20, 2021

Projects were assessed on the basis of their local reach and community engagement, approach to awareness-raising, use of resources to inform their work, and the level to which they involved different age groups.

To take account of restrictions on gatherings due to COVID-19, this year National Heritage Week comprised a mix of online, in-person and community projects.

In total, more than 1,050 projects and events took place around the country, as communities and individuals answered the Heritage Council’s call to ‘open the door to heritage’ and celebrate local heritage for the first time.

You can check out more about the midlands winners here:

Laois: https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects/the-portlaoise-plane-returns-home.

Westmeath: https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects/athlone-no-1-gun-battery-heritage-video-a-deafening-silence

Offaly: https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects/empty-columns-are-a-place-to-dream