Children are being encouraged to “drop the devices and get outdoors to explore heritage” today (Wednesday, August 18).
This year, National Heritage Week – an initiative by the Heritage Council – is about “getting as many people as possible to enjoy heritage”.
‘Wild Child Day’ takes place today and the council is encouraging children and families to explore heritage in their locality:
“Whether you have a budding historian, a future artist, or an inspired archaeologist at home, there’s an event for all young heritage enthusiasts to enjoy.”
First bilingual forest summer camp
As part of Heritage Week, in Dingle, Co. Kerry, children up to the age of 10 will be having fun in the forest as they are taught about natural art and wild food this week.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is supporting the “first bilingual forest summer camp” in Dingle as part of the Kerry Forest Connections project.
Over the course of three days, participants are doing nature activities, learning about wildlife and animals, shelter building and more.
Various other events are taking place this week, such as an introduction to rewilding and nature restoration in Co. Monaghan on Friday. Castle Leslie Estate will host the talk by Dr. Paul Jepson, nature recovery lead with Ecosulis.
On Saturday, people are invited by Belcarra Tidy Towns in Co. Mayo to join local environmentalist Lynda Huxley and Barry Ralph of the House of Plates restaurant in Castlebar for a walk along Belcarra’s riverside walk to discover the pollinator insects and native wild plants there.
Meanwhile, tonight, the preliminary results of a barn owl survey will be presented. The survey, led by BirdWatch Ireland in partnership with Westmeath County Council, was carried out to understand the status of the population and to inform and direct their conservation requirements.
National Heritage Week gone online
National Heritage Week is running from Saturday (August 14) to Sunday (August 22), and has become one of Ireland’s largest cultural events.
The week is following the same format as last year, where local heritage groups and organisers, families and communities were invited to develop projects which could be showcased online. In-person events have been limited.
There is no subject-specific theme for this year; instead, the focus is on getting as many people to enjoy heritage as possible.