TWO Clare projects feature in a new book celebrating the value of our diverse cultural heritage.
Both The X-PO in Kilnaboy and Irish Seed Savers in Scariff are documented among 15 case studies from all around Ireland, as examples of best-practice in sharing and promoting cultural heritage. They feature in the book entitled Other Stories – Cultural Heritage and Society, which was launched at Irish Seed Savers in Capparoe.
The publication was commissioned by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Ireland, whose aim is to foster appreciation of cultural heritage on the national and international stage. The Scariff venue is one of five chosen for a special Book Launch Tour.
ICOMOS Ireland commissioned the research and advocacy project in 2018, inspired by The Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage to Society.
The history of the X-PO, since its foundation by artist Deirdre O’Mahony in 2008, is described in detail in the book. From the first event, an installation of paintings, texts, newspaper clippings and other items dating back to the time when long-time postmaster, Mattie Rynne, was at the helm, to more recent initiatives, Other Stories, celebrates the ingenuity of local people.
The venue has served as a meeting place for a number of local groups and Deirdre, as planned, was able to step back and hand the X-PO over to the community. “Reopening the post office has stimulated discussion on how to maintain an active, inclusive, social community while maintaining contact with the knowledge and sense of place that comes from thoughtful consideration and involvement with the locality,” the book’s authors noted.
The work of Anita Hayes, who was a student of Ecological Agriculture, is also documented in a chapter on Irish Seed Savers. She had been inspired by a seed saving project in Iowa and founded Irish Seed Savers in 1991.
The project began as a bid to save Irish heritage apples from extinction and by 1997, it had registered as a not-for-profit organisation and moved to East Clare. A key project to restore Irish cereal varieties involved collaboration between Seed Savers and the Irish Genetic Resources Conservation Trust. Thanks to the setting up by an early collaborator, Brigid Carlin, of a FÁS scheme, Seed Savers was employing 14 people by 2000.
Today, the Heritage Apple Collection contains 170 varieties. Seed Savers also manages the Heritage Brassica Collection, a Heritage Broadleaf Woodland and Wildlife Sanctuary.
It employs 21 people. Irish Seed Savers also runs an Education Programme, “working with both teachers and their pupils to increase awareness about Ireland’s biodiversity and food heritage. The association’s reach extends to working with other organisations where the interests of natural and built heritage overlap”.