Great range of fun and informative Heritage Week events in Clare

HERITAGE WEEK begins this Saturday, August 13, running until the following Sunday and there is a wealth of events to enjoy in Clare.

The artisan crafts and produce of County Clare will be showcased at the Cliffs of Moher Experience as part of a series of daily events running throughout the week.

The Cliffs will also be hosting a number of events including story-telling, music and dance performances. Meanwhile, children will be invited to take part in Biodiversity Treasure Hunts in which they will have to seek out etchings scattered throughout the visitor attraction as well as identifying the natural flowers at the Cliffs of Moher.

Liscannor Heritage Group will present an evening of ‘Show and Tell’ on the rich history of the village and the surrounding area as part of Heritage Week.

The event takes place at Liscannor Community Hall on Saturday, August 13 at 6pm.

It includes a presentation by Ciara Carew on her research on Cornelius O’Brien, who is said to have ‘built everything around here, but the Cliffs’.

More details are available from Thomas on 086-3475972; Ciara on 086-3295403 or Ruth on 087-2876120.

Some of the many outings for you to enjoy include events during Wild Child Day, which encourages kids and families to drop the devices, jump off the couch and get outdoors to explore the heritage in their locality.

This year’s Wild Child Day will take place on August 18. Áine Ní Fhlatharta of Irish Seed Savers invites you to Wild Child in the Woods and spend some time in the woods and enjoy some Forest School nature activities and connect with Ireland’s amazing woodland ecology.

While Happy Out Forest School want children to come to Wild Child at John O’Sullivan Park in Ennis for scavenger hunts and bushcraft, including woodland games.

There will be a number of free water-related Heritage Week events taking place in Clare, kicking off with an early morning walk along the Inagh River, this Saturday, August 13.

The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) is one of many public bodies working for better water quality in our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters.

LAWPRO says to tackle the pressure on water quality, we must work together towards a sustainable way of living with healthy rivers reflecting a society that values good water quality and biodiversity for the benefits to our health, wellbeing, and prosperity.

Ruairí Ó Conchúir, Community Water Officer for Clare, commented, “Heritage Week is an opportunity for people to get out and about to discover the wonders of nature on our doorstep. I encourage communities and families in Clare to take part in Heritage Week events across the county. This year, there are many opportunities to explore and learn about your local rivers and coastline.”

A sample of events that take place the opening weekend of Heritage Week include a free, family friendly, early morning Guided River Walk on the River Inagh & Ballymacraven River, Ennistymon Saturday, August 13 at 7:45am (meeting Falls Hotel, front car park area).

Discover Your Local Wetlands – A free day of family fun and refreshments in the Shannon Town Community Wetlands site (next to Gael Scoil Donnacha Rua) Saturday, August 13 at 11am.

A free Guided Walk to sites on the Upper Inagh River to discuss the work of the Inagh EIP to improve water quality and enhance biodiversity, Sunday, August 14 at 12:00 midday.

An evening of family fun: Exploring Lough Atorick in East Clare, Sunday, August 14 at 6pm

Mr Ó Conchúir said, “The real hope for achieving a sustainable future lies in the strength of local communities. By working together and supporting one another, we can make a difference. National Heritage Week is an opportunity to get out and celebrate nature along a local riverbank, wetlands or lake.”

Meanwhile during the Bog walk and talk on Shanakyle Bog, on August 20, from 11:45am – 2pm, participants can learn more about the rewetting and restoration process of Shanakyle Bog, what this means for habitat and biodiversity enhancement, and the benefits it brings to our ecosystem and communities.

The habitat restoration and enhancement European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project began in June 2021.

Targeted rewetting of the bog including the installation of peat bunds and peat dams of raised and cutover bog began in October 2021 and was completed in December 2021. It is the first raised bog restoration and rewetting project to be carried out in Co. Clare.

In Ennis at the Mna Ag Gaire women’s shed on August 20 from 10:30am – 1:30pm there will be a Ukrainian Irish Intercultural Celebration.

Organisers are inviting people to come together and celebrate Ukrainian Independence Day and National Heritage Week with music, song and dance at this intercultural event featuring music, song and dance.

Learn more about the benefits of re-use of an existing dwelling, for both practical and environmental purposes, and how an older house can be made energy efficient at a webinar, humorously titled ‘Would You Not Just Knock it?! – The Possibilities For Re-using Old Houses’. The webinar takes place on August 15 from 7:30pm – 9:15pm.

This webinar will present some of the benefits of reuse of an existing dwelling, for both practical and environmental purposes, as well as offering some suggestions as to how an older house can be made energy efficient.

The webinar will be introduced by Bláthmhac O’Muirí, Architectural Conservation Officer at Clare County Council, with a Q&A chaired by Congella McGuire, Heritage Officer.

In Clarecastle The Heritage Group has presented an Illustrated Parish Milestones for Clarecastle & Ballyea in film as an educational resource for the locality.

With the buyout of the net salmon licences by the Government in 2006 the traditions and skills require to build the fishing boats in Clarecastle are in danger of being lost.

Another traditional boat, the punt boat, with large guns, has not been used on the river Fergus in over 50 years.

The Heritage Group has filmed the making of the gandalows by two of the former drift-net fishermen and the making of a punt boat by Clarecastle Men’s Shed, in order to record and preserve these skills for future generations.

Also in Clarecastle The Heritage Group has now presented the story of the Netta Sheedy Autograph Book in the form of a short film which is an ideal way of bringing history alive.

Meanwhile Clarecastle Tree Survey Project presents an interim summary report at the Old (1935) School, Clarecastle on Thursday August 18 from 6.45 pm to 8 pm and Sunday August 21 from 1pm to 3pm.

For more information and more details on Clare events, visit www.heritageweek.ie