Tag Archives: Clare Heritage Officer

HOLY wells have long been a source of comfort in times of trouble, and in East Clare a monastic site, sacred to sixth century saint, has not only a well, but also a rare ‘plague stone,’ believed to cure disease. “Luchtigern, a sixth century local saint was said to be able to cure any type of pestilence,” explained Quin historian and writer, Michael Houlihan. “His church and holy well stand on the northern shore of Fenloe Lake, a few miles southeast of Quin village. Keeping in mind that vaccines did not become commonplace until the mid to late nineteenth century, any type of contagion or airborne sickness took a huge toll on the local population. People did what they could to seek some kind of intervention. Many reached out to the saint.” As a resident of the East Clare village, Michael has long been aware of the folklore of St Luchtigern. His current research on the holy wells of Clare …

Clare County Council is encouraging people to make submissions to Ireland’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, launched by Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Once compiled, the Inventory will acknowledge and promote Ireland’s living culture through official State recognition. In tandem with this, it will 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. Congella McGuire, Clare Heritage Officer, said, “The goal is to record elements of our national and local living heritage that are still being practiced and passed down from generation to generation. The practices must be living practices in one form or another: still taught or practiced, and passed on. The idea is that the more that becomes known of these practices, then the better their active cultural contribution is acknowledged.” She continued, “There’s such a wealth of cultural …