Visit the Heritage Park from the comfort of your sitting room

THE Irish National Heritage Park in Ferrycarrig which is closed due to the coronavirus emergency, is getting a very positive response to its effort to bring the attraction into people’s home through a new YouTube video series.

Heritage Park Digital ‘HPD20’ was born after tour guide Jack Matthews was asked to write nine episodes for an educational series for the park’s media channels.

‘ The concept is to bring the park to the people’, said Heritage Park manager Chris Hayes. ‘It’s our way of staying relevant and keeping people employed during this difficult time.’

To view the first four instalments of HPD20, simply log onto youtube.com and key in ‘Irish National Heritage Park

HPD 20’ to view them.

The 40-acre Irish National Heritage Park which is closed to the public during the current crisis, tells the story of human settlement in Ireland from the Stone Age to the arrival of the Normans in 1169. It features 15 reconstructed historical sites, including a Neolithic farm, Medieval Ringfort, monastery and a Viking harbour. The Medieval Ringfort is the most popular accommodation option on Airbnb ringforts in Ireland or Britain.

In 2018, the park joined forces with with the Irish Archaeological Field School (IAFS) to start excavating Ireland’s first Norman fortification on Carrig Hill which is located in the grounds.

The project is called Carrig, Digging the Lost Town and has seen hundreds of international students arriving in Wexford here to learn archaeological techniques and earn course credits with their universities.

Last year, the park ran an international conference and published a book with Four Courts Press examining the site and its significance in the conquest of Ireland.

‘We decided about two years ago that we needed to improve our online presence as our digital marketing was practically non-existent’, Chris explained.

‘We put together a media team and have concentrated on creating fun and informative video content to share on our YouTube channel and Facebook, Instagram etc.

‘We redesigned our website, our online traffic has increased steadily and we are enjoying positive feedback on our video content.’