Information meeting on heritage recording project
AN open information meeting will be hosted by the Heritage Office of Wicklow County Council and the Wicklow Uplands Council in Roundwood Parish Centre at 7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, July 4), to discuss a heritage recording project.
The meeting will focus on using the network of walking trails in the east of the county (both existing and in-development) as a basis on which to develop a Local Heritage Recording Project which will connect, via heritage recording and interpretation, the trails and associated towns, villages and places along the way.
As part of this initial phase, Abarta Heritage has been engaged to compile information using local information and other sources and to generate digital ‘points of interest’.
It is intended that, upon completion, this project will inform the future development of visitor and tourism interpretation to promote this area as part of Ireland’s Ancient East.
‘Local people know their area better than anyone else,’ said Deirdre Burns, Heritage Officer with Wicklow County Council. ‘We would like to engage with local communities, groups and individuals to record their stories relating to the historic settlements, wildlife and the rich cultural heritage of the area.’
Brian Dunne, co-ordinator with Wicklow Uplands Council, has been working with landowners on the development of agreed access trails. ‘There is a good network of agreed access routes already in place in the east of the county from Bray to Woodenbridge. The focus of this project will be on this geographic area, incorporating towns and villages along the way such as Kilmacanogue, Roundwood, Annamoe, Laragh, Rathdrum and Avoca.’
The Wicklow Trails Heritage Recording Project is co-ordinated jointly by the Heritage Office of Wicklow County Council and the Wicklow Uplands Council with funding support from the Heritage Council through the County Wicklow Heritage Plan Fund.
Other heritage recording projects have been carried out in recent years in the Blessington Lakeside area, the River Liffey, west Wicklow and south west Wicklow. Queries can be directed to Deirdre Burns at dburns@wicklowcoco.ie or 0404 20100 or Brian Dunne at bdunne@ wicklowuplands.ie or 01 281 8406.