FOUR WICKLOW PROJECTS GRANTED HERITAGE FUNDS
A graveyard survey and the archiving of records are among a number of local projects have been granted funding under the 2017 Community Heritage Grants Scheme.
The Heritage Council and the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys, announced the funding last week for 196 projects nationwide under the scheme, which supports the continuing conservation and development of Irish heritage through local community based groups.
In Co Wicklow, €5,000 have been allocated to Birdwatch Ireland for an assessment audit of the rare Fen habitat at the East Coast Nature Reserve. This will allow for an ecological condition assessment of the rare habitat, in line with European reporting standards, which complements Objective 3 set in the ECNR Conservation Management Plan 2017-2026.
Glendalough Heritage Forum/ UCD School of Archaeology have been granted €2.800 to continue a graveyard survey at Glendalough. The funding will be used to train and support community volunteers in undertaking the largest graveyard survey in Ireland, make results available online and through guides/trails and support tourism, management and other outputs.
Four-thousand euro has been awarded to James O’Driscoll to carry out a photogrammetric study of Spinans Hill near Baltinglass. The award will allow the current condition of an important complex of archaeological monuments on Spinans Hill to be recorded using airplane and drone technol- ogy to create a high resolution three-dimentional model.
The Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation has been granted €5,000 to assist with the cataloguing of records at the centre. This funding will be used to arrange, list, catalogue and make safe the records and documents of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation and its work for peace on the island of Ireland from 1974 until the present day.
Michael Parsons, Heritage Council Acting Chair, said that the Community Grants Scheme continues to be a hugely popular initiative which helps to keep important parts of local heritage alive.
‘ These projects contribute to local economies, improve our tourism product and give people the opportunity to contribute to their local community,’ he said.