Destuction of heritage
Are we wilfully forgetting where we came from?
If we look around us for signs of our built heritage, the answer is ‘ YES’.
At least in and around Curry, Co Sligo, my native village.
A recent application to Sligo County Council to demolish one of the very few remaining buildings of historical importance to make way for a car park, was submitted without a murmur of opposition, except from ONE vigilant bystander.
The building in question is the former Parochial House, dating from 1882.
There is ample room on the three acre site to create a car and bus park and/ or set- down area for the adjacent primary school, without interfering with the house and its outbuildings.
With goodwill and creative thinking, the house and its garden could become a valuable asset to the school and the local community.
Some years ago, the village’s iconic National School Buildng dating from 1884, suddenly disappeared ( reported to have been bulldozed at dawn), without a whimper of protest.
The village pump where we met as children to draw spring water for drinking and cooking, met with a similar fate.
The locally sculpted limestone milestones along the road, which must have witnessed a fascinating parade of tinkers, tramps and tradesmen over centuries, ‘ vanished’ during roadworks or were bulldozed into the ditches.
How can this destruction continue to happen? Have we lost all sense of our identity and our pride of place?
There is among us a treasure trove of invaluable cultural memory but we are throwing away the key, succumbing to general amnesia and apathy about our past reality.
We should embrace and be proud of this reality. We have a duty to keep the past available for the enjoyment and understanding of present and future generations.
Our built heritage is a finite resource which requires effective stewardship. Once it is destroyed there is no way back.
Who is looking after this legacy?
Small ‘ insignificant’ places seem not to come under the radar when conservation priorities are set by our statutory bodies.
There ought to be adequate processes of transparent consultation and reporting in place to ensure that irreparable mistakes are avoided.
Allowing old buildings to be razed to the ground to make way for car parks or incongruous new architectural mistakes is an insult to the innate natural beauty and charm of our small villages.
The custodians of our heritage need to react and ACT before it is too late!
Ní fiú bheith ag seanchas agus an anachain déanta.