LOOKING FORWARD TO HERITAGE WEEK
A NUMBER of Wicklow events are already lined up for Heritage Week which this year has a theme of ‘Pastimes/Past Times’.
The annual event takes place nationwide from August 17 to August 26 and will encourage members of the public to take a stroll through history and explore how our free time has evolved in often fascinating ways.
Coordinated by the Heritage Council, National Heritage Week is Ireland’s most popular cultural event and in 2019 half a million people are expected to participate in over 2,200 heritage events. National Heritage Week is part of European Heritage Days which promote Europe’s common cultural heritage.
Numerous events are already due to take place in Wicklow, while anyone who would like to run their own event still has time to get involved.
Dunlavin and District Forum are hosting a tour of local heritage sites, while a talk on the plant folklore of Glendalough takes place in the information office of Wicklow Mountains National Park. Tours of Coolattin House take place on August 26. Free guides tours of Mount Usher Gardens take place on August 23, while Ballymurrin Quaker Homestead will celebrate 300 years of Quakers at Ballymurrin.
Hollywood Tidy Towns will organise a nature walk for children and Bray Cualann Historical Society have a number of events lined up. An open day will take place at Wicklow Lighthouse and walking tours will take place at Russborough House parklands.
A seabed survey vessel open day will take place at Arklow Harbour, while a whale watch has been arranged to take place at Bray Head and another in Wicklow town. Tours of Glendalough Graveyard will take place as well as tours of the excavations that have taken place.
Blessington Library will hold an event on the flooding of the Liffey Valley. A barbecue and exhibition takes place at Donard Community Hal courtesy of the Donard-The Glen History Group.
Visit heritageweek.ie if you would like to register a community event or event of your own.