Athlone project wins county prize at National Heritage Awards
Athlone No. 1 Gun Battery Heritage Group claimed the county prize in the National Heritage Awards this week.
The National Heritage Awards, hosted by the Heritage Council, recognised the most successful project in each local authority across the island.
The project, ‘Athlone No. 1 Gun Battery - A deafening silence’, focused on Athlone's sole surviving gun battery from the Napoleonic period and the communities' efforts to restore and conserve the site.
The community has put a conservation and restoration plan into action which has assisted with the clearance of heavy overgrowth and a view towards next steps in the conservation of the site. The Committee are delighted to share this video, telling the story of the significance of the gun battery and what it means to them, to celebrate National Heritage Week 2021.
A video on the project can be seen here:
The Ballinlough Granlahan Heritage Group claiming the prize in County Roscommon. Its project, ‘Ballinlough Crannog Digital Interpretative Project’, focused on using modern media to showcase Ballinlough’s hidden crannog on Lough O’Flynn.
Winners, including the county winners, were announced at a virtual ceremony presented by RTÉ broadcaster, Anne Cassin and attended by Minister of State for the Minister for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan.
The National Heritage Week Awards highlight Ireland’s ‘heritage heroes’, and showcase the most engaging and innovative projects from National Heritage Week 2021. To take account of restrictions on gatherings due to COVID-19, this year National Heritage Week comprised a mix of online, in-person and community projects. In total, more than 1,050 projects and events took place around the country, as communities and individuals answered the Heritage Council’s call to ‘open the door to heritage’ and celebrate local heritage for the first time. Each heritage activity shared on the National Heritage Week website was considered for a National Heritage Week Award.