County Donegal Heritage Office Review of 2013 Eileen Magnier, North West Correspondent, RTÉ with cameraman John McMorrow at Doon Well (near Kilmacrennan) filming part of the feature on the survey of holy wells broadcast on Good Friday on RTÉ 1 in March 2013. The programme outlined the results of the survey of holy wells commissioned by County Donegal Heritage Office, Donegal County Council, the County Donegal Heritage Forum and The Heritage Council as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan. The County Donegal Heritage Office also gave advice on vernacular architecture to the producers of Dúshlán 1881 [Challenge 1881]: Living the Eviction which was a three-part television series screened on RTÉ 1 in March 2013. Cllr. Frank McBrearty, Mayor of County Donegal, with representatives of museums and heritage centres in County Donegal, members of the County Donegal Heritage Forum and invited guests at the heritage industry launch of the Heritage in Your Hinterland guide to museums and heritage centres in April 2013. The free pocket-size guide outlined profiles of, and contact details for, 39 museums, heritage centres and historic buildings in the county, and was produced by the County Donegal Heritage Office. A guide to the archaeological heritage of the Cooley Cross & historic graveyard site was launched in Moville Branch Library in April 2013. The brochure provided a brief historical overview of this heritage site, details of 16 archaeological monuments and artefacts at the site, a map of the historic graveyard and handdrawn illustrations of some of the archaeological artefacts. The brochure was produced by the Cooley Cross Heritage Committee and local volunteers and sponsors. Donegal County Council provided part-funding for the brochure as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan.
Ecologists Billy Flynn and Éanna Ní Lamhna, geography teacher Mary Martin and transitionyear students from St. Columba's Comprehensive School in Glenties discuss the wildlife found in a local bogland habitat as part of the Heritage & Habitat in Your Community schools initiative. The purpose of the schools initiative was to raise awareness of natural habitats in local communities and to encourage surveying and recording. Students in two secondary schools in Bundoran and Glenties were provided with guidance as to how to survey, record and map habitats in the local community. The guidance notes/teaching materials produced by the heritage professionals appointed in association with local teachers will be made available to all schools through the Donegal Education Centre. This initiative is funded by Donegal County Council, The Heritage Council and the Donegal Education Centre as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan. Emigrants on board a tender ship at the port of Derry in the 1930s (Image courtesy of NI Libraries, Bigger & MacDonald Collection). The County Donegal Heritage Office, Donegal County Council, the County Donegal Heritage Forum and The Heritage Council commissioned a booklet on the Material Culture of Donegal Communities Abroad focussing on the items that Donegal emigrants took with them abroad. The booklet will be launched in 2014. Cover of the pocket-sized County Donegal Heritage Week Event Guide (August 17 25, 2013) produced by the County Donegal Heritage Office which proved very popular again this year. National Heritage Week in County Donegal was a great success with over 100 events taking place in the county. County Donegal was the county with the most events taking place in the country outside of Dublin & Cork. Heritage Week is an opportunity to raise awareness of, and engender pride in, the cultural, built and natural heritage of County Donegal.
Pictured at the launch of the Ramelton audio heritage tour in September 2013 are Cllr. Ian McGarvey, Mayor of County Donegal, and Mary Phelan, Sound Woman Productions along with members of the public. The County Donegal Heritage Office in association with Sound Woman Productions launched a free downloadable audio heritage tour of Ramelton produced by Mary Phelan, an independent radio producer. The audio heritage tour can be downloaded to computer, mp3 player, ipod or mobile phone. As part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan, Donegal County Council sponsored the production of an accompanying bi-lingual brochure which includes a map of the heritage trail. As part of Culture Night in September 2013, vernacular architecture specialist Fidelma Mullane discussed the built heritage features of Teach Mhicí Mhic Gabhann in Derryconor Townland, Magheraroarty and there was music by Éist, a traditional group of young local musicians from Cloughaneely. About 45 B.A. final-year students and staff from the 'Tourism & Heritage Management' course at the Department of Geography, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick took their annual three-day fieldtrip to County Donegal in October 2013. The County Donegal Heritage Office assisted the Department of Geography in arranging and delivering its programme (including research, presentations and site visits) while in the county.
Colm Murray, Architecture Officer with The Heritage Council, talks about the significance of the built heritage of Grianan of Aileach and its landscape setting as part of the European Walled Towns symposium in October 2013. The County Donegal Heritage Office, Donegal County Council assisted in organising and cohosting a fieldtrip to/workshop in County Donegal around the theme of heritage in historic towns including visits to Grianan of Aileach and Raphoe. The symposium was organised by the Holywell Trust in partnership with Derry City Council, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Culture Company 2013, The Heritage Council and Donegal County Council. There were delegates from Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal and Turkey as well as Britain and Ireland attending the symposium. Pictured at the Historic Landscape Characterisation workshop in Lifford in November 2013 are Museum of London Archaeology staff, Donegal County Council staff and invited guests. A Historic Landscape Characterisation of County Donegal was commissioned as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan. Historic Landscape Characterisation identifies the contribution of the past to the landscape. Historic Landscape Characterisation improves public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the historic landscape, informs strategic planning and identifies further research opportunities. Pictured at the launch of the 'Kenneth King: Life & Work' book by Marianne O'Kane Boal in Derrybeg in November 2013 are Dinny Mc Ginley, Minister of State, Department of the Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht, artist Kenneth King and author Marianne O Kane Boal. Under the County Donegal Heritage Plan, Donegal County Council provided part-funding towards the publication which is a study of Irish marine artist Kenneth King and documents his life, his time at sea and his contribution to the recording of Ireland's maritime history and heritage.
The County Donegal Heritage Office and the County Donegal Heritage Forum in partnership with The Heritage Council is starting the process of preparing the new, five-year County Donegal Heritage Plan. The Heritage Plan process is an opportunity to identify heritage issues and needs in the county and to address them locally, within a regional and national framework. The County Donegal Heritage Forum prepares and submits an annual application to The Heritage Council for matching funding for the implementation of Heritage Plan actions. Over the lifetime of the current County Donegal Heritage Plan to date, it is estimated that Donegal County Council, The Heritage Council and other County Donegal Heritage Forum partners have invested at least 750,000 in the implementation of County Donegal Heritage Plan actions. There were five public consultation meetings held in early December 2013 and over 90 written submissions were received with suggestions for the new County Donegal Heritage Plan (2014-2019). The Heritage Council won the National Award for Outstanding Leadership at the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland awards ceremony held at ESB Head Office in Dublin in February 2013. In its citation, the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland recognised the outstanding leadership of The Heritage Council and the network of City and County Heritage Officers in promoting awareness and positive action in the conservation of Ireland s industrial heritage. In partnership with the Heritage Council, Donegal County Council and the County Donegal Heritage Forum commissioned a survey of mills and mill sites in County Donegal as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan.