National award for Malahide Castle

ONE of the Northside’s best-known landmarks has won a prestigious award. 

Malahide Castle & Gardens won the Best Heritage Project at the prestigious 2018 All Ireland Community and Council Awards at a ceremony held in Croke Park. 

The award comes in recognition of the major repair and conservation work that took place at the Castle and Gardens.

The Castle and Courtyard has recently undergone major repair and conservation work and the visitor experience and facilities were greatly enhanced in keeping with the demesne’s heritage importance.

The Courtyard buildings include a visitor centre, shopping and a cafe that leads out to the Walled Botanical Gardens and pathway to the castle.  

The Talbot Botanic Gardens is a centre of horticultural excellence and is one of the top three Botanic Gardens in the country.

The garden, woodland and landscape of the Demesne is maintained by Fingal County Council’s operations department and welcomed over 140,000 visitors in 2016 and was awarded a Green Flag in 2017. 

The castle and 265-acre demesne provides a space where visitors can stroll at their leisure through the wonderful gardens. It also plays host to large events such as concerts by international artists, international Test Cricket, or the very popular weekly parkrun.  

Malahide Castle and Gardens will continue to grow with opportunities to deliver initiatives and projects that capture the enthusiasm and engagement of the local and national community and to attract the international market to enjoy and experience. 

This is the 12th year of the awards, presented by IPB Insurance and LAMA, which, highlight and recognise projects that are the joint effort of councils and community groups.

A full list of the Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) Awards winners can be found at http://lamaawards.org/2018/02/winners-2018/