Fingal ready to celebrate one of Ireland’s largest cultural events 

With National Heritage Week set to get underway this weekend, there are a wide range of events taking place in Fingal to help celebrate Ireland’s natural, built and cultural heritage. 

Running from 17-25 August, National Heritage Week aims to promote greater awareness of our heritage, thereby encouraging its conservation and preservation.

This year’s theme ‘Connections, Routes & Networks’ explores the ways we are connected to each other, physically, culturally and socially.

A Heritage Council programme, National Heritage Week brings together communities, families, organisations, cultural institutions, academics and enthusiasts.

There is something for everyone to get involved with, including walks, talks, tours, exhibitions and more.

Fingal Heritage Officer Christine Baker said: “This year’s theme is about connection, which goes beyond the physical railways and canals and is about what connects us as communities and makes us who we are.

“Heritage is not just ‘old things’ but allows us to connect to others in the present whether we’re baking bread or learning about butterflies.”

Members of the Fingal Heritage Network will come together again in Malahide for Fingal Heritage Night on the 21st August to share short talks on their local areas.

This will also see the launch of the Heritage Network 2024 booklet which highlights the work being undertaken by the heritage groups and historical societies across the county.

As part of the Heritage Week activities, Fingal Local Studies & Archives will host Archive Open Days, talks and a workshop for those interested in genealogy while Fingal’s Biodiversity Unit have partnered with practitioners to provide experiences of the natural world from reptile rambles on Howth Head to Bat walk in Baldoyle.

There will be an opportunity to learn about baking bread and share food memories of the wider Fingal region with ‘Blas: Fingal’s Food Heritage’ at Skerries Mills.

Other events at Heritage Properties of Fingal include a walking tours, a children’s art workshop and an amateur radio demonstration at Ardgillan Castle.

Take part in the Malahide Castle oral history open day and celebrate 180 years of the Dublin to Drogheda Line at Casino Model Railway Museum or take a parkland tour of Newbridge Demesne.

Support your community heritage events from exploring the church tower at Lusk, taking part in the gravestone recording workshop in St Margarets, visiting the open day at the National Transport Museum in Howth or enjoying the Clonsilla & Royal Canal walk.

There are lots of ways to get involved with events for all ages.

Along with the historical little picker trail in Rush to mapping your treasure in Ballyboughal and fossil walks in Portmarnock there are almost 50 events across Fingal to enjoy.

For the full programme visit  www.heritageweek.ie