Communities urged to 'Adopt a Monument'

Around every corner in Ireland you can discover an echo of the past. Ireland’s landscapes, cities, towns and villages abound with an incredible variety of heritage sites, ranging from prehistoric tombs or stone circles, early monasteries, medieval walled towns, mighty castles, churches and graveyards and landed estates to industrial and agricultural heritage like mines, kilns and mills to more recent cultural sites like handball alleys, traditional houses and architecture or key areas from social history such as battlefields, or sites associated with political struggle.

Following in the successful footsteps of Archaeology Scotland’s Adopt a Monument Scheme, a similar programme has now been launched for Ireland. The Heritage Council in partnership with Archaeology Scotland and Abarta Heritage, are developing a pilot Adopt a Monument scheme that will be carried out over 2016. Five archaeological or cultural sites with opportunity for significant community engagement will be selected for participation in this scheme.

The Adopt a Monument Scheme aims to empower communities to become actively involved in the conservation and interpretation of local archaeological and heritage sites. The scheme will provide expertise, mentoring and support to community groups to help them to care for their local heritage.

The Adopt a Monument Scheme has the potential to become a vital cog in the protection, engagement and promotion of Ireland’s heritage. It is a new way of bringing monuments and local heritage from the periphery into the heart of a community. As identified by Archaeology Scotland, the Adopt a Monument scheme can provide a powerful mechanism to connect monuments with communities for the benefit of both. For participants and communities the Adopt a Monument Scheme offers opportunities to work collaboratively together as a community, to get active and participate in community development, to boost regional tourism and business and employment opportunities and to develop and understand the story of their locality. For the monuments, the scheme has the potential to ensure ongoing maintenance and care, greater protection through increased civic value, and much higher standards of interpretation and understanding.

The Adopt a Monument programme is here to help you get involved with your local heritage. While we do have limited spaces on this pilot scheme, we want to hear from anyone who would like play a leading role in conserving a monument that they feel passionate about. Please do get in touch by visiting our website: heritagecouncil.ie

Closing date for applications is 22/01/2016. Please email completed application forms and any accompanying files to adoptamonument@heritagecouncil.ie