About National Heritage Week
National Heritage Week, an initiative by the Heritage Council, celebrates all things heritage. It brings together communities, families, organisations, cultural institutions, academics and enthusiasts, to build awareness about the value of heritage and support its conservation.
The Heritage Council assumed the role of coordinator of National Heritage Week from the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government in 2005. Since then the week has grown into a highly successful programme, and last year more than 1000 heritage projects were organised and shared on the National Heritage Week website.
National Heritage Week is supported by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and run in association with Fáilte Ireland. At county level, National Heritage Week is co-ordinated and supported by Local Authority Heritage Officers, their colleagues and with numerous local heritage groups and organisations. Collaborative partners include the Office of Public Works; the Local Authority Waters Programme; and the Irish Landmark Trust. Supporting partners include RTÉ Supporting the Arts and The Irish Times.
National Heritage Week is co-ordinated by the Heritage Council as part of European Heritage Days – a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union in which more than 50 countries participate each year.
National Heritage Week 2023
This year, we are celebrating National Heritage Week through in-person events as well as continuing with digital heritage projects which attracted so many new people to National Heritage Week over the last three years. The Heritage Council invites individuals, communities and organisations to develop Heritage Week in-person events and / or digital projects. The overarching theme for National Heritage Week 2023 is Living Heritage and organisers are asked to consider this when submitting events and projects. in all its forms.
The options for in-person events are unlimited and organisers are encouraged to re-engage with events as enthusiastically as they did in the past. See our Resources page for 100 Event Ideas or come up with you own.
Digital projects have been really popular over the last two years, and have added a new dimension to National Heritage Week, and we look forward to this continuing in 2023. The results of digital projects should be presented in a format that can be shared widely, for example an online talk or exhibition; a video; podcast or oral history recordings; a PowerPoint presentation, newsletter, dedicated website or blog; or via an interview with a local radio station or newspaper. A dedicated, moderated social media account could also be included as part of project outputs.
In addition to developing new research, organisers could also revisit or build on heritage work which may already have been started at an individual, family or community level. This could include showcasing research already done on a monument, a waterway, or a skill or tradition in the community, and finding new ways to grow awareness of it or including groups or individuals in your community who may not feel included in local heritage.
All events and projects that meet the objectives of National Heritage Week in a meaningful way will be promoted on the National Heritage Week website.
Find out how to register your event or project.