2015 Awards
The 2015 Awards ceremony took place on 16th June 2015. This was the first year that a Heritage Hero Award was presented.
Heritage Hero
The inaugural Heritage Hero Award celebrated someone who always goes the extra mile for heritage. Nominations were accepted for individuals or organisations who make an outstanding contribution to the protection and promotion of heritage, particularly during National Heritage Week. Anyone could nominate a Heritage Hero.
Tarbert Development Association nominated Mrs. Ursula Leslie from Tarbert, Co. Kerry. For many years Ursula Leslie has been involved in local activities during National Heritage Week. In particular she has allowed her home, Tarbert House, to be used for musical events and dramatic performances that are evocative of local historical personalities and events. Some twenty years ago, she and her late husband, John, opened up the woods and parkland surrounding their home for public access. The John F. Leslie Woodland Walk is a wonderful local amenity that is greatly appreciated and enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Over the past forty years, she has been constant and consistent in her generous support for local initiatives to preserve and promote heritage in its environmental, architectural, artistic, musical, literary and historical dimensions in Tarbert and its hinterland of North Kerry and West Limerick. As a founding member of the American-Ireland Fund, she has helped local heritage tourism projects such as the Lartigue Railway Museum and the St. John’s Arts Centre in Listowel, and the Hunt Museum in Limerick, and the Tarbert Bridewell Heritage Centre obtain seed-funding. She lives, breathes and promotes heritage, and locally she is regarded as a living treasure!
Hidden Heritage
Event: Ellen Hutchins Festival
Organiser: Bantry Historical Society & National Parks & Wildlife Service
Runners-up
Event: A Smithy Reborn
Organiser: Coppeen Archaeological Historical & Cultural Society
Event: Title: Green Door 2015
Name of Event: Organiser:/organisation: Inspirational Homes, Dromahair
Reaching Out Award
Event: Chinese Day Out in the Boyne Valley
Organiser: Kells Tourism Forum / Ireland China Culture and Tourism Association
Runners-up
Event: A Walk with a Difference
Organiser: Burrenbeo Trust
Event: Circus Arts and Crafts
Organiser: The Hunt Museum
Cool for Kids Award
Event: West Inishowen History and Heritage Society Family Fun Day
Organiser: West Inishowen History and Heritage Society
Runners-up
Event: Printfest - Family Fun Day
Organiser: National Print Museum
Event: A Medieval Day Out at Old Mellifont Abbey
Organiser: Office of Public Works
Event: Athenry’s Industrial and Design Heritage Children’s Event
Organiser: Athenry Castle
