Farming Rathcroghan Conference 2025

The conference is one of a number of events in the Farming Rathcroghan promotions and publicity programme for 2025 under the programme for the EU Just Transition Fund. The conference is also part of the County Roscommon programme of events for Heritage Week 2025 .

This year’s theme of "Food For Thought" looks at many aspects of food in Ireland from an historical, archaeological, folklore, heritage, feast and famine perspective with a range of speakers, including Regina Sexton: Food Historian University College Cork, Alan Healy; Community Archaeologist/Farming Rathcroghan, Rory Connolly Geoarchaeologist, Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities, Trinity College Dublin, Kevin Kearney, Archaeological Management Solutions, Clodagh Doyle, National Museum of Ireland/Museum of Country Life and Matt McIntosh, Freelance Journalist, Nuffield Scholar based in Ontario, Canada.
The Farming Rathcroghan project is a unique cultural heritage initiative which focusses on supporting the local community of farmers in Rathcroghan, recognising their role as custodians of the landscape, supporting their efforts in protecting the archaeology and assisting farmers with a greater appreciation and management of the archaeology on their lands. The conference is also an important social event for the project offering opportunities for visitors to visit this important national archaeological site and avail of the guided tours provided by the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, who will be officially launching the new Rathcroghan Archaeological Looped Walking Trail as part of Heritage Week 2025.
The Farming Rathcroghan Scheme 2024-2026 is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund Programme 2021-2027

The Rathcroghan ritual landscape near Tulsk in County Roscommon, Ireland, is one of Europe’s most significant archaeological and mythological complexes. It survives not only as a centre of rich tangible and intangible heritage, but also as a working agricultural landscape. Rathcroghan forms part of a serial nomination for consideration for UNESCO World Heritage Status, as part of The Royal Sites of Ireland collective.
The project reflects a collaborative model led by the local farming community, and involving archaeologists and heritage practitioners in its design, delivery and evolution through time. It has integrated sustainable agricultural practices within a broader framework of landscape preservation, cultural continuity, and rural development.how community led governance, local care and management, and agri-environmental policies intersect at Rathcroghan to address critical challenges such as rural depopulation, sustainable land-use, and climate change. The Farming Rathcroghan project demonstrates how local knowledge and community engagement serve not only as tools for preservation, but as vital, living components of heritage in an evolving system.
The Farming Rathcroghan project advances wider views on cultural heritage as a resource for resilience, sustainability, and community engagement in monument and landscape protection. Rathcroghan is presented as a model for heritage management, where agricultural viability, heritage conservation, and cultural identity are mutually reinforcing. The conference exemplifies this approach presenting each year a different cultural heritage theme reworked to raise awareness of the value of our heritage and to be part of the annual Heritage Week events is a wonderful opportunity for everyone.