'Offaly’s Vernacular Heritage and how the State is Helping' by Dr Barry O'Reilly

'Offaly’s Vernacular Heritage and how the State is Helping' by Dr Barry O'Reilly, Architectural Conservation Advisor, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Offaly has a rich heritage of vernacular buildings, in country and in town. The county displays a pleasant variety in the materials, techniques and forms that make up these traditionally-inspired buildings. Caring for this heritage involves cooperation between owners, craftspeople, the local authority and the State. Offaly is lucky in having a well-organized heritage scene, with its heritage officer, architectural conservation officer, historical society and various individuals, all of whom are playing their part. The Department of Heritage has also been working hard to improve the situation for vernacular buildings. This talk will provide a picture of Offaly’s vernacular heritage and an update on what the State is doing to help.

Dr Barry O’Reilly studied archaeology and folklore/folklife in UCD and has been enthusing about our built vernacular heritage and allied topics ever since. He is the author of Living under Thatch (2004) and Ballyknockan: a Wicklow stone-cutters village (1997), numerous articles for academic journals, and is editor for Europe for the new edition of the Encyclopaedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. Barry works for the NIAH. He has a particular interest in vernacular settlements/ hamlets which was the basis of his PhD thesis at Oxford Brookes. He compiled A Living Tradition: A Strategy to Enhance the Understanding, Minding and Handing on of Our Built Vernacular Heritage (2021).

This talk is presented by the Irish Georgian Society, the IGS Birr Chapter and Offaly County Council and is a follow up event from their joint traditional building skills exhibition, Offaly's Heritage Buildings Show, which took place in Birr in June 2024. Both this talk and the traditional building skills exhibition are funded by The Heritage Council's Heritage Stewardship Grant.