Carved in Stone: Preserving a Community's Heritage

As part of National Heritage Week 2026, Ballyhoura Development CLG is delighted to present "Carved in Stone: Preserving a Community's Heritage", a programme exploring how gravestones, memorial inscriptions and historic burial landscapes preserve the history, identity and collective memory of communities across generations.

Bringing together local history, archaeology, genealogy and cultural heritage, the programme reveals how communities have preserved their stories in stone - from local burial grounds in North Cork to the wider Irish diaspora in Canada.

The evening begins with "Irish Names in Canadian Stone: A Transatlantic Heritage", presented by Canadian historian Patrick Leahy and Irish archaeologist John Tierney of Historic Graves Ireland. The presentation explores the legacy of the 1825 Robinson Emigration, when more than 750 people from the Cork, Limerick and Tipperary borderlands emigrated together to Canada. Through historical research and gravestone archaeology in both Douro Township and North Cork, supported by a Royal Irish Academy (RIA) research grant, the presentation traces family histories spanning centuries and examines how gravestones preserve names, places and memories carried across the Atlantic.

Following refreshments and music from the Kilworth Guitar & Music Group, the evening continues with "Gone Underground: A Heritage Preserved", a guided exploration of Brigown Cemetery, examining how burial landscapes preserve the social structure, cultural memory and identity of communities long after they have disappeared from everyday life.

Participants are welcome to attend either event individually or enjoy the full programme.