Dip your toe this Water Heritage Day...

20 Lúnasa 2021

Water Heritage Day is Sunday, 22nd August and is a collaboration between The Heritage Council and the Local Authority Waters Programme to celebrate water and our connections with it.

This year’s National Heritage Week message of ‘open the door to heritage’ has been an opportunity explore and engage with aspects of our natural, built or cultural heritage and learn something new about how our heritage has influenced the way we live today.

As an island nation, our heritage has been shaped by the sea and the great Irish rivers, lakes and wetlands. This year there are a number of projects that explore water heritage and the importance water has played, and continues to play, in how we live.

Here is a small selection of projects to encourage you to dip your toe in this element of our heritage. You can search all the completed projects here. Filter by county to find activities in your community during Water Heritage Day 2021.

Belmullet Water Heritage Walk, Co Mayo

Sunday, 22nd August at 2pm
Belmullet Tidy Towns will host this water walk around Belmullet town and the townland of Tallagh. Find out more...

Guided tour of the beautiful Anne Valley in Co Waterford

Sunday, 22nd August at 11am
Enjoy a guided tour of the beautiful Anne Valley with photographer and well-known naturalist Paddy Dwan. Find out more...

Avoca River Stories - A discovery of beauty, Co. Wicklow

Video: available online
This film is one of six Avoca River Stories Films. The Avonmore, together with the Avonbeg and Avoca rivers is the largest river catchment in County Wicklow, covering some 650 sq kilometres. Check out this film to learn more about the rivers and the heritage of the area. Find out more...

Safari along the Barrow, Co. Kilkenny

Sunday, 22nd August 2021 at 2.30pm
Enjoy this walk exploring wildlife along the River Barrow at the medieval town of Graignamanagh with Eanna Ni Lamhna. Find out more...

Wordsteps - The Grand Canal, Dublin

Take a trip along the Grand Canal and listen to this sound artwork. As you walk, you hear the words, thoughts and stories from a variety of voices from the present and the past of the Grand Canal. Find out more...

Waters and the wild art for all, Sligo Tidy Towns, Co. Sligo

Sunday, 22nd August at 2pm

Sligo Tidy Towns are inviting people of all ages and ability levels, including family groups to capture the beauty and the biodiversity of Sligo's Garavogue river as it flows through the centre of our town, by creating their own painting of it during Water Heritage Day, Sunday, 22nd August. Find out more...

Nuacht

Tuilleadh Nuachta

National Heritage Week Awards 2026 - Winners and Runners-up Announced

The National Heritage Week Awards 2026 ceremony took place on Thursday, 29 October 2026, celebrating the individuals, community groups and organisations whose outstanding events helped showcase and protect Ireland's built, natural and cultural heritage.

The 2026 Awards recognise the most engaging and inspiring events from National Heritage Week 2026. Over the course of nine days from 15–23 August, communities across Ireland came together to celebrate local heritage through walks, talks, workshops, exhibitions, performances and family events. This year's theme, Heritage at Risk, encouraged people to explore and protect the places, traditions, skills and stories that form an important part of our shared heritage.

National Heritage Week 2026 Heritage Hero Announced

The Heritage Council is delighted to share that the 2026 National Heritage Week Heritage Hero has been awarded to Gearóid O'Brien for his lifelong dedication to preserving, promoting and celebrating the heritage of Athlone and Ireland.

The Heritage Hero award honours an individual or organisation that has made an outstanding, long-term contribution to the protection and promotion of Ireland's heritage. Unlike the other categories, this award is based solely on public nominations and is considered a lifetime achievement award.

Craobhiomaitheoirí Náisiúnta na Seachtaine Oidhreachta Náisiúnta 2026 á bhFógairt

Aithnítear i nGradaim na Seachtaine Oidhreachta Náisiúnta obair eagraithe imeachtaí na Seachtaine Oidhreachta Náisiúnta ó thaobh imeachtaí a chruthú agus a chur ar siúl ina gceiliúrtar ár n-oidhreacht thógtha, nádúrtha agus chultúrtha.

Saothraíonn eagraithe imeachtaí ó áiteanna ar fud na hÉireann a bpaisean agus a saineolas gach bliain le heispéiris nach ligfear i ndearmad agus spreagúla a chruthú don phobal i rith na Seachtaine Oidhreachta Náisiúnta. Déanann na gradaim seo ceiliúradh ar chruthaitheacht, ar dhúthracht agus ar dhíograis na bpobal, na n-eagraíochtaí agus na ndaoine aonair a oibríonn chun ár n-oidhreacht a chur in iúl do dhaoine eile agus í a chaomhnú.

Tá gliondar croí orainn na himeachtaí a cuireadh ar an ngearrliosta a fhógairt i measc roinnt catagóirí gradaim, a léiríonn gach ceann díobh rannchuidiú as cuimse le hoidhreacht na hÉireann.

Fógrófar buaiteoirí na gcatagóirí uile ag searmanas bronnta Ghradaim na Seachtaine Oidhreachta Náisiúnta an 29 Deireadh Fómhair 2026.

Seo a leanas na catagóirí agus na himeachtaí a cuireadh ar an ngearrliosta don bhliain 2026: