Developing your event or project
Welcome to our resources page where you can find everything you need to help you design your own National Heritage Week event or project!
Events can take on a wide range of formats, including walking tours, lectures, craft workshops or demonstrations, concerts, exhibitions and festivals.
Things to consider for a Heritage Event
If you are organising an in-person event, consider the following questions
- What is the goal of the event?
- What would you like attendees to learn or experience?
- What size audience will ensure the best experience for attendees?
- Is your event welcoming to diverse audiences?
- Is your event accessible?
- Is your event sustainable?
Digital heritage projects are a way to take part in National Heritage Week by exploring heritage through a format that can be accessed by anyone on heritageweek.ie. For example, it could be an online talk or exhibition; a video; podcast or oral history recording; a PowerPoint presentation or blog;
For help on creating and sharing digital projects, visit our Technical Resources page.
You are free to download and use National Heritage Week logos and branding for your event or digital project.
Here you can access branded resources.
Check out our useful links for more inspiration
Need some inspiration for ideas? Our 101 Event ideas guide will give you the inspiration for running your own events during National Heritage Week.
Useful for both events and digital projects, this Heritage Resource guide compiles a range of online heritage resources including archives, digital collections, data bases and inventories, GIS applications, video, mobile apps, most of which can be accessed freely on personal devices. It covers numerous subjects, e.g. archaeology and history, architecture, coastal and marine, habitats and species, museums and collections.
Heritage Resource Guide: Making Connections with the Past and Present
Did you know that the theme for National Heritage Week is inspired This guide provides an overview of European Heritage Days’ 2025 theme of Architectural Heritage and suggests some ideas for events for the celebration of heritage in 2025.
There are multiple resources for organisers to increase inclusivity in their events. A video from our recent National Heritage Week event organisers event shares some practical tips on how you can make your event more inclusive
Watch the video on Inclusivity for events
European Heritage Days highlights how heritage organisers can celebrate regional and national diversity to welcome all to participate in our rich heritage.
Inclusivity for Heritage Events
Explore the page below to learn about how you can make your social media posts and profiles more accessible.
Are the materials you use environmentally friendly? Are you sourcing from your locality? For tips on organising sustainable events, check out this article from European Heritage Days and a video from our recent Training event
These guidelines can help you make your event a more sustainable one.
This guide is very helpful resource if you are planning on organising an outdoor event for National Heritage Week.
If you are an event organiser, and want or need to assess how your National Heritage Week event this self-assessment questionnaire is ideal.
Whether you have to fill a report for a grant, internal review or just want to keep feedback for yourself for the next year's event, this report will help understand how your event went.
Details you can assess are:
Attendee Numbers
Feedback from Attendees
Budget and Spend
Things to Improve for Next Year
You can download the report here:
Built Heritage Resources
This is an interactive map viewer where you can zoom into any part of Ireland and learn more about an archaeological monument.
This resource page on traditional building skills provides helpful information on how historic buildings (i.e. constructed before World War 2) can be repaired and maintained.
If you are the owner of a historic building, there are numerous resources to share your building with the public. Historic Houses Ireland are a network of private owners of historic buildings and provide excellent advice for property owners including opening up to the public.
A recent publication by the Heritage Council will be useful for building owners, contractors, tradespeople, local authorities and community groups setting out to engage the public with conservation skills and the importance of traditional buildings.
A natural and built coastal heritage resource, advising on how to identify heritage features in your own local area.
Take a look at these fantastic resources about the care, recording and conservation of graveyards, which were developed with LEADER funding by Galway Rural Development and Galway County Council.
Natural Heritage Resources
Join Heritage in Schools expert, Dr Paddy Madden on this Heritage Council tutorial for primary school children and their parents, which will help them to identify some of the wildlife they might see on their springtime walks. Link here
Join Heritage in Schools experts Fionn and Jonathan Angus in this tutorial for primary school children, explaining what a BioBlitz is, and what equipment and guides are useful for blitzing the garden at home. Link here
Heritage in Schools expert Michéle's step by step tutorial shows you how to draw a biodiversity/habitat map of your garden so that you can record where the different garden species are located. Your map can help you plan improvements to increase the biodiversity of your garden.
This useful booklet offers great ideas for what you can do to support wildlife in your garden. It's produced by Local Authority Heritage Officers across Ireland, with help from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Council.
Cultural Heritage Resources
Take a look at the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage for inspiration for your project. The inventory exists to promote, protect and celebrate Ireland’s cultural heritage. It provides official State recognition of cultural practices all around Ireland.
Here you will find a series of short videos showcasing a range of crafts and skills, including weaving, felting and pottery.
Hosted by the IFI, The Loopline Collection Vol II includes ‘Hidden Treasures’ – a four-part documentary series looking at heritage and traditions in Ireland.
The Oral History Network of Ireland brings together individuals, local history groups and academics, collecting and using oral history, so that each can learn from the other. It offers advice and training on how best to carry out oral history projects including ethics, interview skills, etc.
Document Resources
Explore the exciting online content from Ireland's public libraries. Collections include digitised articles, photos, audios, illustrations, drawings, indexes and historical documents.
Find or identify heritage sites and explore heritage data sets anywhere in Ireland. The HeritageMaps.ie viewer provides access to national heritage data sets in map form, while incorporating additional contextual data from a wide range of online sources.
This database of placenames in Ireland contains a glossary and distribution map, more than 7,000 toponymic sources and other features.
This portal will link you to archival collections throughout the island of Ireland. Archives are the documents and records that relate to people, places, organisations, and events. You can use this portal to locate archives relating to your area of interest or research topic.