Heritage Highlights: A sampling of sustainable heritage and biodiversity events

To view all events on an endless array of heritage topics, visit the Events page, or browse through the Digital Projects for videos, podcasts and more.

Saturday, 13th August

• Bilingual Storytelling: The Legend of the Lough in English & Cantonese: Cantonese in Ireland presents the enchanting Irish legend of the Lough in two languages at Cork City Library for children ages 5-9.
• Discovering Hedgehogs: The Cork Nature Network will host a workshop on how to record hedgehogs at home or school for the Garden and Local Area Survey at Fota Wildlife Park Education Centre, contributing to the Irish Hedgehog Survey, a citizen science project.
  

Sunday, 14th August

• The Lost Craft of Woven Creel Making: Join Barry Noyce at Portumna Castle & Gardens, Co. Galway for a demonstration of traditional basket weaving. Barry carries on the heritage of this Irish indigenous craft, which was used for transporting turf, seaweed, wool, dung and vegetables.
• Honeybee Workshop: The Westport Beekeepers Association will be running an interactive workshop at the Michael Davitt Museum, highlighting the importance of native bees to the biodiverse cycle of pollination.

Monday, 15th August

• Blacksmith Skills — Traditional Toolmaking Course: The College of Further Education and Training in Limerick will deliver a free course for novice blacksmiths over four days.
• Wildflower Seed Collection and Saving Workshop, Midleton: SECAD Partnership CLG / Wild Work will be teaching how to sustainably collect, save and store native wildflower seeds, an age-old tradition of environmental resilience.

Tuesday, 16th August

• Seminar / Workshop on Teresa Deevy, deaf Irish Dramatists and Writer (1894-1963): The Deaf Heritage Centre in Dublin will host a day of theatre and writing in partnership with the Dublin Theatre of the Deaf.
• A Day of Action for Butterflies: The Irish Peatland Conservation Council invites you to Lullymore West, a Kildare butterfly reserve, home to over 25 species of butterfly. While local conservation donkeys enhance the habitat by reducing vegetation height, IPCC asks volunteers to help with scrub sapling clearing.

Wednesday, 17th August

• An Evening with Celtic Calling + Chris Comhaill: The Cornerstone Church at the Well in Wicklow invites you to a singing concert of Celtic music.
• Biodiversity Walk on the Slopes of Errigal: Forbairt Dhún Luiche and Dr Florence Renou-Wilson present a walk on Errigal Mountain, an important area for biodiversity conservation in an upland area of Donegal.

Thursday, 18th August

• Traveller Craft Demonstrations: The National Irish Visual Arts Library in Dublin welcomes you to a showcase of live storytelling, tinsmithing and traditional paper flower making, as well as presentation of a new archive of photographs and oral histories from Traveller craftspeople.
• Biodiversity Talk with Pond Dipping: Families are invited to visit Birr Castle Demesne in Offaly to explore aquatic life in a freshwater pond, learning about invertebrates and their ecosystems, and getting hands-on in the water.

Friday, 19th August

• Get Involved with Traditional Craft: The Irish Fibre Crafters will host an open studio in Ardrahan, Co. Galway, where visitors can talk with makers, watch them work, and try their hand at spinning, weaving and dying with wool and alpaca fibre.
• BioBlitz Castlecomer 2022: The Castlecomer Discovery Park in Kilkenny will host a two-day Bioblitz, a family-friendly, fun event that aims to record all fauna and flora species in a designated area. Come see the diversity of life in your area and enjoy craft demonstrations, a BioBook bring ‘n’ buy sale, and more.

Saturday, 20th August

• Cruthú amharclannaíochta le Clíona de Brí: Kildare Library Service will present an Irish language puppet and masking workshop for children in Leixlip.
• Wild Child Day at Cabragh Wetlands: Join Seamus O Dubhagain, a Heritage in Schools scheme member and member of the Cabragh Wetlands Trust in Tipperary, for a day of family-friendly wetlands exploration, including orienteering, pond-dipping, wet meadow exploration and plant and animal identification.

Sunday, 21st August

• Preserving the Fishing Heritage & Local History of Clarecastle in Film: Clarecastle and Ballyea Heritage and Wildlife Group will launch five films discussing recording and preservation of traditional boats called gandalows, used by Clarecastle net-fisherman in the Fergus and Shannon Estuaries.
• Getting to Know our Native Wildflowers at Millford Weir: Celebrate Water Heritage Day with a day out in Carlow. Enjoy a walk and talk along the waterways, identifying edible plants, native wildflowers and the biodiversity around us.