New booklet highlight Offaly heritage project

A special Heritage Council publication featuring stories from heritage officers in every county is being launched today to mark 25 years since the Heritage Officer Network was founded. The booklet, ‘Opening the door to Ireland’s heritage’ details one key heritage project from each local authority from the last three years which collectively, highlight the enormous contribution the Network has made to the preservation of our heritage over the last quarter of a century.

The booklet tells the story of the Offaly Archives Project, and how the state-of-the-art archive in Tullamore came to house the extensive historical records of both Offaly County Council and Offaly History. The idea came about due to the size of the historical collections these institutions had accumulated over time, but neither repository had adequate storage space nor a professional archivist on staff.

Many years of work, which included arranging for surveys of the collections in both repositories, developing options as to how the archive service might evolve, liaising with all partners on an ongoing basis throughout the process, and accessing funding streams to assist with the different stages of the project, finally resulted in the official opening of Offaly Archives in 2021. The project serves as an excellent model for other counties to establish their own archive services and most importantly, has safeguarded invaluable material for future generations to access.

While highlighting the important work they do, the stories in the publication also offer a stark insight into what may have been lost were it not for the heritage officers. Mangan’s Clock in the heart of Cork city may have fallen into disrepair. The most historic buildings in Ballyshannon or Listowel may have been left derelict and allowed to crumble. The natural beach and dune habitats along the coast of Wicklow may have become irrevocably degraded and the craftsmanship of dry-stone walling on Inis Oirr may have receded.

Speaking at the launch of the booklet, Chair of the Network and Heritage Officer for Offaly County Council Amanda Pedlow said: “It is deeply satisfying to see documented in this publication the influence of the Heritage Officer Network in shaping our approach to heritage conservation and protection. Although we work as individuals at local authority level, what is clear from these pages is that the real strength of the Network is in the collective. These stories cover only a snapshot of recently completed projects from current heritage officers, so when we factor in the hundreds of past projects completed since 1999, it brings into the focus the enormous impact that the Local Authority Heritage Officer Programme has had.”

The publication can be read in full on the Heritage Council website