Green Limerick: Heritage Week brings free, all-age events to life

A RANGE of events for National Heritage Week are taking place in Limerick for the remainder of August.

Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) have organised a series of events, stalls and unique workshops to mark National Heritage Week, running from August 17 to 25.

Dotted around the city and county, the people of Limerick are invited to attend events which celebrate Irish culture and natural history.

The first of these is a biodiversity and environment awareness stand at the Cappamore Show on Saturday, August 17, from 10:30am to 3:45pm.

This stand is open to the public to have a chat with the council's biodiversity officer and environment awareness officer, giving people an opportunity to find out more about upcoming initiatives.

There will also be giveaways, suitable for the whole family.

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The Cappamore Agricultural Show is one of Ireland’s leading one-day shows and is highly-regarded among exhibitors and supporters throughout the Munster region.

It is described as a great family day out, with agricultural exhibits and classes, trade stands, food stands, music and more.

The next LCCC organised event after that is an all-ages, free nature walk along the route of the infinity Woodland Path in Castletroy.

Music, poetry and a guided tour will be provided, as well as tea and chats afterwards.

Those wishing to attend will meet at the Little Company of Mary’s Infinity Woodland Pathway, beside Milford Care Centre in Castletroy on Tuesday, August 20, from 7pm to 9:30pm.

“This event will be connecting citizens to nature, walking the route of the infinity Woodland Path reaching out to the local parish grounds,” a spokesperson from LCCC said.

“The Connections to Nature and Wellbeing via the Infinity Woodland Path event provides an opportunity for groups to network and for poets, naturalists, musicians, the local community, Milford care centre residents and staff and other pastoral groups to come together with the Diocese, who aim to provide 30% of church grounds to nature by 2030.”

National Heritage Week in and of itself aims to “bring together volunteers, community groups and heritage enthusiasts to share their experience, knowledge, culture and practices”.

An initiative was taken over by the Heritage Council in 2005 and has grown from a 500 event programme to almost 2,000 events in 2023 around the country.

The Heritage Council assumed the role of coordinator of National Heritage Week from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Part of the European Heritage Days network, Ireland along with other countries collectively decide the theme for Heritage Week each year.

Since 2010, National Heritage Week has had its own theme.

The 2024 theme is connections, routes and networks. The 2024 theme invites the people of Limerick and further afield “to explore the ways we are connected to each other through physical or cultural connections”.

More Natural Heritage Week events will be listed and discussed in next week’s Green Limerick column.