Heritage Week
National Heritage Week is part of European Heritage Days, a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union in which over forty countries participate each year. The main aim of European Heritage Days are to promote awareness of our built, natural and cultural heritage and to promote Europe’s common cultural heritage. Every year millions of Europeans visit historical monuments and sites throughout Europe on European Heritage Days.
In Ireland we celebrate European Heritage Days with a full week of events throughout National Heritage Week.
“National Heritage Week celebrates Ireland’s cultural, built & natural heritage. It brings together volunteers, community groups and heritage enthusiasts to share their experience, knowledge culture and practices.”
This year we will celebrate the theme of “Connections, Routes & Networks”.
Dalkey’s modern day easy accessibility by public transport & older connections with the tramyard and Atmospheric Railway make it an exemplar.
Dalkey is an Irish Heritage Town. At Dalkey Castle, Living History actors from Deilg Inis bring the ancient history to colourful life with archery, barber surgery and a masterclass by cook on circular economy in medieval times, as part of every tour.
Two free tours for Heritage Week are available each year (Dates to be confirmed for 2024).
Heritage Week Talk: A Heritage Week talk relevant to the theme of the year will be arranged nearer to the time. This talk will have guest speakers who are experts in their topic.
For 2023 the topic was Dalkey’s Taverns and Small Hotels – A Talk by John Martin
John is a retired civil servant with a keen interest in local history. He has lived in Dalkey for over 40 years and is researching the history of the area with a view to publication. My Historic Towns Atlas of Dungarvan was published by the Royal Irish Academy in 2020.