Heritage Week 2017

The Living Bog had a very active Heritage Week, with a number of key events happening throughout the period of August 18 – 27.

All of our events were a success with numbers way above what we expected or estimated, so thank you to one and all who attended, or even checked in online. Valuable community and heritage links are established during Heritage Week, so it was great to bring the word of raised bog restoration and The Living Bog to so many.

The week started off on Friday August 18 with The Living Bog being chosen as a showpiece Heritage Week provider by radio station Midlands 103. Their top-rated show, the Will Faulkner Show which airs 9am-12pm did an outside broadcast from Clare Bog Visitor Centre to celebrate the start of Heritage Week, and Ronan Casey from the Living Bog and Rebecca Dobson from Clara Visitor Centre were both on air to bring the bogs to the nation. Also on the show were Heritage Officers from Counties Offaly, Westmeath and Laois. It was a great opportunity to talk abo0ut the Living Bog and raised bogs in general, and it was a pleasure to do.

Catherine Casey, Laoise Heritage Office, Alison Delaney and Rebecca Dobson, both Clara Bog Visitor Centre, Ronan Casey, The Living Bog, Will Faulkner, Midlands 103, Amanda Pedlow, Offaly Heritage Officer and Melanie McQuaid, Westmeath Heritage Officer at Clara to kick off Heritage Week in the midlands!

One of our signature events was our ‘LIFE on Westmeath’s Bogs’ talk in Streete Parish Park & Community Centre (close to Garriskil Bog SAC). Here, we hosted an informative evening talk with Ronan Casey (The Living Bog), Manchán Magan (author/broadcaster) and Trióna Finnen (NPWS) talking about all aspects of the bog story – from restoration work and the Living Bog to the cultural significance of bogs to the life that raised bogs support. Over 60 attended the event, which was supported by Westmeath County Council, and attendees came from the local communities in Streete, Lismacaffrey, Rathowen and Ballinalack as well as Mullingar, Longford, Dublin and rural Westmeath.

A section of the crowd at Streete Parish Park Community Centre enjoying the ‘LIFE on Westmeath’s Bogs’ Heritage Week 2017 event on Wednesday August 23

The venue was perfect with delightful cakes and tea/coffee rounding off the night, and the event received very positive press coverage before and after, particularly in local newspapers the Westmeath Topic and the Westmeath Examiner. An extensive poster campaign in North Westmeath also worked fine.

A section of the Heritage Week crowd from our ‘LIFE on Clara Bog’ walk and talk on August 25, 2017

Two bog walks were organised on Clara Bog SAC in Co. Offaly. The first walk on the Wednesday was hit by bad weather, but we ploughed on regardless! However, better things were to come later in the week with the Friday walk a big success with over 40 in attendance, with tourists from Japan, visitors from Dublin and others from all over the midlands among those enjoying an informative guided walk from Ronan Casey (The Living Bog) and Rebecca Dobson (Clara Bog Visitor Centre). The Tullamore Tribune newspaper tagged along and the event received good coverage in it and on Midlands 103 FM.

A section of the large crowd which enjoyed a walk and talk on Killyconny Bog SAC during our ‘Mullagh Day on the Bog’ event for Heritage Week 2017

Another big Living Bog showpiece event was our revival of Mullagh Day on the Bog. The long-planned revival of the former local festival celebrating Killyconny Bog SAC took place on Saturday August 26th and saw the local St Kilian’s Heritage Trust committee assisting Ronan Casey and Jack McGauley of The Living Bog. The enjoyable day featured old turf-cutting equipment displays and talks about the days of old on the bog at St Kilian’s Heritage Centre in Mullagh town, before the crowd were bussed out to Killyconny Bog SAC for a walk and talk by Ronan and Jack. Over 50 were in attendance and as the lads got the walk underway on the bog, there was more left waiting at the Centre, such was demand! The crowds were not just local, with tourists from Asia and America, plus people from Derry, Dublin, Kells, Navan and Drogheda enjoying the walk. There was a great atmosphere on the bog and in the town on the day, and it is hoped the event will be built on for next year.

To tie in with the event, we re-posted videos by local man Jim Smith to YouTube of old events from 1997 – 1999. These have attracted a lot of attention. A photograph display at St Kilian’s Heritage Centre was also well-received.

A few weeks before the event, a special radio outside broadcast from Mullagh Heritage Centre was arranged by Shannonside Northernsound’s Joe Finnegan Show. Ronan Casey from The Living Bog was invited along to talk about ‘Mullagh Day on the Bog’, the Living Bog and the St Kilian’s Heritage Trust event on Killyconny Bog SAC. The broadcast went down well, and Ronan has been back on the station since talking about The Living Bog.

Ronan Casey of the Living Bog being interviewed on the Joe Finnegan Show on Shannonside Northern Sound at St Kilian’s Heritage Centre in Mullagh ahead of Heritage Week 2017