From dunes to dinner plates: Uncovering Ireland's history at Heritage Week

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

The impact of a tsunami, which followed the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, is well remembered along the West Cork coast.
One reason is that it modified the shell-rich sand dunes, which were a precious resource for locals, who brought it by horse-drawn cart to their farms to improve the soil.
The Irish Geological Association will explore the cultural landscape associated with those dunes on August 20 and 24 at Warran Strand, Rosscarbery, as part of National Heritage Week, which begins on Saturday.
Local geologist Anthony Beese will lead the excursion, but visitors are advised to wear suitable footwear for a four-kilometre walk of moderate difficulty.
Now in its 20th year, Heritage Week is one of Ireland's largest cultural events, bringing together communities, families, and individuals across the country to celebrate the country's rich and diverse past.
National Heritage Week theme
This year's theme, 'Exploring Our Foundations', invites people to reflect on the legacies of the past and examine the foundations upon which their communities, cultures, and identities are built.
Organised by the Heritage Council, the theme encourages event organisers and participants alike to dig deeper — literally and metaphorically — into the layers that shape our understanding of place, tradition, and change.
It offers an opportunity to uncover stories of place and people, fostering a deeper connection with the past and how it continues to inform the present.
Rural lifestyles and farming practices over the centuries are featured in many of the 2,000 or so events that will be held during the nine-day festival and are detailed on heritageweek.ie.
A foraging talk on Quilty beach in Co Clare (August 21) with Lena Hughes will focus, for instance, on the tradition of collecting seaweed which coastal communities relied upon for food, medicine, and agriculture.
People will learn how and when to forage seaweed and how to introduce it into their daily life. Seaweed can be used in diet, for health and wellness, medicinal purposes and as a natural fertiliser.
Still in Co Clare, life in the Burren, which has revolved around agriculture for 6,000 years, will be the focus of a discussion on Sunday led by Michael Davoreen on how farming practices and rural society have changed.
He will trace the evolution of life on the land from the horse-drawn to the digital era and from ringforts and self-sufficient smallholdings to a globalised marketplace.
A sixth-generation Burren farmer, he and others will also discuss at the Burren Visitor Centre in Kilfenora Visitor Centre what North Clare might look and feel like as the 21st century unfolds and the climate changes.
'A New Fleece of Life' is the title of another event at Manor Kilbride Community on August 21. It will explore the sheep and wool industry in Wicklow and the historical, cultural and environmental impact on the region through visual displays and live presentations.
Oliver Fallon Bailey will examine how the wool industry might support conservation goals such as peatland restoration in the uplands and what can be done to revitalise the sector for future generations.
Longford Westmeath Farmers Mart in Ballymahon will be the venue on August 23 for an Irish Native Breed Livestock Show. It will showcase the work of breed societies and others in raising awareness of the place of these breeds in agricultural practices historically as well as currently.
Kerry Writers Museum
The natural calendar of the domestic economy of farm families in North Kerry will be examined at Kerry Writers Museum in Listowel on Saturday with a day-long programme entitled 'A Day in the Bog".
Saving the hay, the killing of a pig, and bringing in the turf created a foundation for many of the traditions associated with rural Ireland, and since the 1960s, they have had a special place in home movie records created by farming communities.
Kerry Writers' Museum's contribution to Heritage Week engages with the economic, social and cultural impact of bogs and turf cutting on life in rural Ireland.
Historian Tom Dillon will highlight the heritage and folklore associated with bogs and Aideen O'Sullivan will introduce a screening of Home Turf (2011), a celebration of the ancient art of cutting turf at Killarda Bog near Listowel.
Paul Kennelly, a veteran day-in-the-bog activist and filmmaker, will join Dillon and O'Sullivan for a discussion of the ongoing importance of bogs. There will also be a guided walk later at Killocrim Bog.
National Library
Back in the National Library, Dublin at lunchtime on August 19, two archivists, Joanne Carroll and Nora Thornton, will be 'Talking Tripe' – not the informal slang but a certain dish that is a Cork tradition.
They delved into the recipe collections in the library last year and discovered there was an enormous interest in early cooking techniques, food and recipes, but there wasn't time to explore any subject in detail.
'Cooking the Books Part 11' will involve Joanne focusing on cures and remedies in old recipes, while Nora will do an in-depth analysis on her favourite culinary manuscript.
There will also be a focus not just on tripe but on other less popular ingredients that aren't in as much use today. Who knows, perhaps tripe might become popular again.
And if it is served hot with drisheen, a culinary pudding classic in Cork for four centuries, the taste buds of people with long memories and a taste for tradition will be well and truly sated.