Cloughjordan Heritage Keepers

Who We Are: Tori McMorran and Karen Smith are Volunteers involved in management of the Thomas MacDonagh Museum. Simon Mulqueen is a staff member of the Museum. This group created and delivered the Heritage Keepers project for Cloughjordan and were supported by Veronica Ryan who is the Education Officer with Cloughjordan Eco-Village.

What We Did: After completing training the group approached the Cloughjordan No 1 national school with a proposed project. The School enthusiastically accepted the proposal. With limited time and a packed schedule for the last months of school term it was agreed that we would work with 5th and 6th class, their teacher Mr Coughlan and a support staff member. In total 29 children participated in 4 hours of workshops developed Heritage Keeper themes focussed on the concept of Heritage stewardship. Themes included Introduction and my place, Culture and the past, Biodiversity and land use, Enhancing our place and planning for action.

We Achieved:  The Heritage Keepers group achieved an understanding of the desire to create and maintain a diverse and more inclusive range of heritage stewardship activities which are easy to access and broken into achievable tasks. We updated an existing heritage guide using input from the younger group of participants. This provided them a sense of inclusivity and ownership over the action.

What We Learned: The organising group learned of the desire in the community among younger and older generations to input into heritage based activities involving our own heritage.

What next: The group has agreed with the school to return in September to discuss the ongoing deliver of Heritage Keeper training and activities. We have agreed to approach the second school in the community. A number of younger participants have expressed a desire to participate in a monthly Heritage Keepers club and we have proposed to discuss this in September to examine the development of such a club.