‘Decade of Centenaries’ events during Heritage Week, 18-26 2018

Heritage Week 2018 takes place across the state from Saturday 18 to Sunday 26 August, and, as always, features a vast number of events (large and small) organised nationwide. National Heritage Week is organised by the Heritage Council under the auspices of European Heritage Days, which are a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union in which over forty countries participate each year. The aims are to promote awareness of built, natural and cultural heritage and to promote Europe’s common cultural heritage. Instead of focusing on a single day, Ireland presents a full week of almost 2,000 events events, many of which are organised on a community basis. You can find full details of National Heritage Week here, and amongst the events featured this year are a number that touch upon issues and events in the ‘Decade of Centenaries’. These include lectures and talks on the impact of the First World War on Kilkenny, as well as the sinking of the RMS Leinster off Dublin Bay, the ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic, and the role of Cumann na mBan in the revolution; the performance of a play written by Francis Sheehy-Skeffington in the Pearse Museum; a guided walk in Coole Park, Galway, on the life of Robert Gregory (the subject of W.B.Yeats’ poem An Irish airman foresees his death), and a bespoke exhibition curated by UCD Archives on the struggle for women’s suffrage.

These are only a small sampling of some of what has been pencilled in for the week; full details of these and more can be found on the Heritage Week website. Enjoy!