Our Community, our heritage
Community is at the heart of heritage
We founded the Irish Heritage School with the belief that community is central to our organisation and all our activities. All of our programs are built on an inclusive, partnership approach, with the underlying ethos that for a program to be successful, it must be of tangible value to the local community.
We place an emphasis on community engagement and leadership, taking a lead on several community research and service projects in Birr and further afield. A percentage of our income from student programs is also used to help support community research and/or act as seed funding for community projects. Our efforts are assisted by generous support from the Heritage Office of Offaly County Council and other local and national bodies, allowing us to work on some beautiful and important archaeological sites, such as Seir Kieran, Lemanaghan, Clonoghil, St Brendan’s Monastery and many more in the midlands of Ireland. Check out our Resources page for more details on individual projects.
Ask a question
Stop for a C.H.A.T.
Our commitment to community has been long-standing, beginning in earnest in 2010, when we (under the aegis of the Irish Archaeology Field School) developed the concept of a Cultural Heritage Amenity Town (CHAT). CHAT is founded on the premise that for a town to be an attractive destination for visitors, it must first be a cherished home for its local community. CHAT uses cultural heritage as a driver to connect communities to their towns and encourages them to improve their towns and cultural assets to attract visitors. The goal is to join together a local community and its heritage to present a marketable, high-quality experience for visitors that travel to CHAT sites and stay in the area.
“CHAT aims to provide a new vehicle for an innovative and sustainable tourism and education based economy centered on local community engagement with its heritage. The concept made it to the final 25 shortlist of over 9,000 entries in Ireland’s 2010 “Your Country Your Call” competition. The project was showcased at the AIA Gala in New York City in April 2011 and was awarded funding through the Institute’s Site Preservation Program.”
- – Mandal and O’Carroll 2010
Service Learning
We are proud to partner international and local partners in providing Service Learning programs and opportunities focussed on bringing heritage to life for the community of Birr. Some of these have developed into long term collaborations between the town and international institutions, such as with Indiana State University (since 2016) or California State University Sacramento (since 2019).
“Indiana State University’s service-learning partnership [is] a model of how service-learning should work. Our projects were planned in collaboration with a diverse group of community partners, the work was meaningful and well-designed, and the students were deeply immersed in the community. The balance of cultural and heritage programming with the service work was just right. The IHS is one of the finest community partners we have worked with over the past decade. We look forward to continuing our partnership with them for years to come.”
– Dr Nancy Rogers, Vice President for University Engagement and Dr Linda Maule, Dean of the University College, Indiana State University.
Research in the Community
A percentage of our income each year, coupled with generous funding through the Heritage Office of Offaly County Council, is directed towards assisting local communities in undertaking research on and presenting their local heritage. With the aid of funding from the Community Monuments Fund, The Explore Your Monument, Creative Ireland and other schemes, we have had the privilege to work on some beautiful and important archaeological sites, such as Seir Kieran, Lemanaghan, Clonoghil and St Brendan’s Monastery. Check out our Resources page for more details on individual projects.
