Community Heritage – A Growing Economy

If there is one thing, we are deeply passionate about, is promoting a sense of place through heritage. That’s why we love when community groups identify that the heritage in their area and the story it tells can make a valid contribution to the economic sustainability of their community.  This fits well with the drive to offer the visitor a deeper, more immersive experience whilst encouraging provide of place in communities.   

Projects:  

We have delivered many heritage and community related projects over almost 20 years of working in tourism development. One very recent project resulted in a 30 minute heritage heritage documentary for a little known area in Fermanagh called the Killtierney Deer Park (between Kesh and Ederney).  This project is right up our street!  It tells a story, making it relatable to the audience.  We produced a 30-minute film using respected archaeologists and local historians to share the story of Kiltierney Deer Park and Ardess Famine Grave. The importance of this documentary cannot be stressed enough.  It will allow visitors to gain a greater understanding of the rich heritage that is found in this part of Fermanagh. For local schools and those with an interest in the Bronze Age, Early Christianity in Ireland, The Famine and World War II this short documentary has it all but of course, it is only because the area in which it was filmed and the people involved have a rich heritage story to tell.  

To view this film, simply click the link and tell us what you think.   

A long tradition of heritage projects:  

Our work with Belleek Pottery has led to new experiences in their Visitor Centre offering and in work we completed through the Border Uplands Project we supported four councils (Fermanagh, Cavan, Leitrim and Sligo) to deliver the Cuilcagh Boardwalk, Cavan Burren Forest Park, Queen Maeve Trail and The Devil’s Chimney Walk.  

These and many more projects have benefited from our experience in heritage and tourism development, to leverage their stories, crafts, history, folklore and culture in a bid to grow their local economy.  

Here are six things to think about when pursuing a community heritage project: 

  1. Is there something in your community which gets talked about but has never formally been documented or organised?  
  2. Do you think your community has a feature or a unique heritage story to offer? 
  3. Do you think your community is driven to help organise and facilitate projects?  
  4. Have you thought about how heritage can bring economic value to your community and businesses? 
  5. Are you considering applying for heritage lottery funding? Or some other funding?  
  6. Can you work well together? Take a look at some of our work on clustering for some inspiration on this.  

Heritage Tourism really is an exceptional way to carve a niche for your community and to help drive the local economy. We would love to hear about your projects and if there is one in the pipeline perhaps we could help create something very special in the telling of you community heritage story.  

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