Heritage and Commemorations Grant Scheme recipients announced

Three heritage projects in north Cork have been awarded funding under the 2022 County Cork Heritage and Commemorations Grant Schemes from the council. Projects in Carrignavar, Doneraile and Mitchelstown, coming under the ‘Heritage’ umbrella, will all benefit from the €119,130 fund.

CASTLEPOOK CAVES, DONERAILE

The Castlepook Cave Excavation Collaborative Team will put their grant funding of €2,250 towards radiocarbon dating of items found in the caves. Lying in the Awbeg Valley below the Ballyhoura hills, the cave system was originally explored back in 1881. In 1972, a new area of the cave was explored and the current project will be applying new techniques to ‘unlock the secrets of this cave’.

COLÁISTE AN CHROÍ NAOFA, CARRIGNAVAR

Coláiste an Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar have successfully secured €650 to be put towards a biodiversity garden in the school. Scheduled for opening in May 2023, the school say the garden will be a space for ongoing education on biodiversity, as well as a stage for music and artistic events.

ST GEORGE’S ARTS AND HERITAGE CENTRE

St George’s Arts and Heritage Centre will be using their funding of €2,250 to undertake a full conservation report of the building. Built in 1801 and a protected structure, the application for the funding states that the study is necessary to assess the ‘next phase of works, quantify costs involved and help inform priorities for the coming years’.

Other projects to be supported via the scheme are the East Cork Barn Owl Nest Box Project that received €1,100. Their goal is to build a further 50 barn owl nest boxes, adding to the 21 already in place, and erect them throughout East Cork.

A countywide project to log the locations of Ogham stones is also being supported, with €1,650 granted to the scheme. COMMEMORATION SCHEME

As previously reported, local projects that fall under the ‘Commemoration’ portion of funding have also been successful in securing funding. These include a further two separate grants for St George’s Arts and Heritage Centre, a grant to Mitchelstown historian Bill Power for the publication of a book, and another to the Shraharla Commemoration Committee for a plaque to War of Independence fighter, May Burke.

Further grants were awarded to the Knockraha Historical Society, and to the Irish United Nations Veterans Association to mark the old Aerodrome and Fitzgerald Camp in Fermoy.