Just over 35 years since Galway’s notorious Magdalene laundry closed its doors, a new refuge for women and children is nearing completion in convent grounds next door.

Irish flora and fauna helped form a crucial part of the nation’s history, writes Fiann Ó Nualláin.

Purchasing a thatched cottage was a decision that would change Liam Broderick’s life. Kya deLongchamps meets the long-time thatcher

Heritage Week organisers have come under fire by including tours of the headquarters of the Church of Scientology in Dublin to its events listing.

Kya deLongchamps says it’s time to get down and dirty for the sake of our archaeological heritage.

Submissions close next Friday on a plan which warns of the erosion of the cultural integrity of a Cork Gaeltacht area of “international heritage significance”.

Migrants and asylum seekers from as far away as Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan are ‘connecting’ with Ireland through the iconic currach.

Who are the farmers who manage their land and livestock in a way that benefits nature?

Moths might not look spectacular, but amateur lepidopterist, Philip Strickland, knew it was a rare find.

As more people become aware of the treasures our bogs hold, their attention is being drawn to unusual plants which decorate the peatlands.

A unique collection of ex-Taoiseach and GAA legend Jack Lynch’s personal, political and sporting belongings is available for close inspection in his native Cork for the first time.

ONE of the many ironies of Irish life is that most people — 97%, according to an EU Commission survey — agree we have a responsibility to protect nature. 

In every town and village, people work hard to create a viable tourism sector that generates jobs and enhances quality of life.

Niamh McCoy, director of the GAA Museum, explains how improving the visitor experience is one of the key focus areas as the museum attempts to broaden its appeal and make an impact in the overseas market

May is many people’s favourite month, as we witness nature and new life burst forth in all their glory, writes Donal Hickey.

A masterplan is to be prepared to boost tourism to one of the finest remaining examples of a classical coastal artillery fort in the world.

Two Cork projects have won national heritage awards — a group from Castlemartyr that remembers the work of Cork-born White House landscapist, John Saul; and the Cork LGBT Archive.

Ireland has lost yet another great writer. A little more than a month since the death of William Trevor at the age of 88, it was announced yesterday that Anthony Cronin had died, also aged 88.

Heritage Council chairman Conor Newman has decided to step down after eight years in the post.

A major wind farm straddling the uplands of the Cork-Kerry border, across 32 townlands, has been given the go-ahead by An Bord Pleanála.

A total of 171 heritage projects around the country — ranging from conserving thatch to restoring the entire cabin where Shackleton spent his last hours — will receive funding of almost €1m.

A centre which has played a significant role in scientific, religious, learning, and economic life through the ages is set to celebrate 25 years of Heritage Town status.

IN rural areas at times of unseasonally cold weather like we’ve been having of late, you’ll hear people say, ‘there are no midges around’. Neither are we likely to hear bees.

Conservation of traditional farm buildings is to be grant-aid on GLAS farms.

WE HEAR a lot these days about a condition known as nature deficit disorder — the ill effects on children resulting from lack of direct contact with the natural world — while at the same time there were never more school programmes on the environment, writes Donal Hickey.

Sheila Pratschke says we need to restore confidence in our cultural community to realise art is important in creating a society first and not economy first

An infrastructure of people, ideas, and places built up in better times has been ground down, writes Gerard Howlin

A scale model representing one of the country’s most historic towns as it appeared in medieval times will be unveiled today.

The country is full of areas of cultural and historic interest to visitors but a co-ordinated approached is needed to become successful, writes Liam Mannix of the Heritage Council

THERE isn’t a parish in the country, urban or rural, without very visible reminders of how people earned their livelihoods, conducted their lives and transported themselves in the past.

The head of the State body for overseeing Ireland’s built, cultural, and natural heritage has admitted he regularly questions the work it does in the face of a lack of resources and the impact it may have on the health of his staff.