How Heritage Week unites Ireland with community, culture, and history

Home Editor Eve Kelliher discovers the roots of National Heritage Week and explores the events we're all invited to 

Fingal Mummers at the launch of National Heritage Week at City Assembly House in Dublin, which will host free daily tours during National Heritage Week. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan

ASK anyone involved in tourism, hospitality, and heritage-driven sectors, and they’ll agree — National Heritage Week connects us to our community, past as well as present.

This year’s celebration is particularly significant — it marks 30 years since the establishment of the government organisation the Heritage Council, and two decades since the latter took responsibility for coordinating the seven-day jamboree. “National Heritage Week is a special time to reflect on the many layers of Kerry’s past and how they continue to shape our communities,” according to Kerry County Council heritage officer Victoria McCarthy.