ONE of the 30 projects to receive funding under Cork County Council’s heritage grants scheme is a mural in Skibbereen that stands testimony to the West Cork railway.
The mural on the gable of ‘Baby Hannah’s’ at 42 Bridge Street, was created in 1994 by a well-known artist, the late Russell Barrett, and it depicts the last train from Skibbereen to Baltimore on March 31st 1961.
Skibbereen and District Historical Society have been allocated €2,500 to oversee the restoration work and give it pride of place in the mural trail being developed by the Skibbereen Arts Festival.
Elsewhere, the creative mental health space known as 49 North Street, Skibbereen, was awarded €1,600 for a photography exhibition that explores how trauma, memory and resilience are present in the people and the landscape of Skibbereen.
Bandon AFC has been given €1,500 for a conservation condition survey of the two holy wells located in their grounds at the Town Park, while the Bantry Development and Tourism Association has been given €650 to make biodiversity wildflower cards available at the local tourist office.
The sum of €1,000 will be used to bring the life, times and achievements of Canon James Goodman to a wider public by developing and installing display units and wall-mounted billboards, as well as a website and a touch-screen display unit at the church he built at Abbeystrewry in Skibbereen.
A video documentary by Ciara Buckley in Skibbereen that entitled West Cork in Colour: The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke has been awarded €2,100.
The same documentary maker is to receive €2,100 for the Echoes of Faith: The Holy Wells of West Cork; Cork County is home to around 358 holy wells.
In Ballingeary, €1,000 will be used by Coiste Forbartha Béal Átha’n Chaorthaid to update their website for their project ‘An Sugan’, the museum of the Irish language and Gaelic revival.
€2,250 will be used by the organisers of the Ellen Hutchins Festival in Bantry to expand its 2025 programme based on the life of Ireland’s first female botanist, and will include a shop window heritage trail and the creation of an interactive stall at Bantry Agricultural Show.
Meanwhile, writer and director Karen Minihan will receive €1,750 to write a script with a soundscore based on the life of Ellen Hutchins.
In Minane Bridge, Carrigaline, the Knocknamanagh and Tracton Community Council will use its €1,500 allocation to stage its Natural Heritage Festival, while in Kinsale, €2,250 has been allocated for a new publication: The Story So Far: 10 Years of the Old Head Signal Tower and Lusitania.
Michelle Collins has a €1,000 allocation towards organising a ‘Resonate’ festival and to explore the traditions of wakes, while €2,750 has been allocated to erect an interpretative lectern style sign within Fanlobbus Graveyard in Dunmanway, tracing its history and archaeological features.
The Mealagh Valley Heritage Day will use its €1,400 allocation to bring together the whole community and to raise awareness of its rich heritage, and in Glengarriff, Nature Network Ireland has been granted €2,000 for a new booklet, workshop and video about otters.
The sum of €700 will be used by the Passage West Maritime Heritage Group to promote the history of Kilmurray Graveyard and create a tour, while the Passage West museum received €500 towards the cost of co-hosting this year’s AGM of the Federation of local history societies of Ireland.
Also, in West Cork, there is a €2,250 allocation for Sherkin Island towards the cost of organising the St Anthony wooden boat building workshops.
The grant allocations were announced earlier this week by Cork County Council via their Heritage Grant Scheme.
Many of the projects will culminate in events for National Heritage Week 2025, which takes place from Saturday the 16th to Sunday the 24th of August.
