This year’s National Heritage Week in Westmeath commences on Saturday of next week, 20 August and continues until Sunday, 28 August inclusive.
There are several dozen events arranged across the county from Fore and Castlepollard to Athlone, with many of them free of charge.
The public libraries in Westmeath are playing an important part and the listed events in the libraries include ten different exhibitions or other attractions in Mullingar, Castlepollard, Moate, Kilbeggan and Killucan libraries, all of them free. A number of these are ongoing throughout Heritage Week, and in all, they account for more than one third of the different events organised up to 27 August
For instance, starting on Saturday, 20 August in Mullingar library and continuing up to 1.30pm on the following Saturday, 27 August, an exhibition ‘Ripples in the Rockpool’ highlighting connections between Westmeath and the Rising and events of 1916, can be seen during opening hours. Similarly, a second free exhibition, ‘Spark of Genius’, covers the life and work of artists, writers and musicians who have contributed to the cultural heritage of Westmeath, and it will also run throughout the week.
The ‘Spark of Genius’ exhibition will also be in place in Castlepollard library for five days, in Kilbeggan library for four days, and in Killucan and Ballynacargy libraries for two days.
In Castlepollard branch library, there are two separate attractions for five days of Heritage Week, ‘Ireland in History’, which is a solo exhibition of paintings by Patrick McGovern, inspired by the events and personalities of 1916, and also ‘A Terrible Beauty is Born’, which features literature and other items related to the Easter Rising, some unique. This also runs over five days.
‘Moate Castle through the Ages – a history of the building from its Quaker origins in the 1500s up to the present’, with other Quaker links explored also. This takes place over five days, Monday to Friday.
All these are free, as are are two other special features, ‘Tracing Your Past’ in Mullingar Library, with the help of librarian and historian, Gretta Connell, who has written a book on this subject. This is on 24 August, and is free, but booking is needed. ‘Fireside Folk Tales’, free in Moate Museum, with professional storyteller Doreen McBride, on 25 August, has been arranged by Moate Historical Society.
BELVEDERE, FORE AND TULLYNALLY
There are also a series of events for Heritage Week arranged for the best known visitor venues in Westmeath, like Belvedere House, Mullingar, Fore, with its many features and varied history, Tullynally Castle, Castlepollard, Athlone Castle and Dún na Sí Heritage Park in Moate.
Some of these are free and there’s a fee charged for others, but all the details of each are readily available on the Westmeath county guide on www.heritageweek.ie
