Midlands Conservation & Pollination Project
In 2023 the Irish Heritage School was commissioned to deliver an educational program by Offaly and Laois County Councils focused on six medieval churches that has previously been conserved (Kilmanman, Dysartgallen and Clopook in Laois and Kilmurryely, Kilbride and Monasteroris in Offaly).
The Project
The project was holistic in nature featured practical stonemasonry conservation workshops, site tours, site biodiversity workshops (undertaken by ecologist Dr Fiona MacGowan; resulting in graveyard specific biodiversity action plans) and an online lecture series. As part of the program, we also delivered a set of children’s educational workshops to the school’s closest the conserved churches. The project aimed to encourage local community engagement with the graveyards, whilst also providing practical training in building conservation principles and nature friendly land management practices.
YouTube
- Conservation and Pollination Education Series
- ‘Dig Deeper It’s all About the Rocks’ Dr Stephen Mandal
- ‘The Magic of the Mortar’ Patrick Hickey
- ‘The Golden Age of Monasticism in the Irish Midlands’ Prof Muiris O’Sullivan
- ‘The Natural History of the Six Church Sites’ Dr Fiona Mac Gowan
- ‘History at your Fingertips’ Dr Stephen Mandal
