Laois Heritage Forum is writing a new Heritage Plan for County Laois and we need your help! We want the new plan to include the views of children and young people: what kids would like to see protected, what information they think should be gathered, and what kind of events they would to attend.
What do we mean by Heritage?
Heritage is a word that can mean lots of different things to different people. It can mean things from the past or present that we value, and want to protect for future generations. In Ireland we have the Heritage Council working to protect all parts of our heritage, and they include wildlife, landscapes, archaeology, architecture, museums, artefacts, our inland waterways, coasts and seascapes. Many people also include traditional music and dance, the Irish language, crafts, traditional skills like thatching, history, folktales and genealogy.
Daniel Doran, Clodagh Fitzpatrick, Roisin Fitzpatrick, Aaron Bowden-Adair, Eoin Bowden-Adair and Ryan Dunne from Scoil Bhríde, Portlaoise at Emo Court for the launch of the Laois Passport for Heritage Sites.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
So what is a Heritage Plan?
A County Heritage Plan celebrates the best of a county’s heritage and lays out what the community will do to protect, conserve and raise awareness of that heritage in the next five years. The plan contains Objectives, which say in broad terms what we hope to do, and under each objective we have Actions, these are the detailed projects that we will take on each year. We’d like your help in suggesting objectives and actions that are relevant for young people for the new plan.
Where do you come in?
We’d love to hear your views on what the next Heritage Plan for the county should include. If you’d like to take part, fill in the Consultation form, complete the online questionnaire or just write us a note on what you think we should focus on, to make the Heritage Plan the best it can be for young people.
Can you help us illustrate the new plan?
We’d love to include artwork from young people across Laois in the new plan. This can be a drawing, a painting, a photo, a poem or any artwork you like, that shows something you value about any part of the Heritage of County Laois. We will include the best artworks in the new published plan, and we will have two prizes of Family Heritage Cards for the best entries. Send your entries to the address below!
Where to send your details
Send your submissions to heritage@laoiscoco.ie or post to the Heritage Office, Laois County Council, Portlaoise, Co Laois. The closing date for submissions is 31st May 2020.
For some more information on the Heritage Plan and what we need, click here.
To download the consultation form click here.
For adults who would like to take part in the consultation, we have an adults survey too – click here for more.