Painting of Dysart Old Church in Ratheniska GAA Club funded by the Creative Laois Heritage Through Art grant scheme 2023
Creative Ireland Laois supported by Laois County Council are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2024 Heritage Through Art grant scheme. Harnessing the creative potential of our people and communities is a cornerstone of the Creative Ireland Programme. Nationally and locally, the Creative Ireland Programme brings together local expertise in arts, heritage, libraries, enterprise and community engagement, to foster collaboration and spark new initiatives.
David Broderick, Creative Communities Officer Laois County Council, commends the high-quality submissions for this grant award in the county.
“It is fantastic to see once again in 2024 such a broad range of creative projects reflecting the county’s rich heritage, history and folklore and to see them being brought to life in such a creative and public way.”
Bernie Foran, Creative Ireland Coordinator Laois County Council, also praised the submissions from local communities from around the county.
“The commitment of local communities in Laois to work with creative practitioners with their focus on placemaking and local history in their local areas is impressive.”
The aim of the Heritage Through Art Creative Laois grant scheme is to support communities and artists to work together in exploring and presenting aspects of Laois’s heritage through varying art forms. These individual grants ranged from incubator grants to project delivery grants. Projects could be phased over a number of years, exploring concepts and developing relationships between the artist and community in year one and the building on this in future years.
The theme of heritage included the following – monuments, archaeological objects, heritage objects including archives, architectural heritage, flora, fauna, wildlife habitats, landscapes, geology, heritage gardens and parks, inland waterways, folklore, and local history. The total grant awarded from the Creative Ireland Laois fund for the 17 projects was €36,400.
Camross Tidy Towns Group will work with painter and graphic artist Peter Dooley to develop the story of Camross poet Patrick Ryan (1750-1825). They aim to make a short film and exhibition to present at the Poet’s Cottage in Camross as part of Heritage Week 2024. Funding €2,500.
The Class of 1990 Restoration Project and Bloom HQ Mountrath will hold a Brigid in Bloom festival which will include a variety of artistic and heritage elements under the guidance of musician Trudi Lalor. This project was jointly funded by the Laois County Heritage Office. Funding €2,250.
Stradbally Writers will develop a chapbook on the myths and legends of County Laois. This project will be overseen by writer Eileen Casey and will include the illustrations of artist Jim Fitzpatrick and Harry Clarke. Funding €2,000.
Mountmellick Arts Collective will host a summer event/heritage festival July 12th – 14th. They will include the following as part of their event: a mural, the concept is to choose a local site with public access to outline 4-5 bodies which can be painted and feature designs including biodiversity fauna and animals; a multiscreen art installation which will advocate for the cultural and social value of film archives – local films, archival materials, and archival footage also several 10-minute plays with a local heritage theme. Funding €4,750.
The Stradbally Vicarstown Timahoe Community Group involves the development and creation of art objects in Vicarstown, Stradbally, and Timahoe in County Laois, inspired by local legends and historical events. The work will be organised in workshops with the participation of artists including Evgeny Chubatyy, volunteers of all ages, and in cooperation with local schools. 1st phase Funding €2,250.
Rebecca Deegan and Laois Offaly Wildlife Trust The aim of this project is to work alongside wildlife conservationists, local folklorists and libraries, to create a large-scale oil painting which will serve as a visual representation of the interconnection between the folklore, flora and fauna of Laois. Phase 1 funding €1,000.
Portlaoise Musical Society In 2024 the Portlaoise musical society celebrates its 25th anniversary. They have a range of old programmes and photographs to put on exhibition as part of the society’s anniversary celebrations. Funding €1500.
Laois Heritage Society in collaboration with creative producer/curator Ann Lawlor, historian Regina Dunne, and science communicator Catherine McGuinness will explore and consider the relationship of concepts/artefacts/assets within Laois Archives and Laois Local Studies as part of a STEAM practices and research project. Funding €1500.
Laois Heritage Society will work with historian Terry Dunne to research, record and preserve the history of the Famine Mortuary at Ballylusk, Ballyfin. “The Famine Mortuary at Ballylusk, Ballyfin, is an intriguing little stone building … little in its dimensions but huge in terms of historical significance, to our knowledge, there were no other Famine mortuaries in the country … a lease none that have survived.” This project was jointly funded by the Laois County Heritage Office. Funding €1,100.
Abbeyleix Bog Project will work with artist Alison McEvoy using Abbeyleix Bog as inspiration and main location to hold an arts festival ‘Of Hands’ in Abbeyleix. Exploring the bog landscape through paint, sculpture, ceramics, written and spoken word. Funding €2,400.
Abbeyleix Bog Project will work with creative Brendan Phelan to bring the story of the bog to life for visitors in a way that they have never experienced before – its history, unique landscape, flora and fauna will all be presented in this modern way.
A route around the bog will be chosen, and strategic places will be selected for QR Codes. A notice board at the entrance to the bog will inform people of the Audio-Visual Tour and map out the location of each QR Code. Funding €4,750.
Laois Beekeeping Association are currently developing a new apiary at the location of the Old Waterworks in Abbeyleix. This is a very important venture to offer the members of the association and wider community a space where the tradition of beekeeping can be fostered. We are turning this once brown space into a green site and have carefully chosen specific hedging and trees to develop native flora and fauna to encourage bees into the area. We have a large storage container on the site which we hope to blend into the natural environment by installing a fitting art installation. Aileen Donavan artist will paint an image of St. Gobnait, the patron saint of bees. Funding €1800.
Tonduff Cillín Project will work with Artist Jen Donnery to create a memorial art installation to be situated at Heritage House, Abbeyleix. The aim of this memorial is to remember the burial site (Cillín) at Tonduff and commemorate the innumerable infants buried there in the past and to honour their existence. Members of the local community have connections to this aspect of Abbeyleix history and it has had a significant impact on their lives. By remembering the babies in this way, it is hoped to provide some peace and closure for those affected and others in similar circumstances. This project was joint funded by the Heritage Officer. Funding €1,800.
Sandra Kelly and the Rathdowney Active Retirement/ Men’s Shed Forgotten Memories is a series of video clips to be created with residents of Rathdowney. This project aims to work alongside the residence of Rathdowney, County Laois. Creating space to explore the town in which they reside. The aim is to have the voice of the locals at the core. Sandra Kelly is a Visual Artist and Curator who originally comes from Rathdowney. Sandra wants to highlight the changes the residents have seen over the years. Rural Ireland can sometimes be forgotten and history lost. Funding €3,800.
Ballyfin Players are in the process of developing a play on The Raid at Clontyglas 1922, a local incident during the War of Independence in 1922. With the assistance of a playwright and producer they aim to bring this new production to the stage in Ballyfin. Funding €1,000.
Rossmore Killeshin Development Association Ltd aim to increase the tourist and local usage of the building by hosting events and showcasing the history, flora and fauna of the surrounding area.
The event is for all ages, it’s main aim is to remember and also remind young and old of the local traditions of a bygone time. Local Historian Pat Whelan will research and deliver a talk on coal mining in Rossmore on June 26th at 8pm in Oisin House & Park. Funding €1,000.
Midlands Ukrainian Association as part of their heritage project will work with the older people within their community on the traditions and memories of traditional ways of farming and cooking in the Ukraine. They will incorporate local farm visits, cooking demonstration and have a presentation of their collections which will be considered for exhibition at the National Ploughing Championship 2025. Phase 1 Funding €1250.
