Announcement of second phase of capital investment for key attractions
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, along with Minister of State for Tourism, Michael Ring TD, have today (Monday) announced over €1m in a further phase of funding for capital projects in Ireland’s Ancient East. The funding is being made through Fáilte Ireland’s ‘New Ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme and is for a further 13 projects within the Ireland’s Ancient East initiative. This second phase of investment brings the total funding under the ‘New Ideas in Ancient Spaces’ initiative to €2.26m and comes ahead of a new signage scheme to brand the region which is due to be rolled out in 2016.
This funding under the ‘New Ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme follows a Fáilte Ireland call for applications from interested parties across the region. A further phase of funding in capital supports for the initiative is expected in 2016.
Launched last April, Ireland’s Ancient East is Fáilte Ireland’s latest tourism initiative and seeks to build on the wealth of historical and cultural assets in the east and south of Ireland. The new initiative seeks to give visitors a personal experience of 5,000 years of Irish history through a journey of discovery in a lush green landscape with stories told by the best storytellers in the world. Ireland’s Ancient East stretches from Carlingford to Cork and is intended to match and complement the Wild Atlantic Way in terms of scale and ambition.
Commenting on this further phase of capital funding for the project, Minister Donohoe today said: ’I am delighted to announce a further round of funding for ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ and to ensure we maintain the momentum of this initiative and build on the impressive tourism assets we have in the east and south of the country. As this project evolves and grows, I am confident that it will be a perfect complement to the Wild Atlantic Way in the west and that it will generate significant additional visitors, revenue and tourism jobs in the east.’
Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD said: ‘At the end of the day, beyond all the marketing and advertising, the test of a holiday destination is the experience on the ground. We know that there are great experiences to be had based on our heritage and past but that we can do more to bring these to life. These projects today will incrementally boost the appeal of Ireland’s Ancient East and will deliver memorable experiences to those who come to explore the region.’
The capital funding announced in today is being awarded to:
Laois Laois Heritage Trails, Co Laois €84,804
Wexford Ros Tapestry, New Ross, Co Wexford €16,924
Cork Cobh Heritage Centre, Co Cork €28,443
Cork The Clockgate Tower Youghal, Co Cork €200,000
Wexford The Norman Way, Co Wexford €178,832
Tipperary The Butler Trail, Co Tipperary €109,654
Cork The Steam Centre Visitor Experience, Lifetime Lab, Cork City €59,685
Carlow Celtic Tree Experience, Blackstairs Eco Trails, Co Carlow €48,399
Cavan Castle Saunderson , Co Cavan
€60,175
Louth Louth Adventures, Co Louth €50,590
Meath Ireland’s Ancient Eats, Co Meath €49,500
Monaghan Glaslough Heritage Trail, Co Monaghan
€35,000
Waterford 3D Viking Experience, Waterford City €145,100
(For more on each project, see notes for editor below).
Fáilte Ireland Director of Business Development, Paul Keeley, today emphasised: ‘We in Fáilte Ireland are working directly with businesses and communities on the ground to turn the promise of the ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’ brand into a reality. By the end of the year, we will have helped to jump-start or augment projects within Ireland’s Ancient East and will have readied the region to deliver first class experiences to visitors during summer 2016.’
This funding comes as Fáilte Ireland prepares to install approximately 100 Ireland’s Ancient East orientation signs and 300 county boundary signs across the region in 2016. This new signage scheme will encourage visitors to explore Ireland’s Ancient East by making them aware of the wide range of things to see and across the area.
Get a full update on Ireland’s Ancient East here
For full details on Phase one funding click here
Ends
Notes for Editor
Fáilte Ireland
Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, was established in 2003 to guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy.
The tourism and hospitality industry employs an estimated 205,000 people and generates over €3.5billion in overseas revenue a year.
Ireland’s Ancient East
Ireland’s Ancient East is geared to maximise the history and heritage in East and South of Ireland and bring it to greater international attention. To do this, the new initiative will offer visitors a personal experience of 5000 years of history through a relaxing journey of discovery in the beautiful landscape that attracted warring settlers for millennia and illuminated by stories from the best storytellers in the world – the local people. Stretching from Carlingford, County Louth down through Newgrange and the Boyne Valley in the north east and ranging through the midlands all the way down via Kilkenny’s Medieval mile to Waterford’s Viking Quarter and Cork’s many cultural attractions, the new experience brand is intended to match and complement the Wild Atlantic Way in terms of scale and ambition.
Based on comprehensive research in overseas markets, the initiative is aimed at particular market segments overseas who have indicated they would be more likely to come to Ireland to explore new landscapes, history and culture or simply to take time out from their busy lives and careers to connect with local heritage and nature and their own place within.
Fáilte Ireland’s research suggests that an initiative themed along these lines has the potential to deliver an extra 600,000 overseas visitors (growth of more than 20%) to the region and increase visitor revenue by almost 25% to €950m in total by 2020.
You can learn more about Ireland’s Ancient East here.
‘New ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme
Fáilte Ireland launched their ‘New ideas in Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme to encourage the development of compelling visitor experiences throughout the Ireland’s Ancient East region. This funding is being provided to ensure that the Ireland’s Ancient East experience brand delivers on its promise to visitors. The scheme favours projects which match what visitors to Ireland’s Ancient East are expecting, namely a destination:
· that is easy and enjoyable to explore;
· where heritage experiences are memorable because they tell their story so well;
· where the stories told at individual heritage sites link to other sites across the region and to an overall timeline, building to a unique, fascinating and enriching journey through 5,000 years of European history.
The projects granted assistance under the second phase of funding include:
Laois Heritage Trails, County Laois
This project will provide high quality, accessible and interesting interpretative material to engage overseas visitors pre-trip while planning their holiday and also while they are in Ireland’s Ancient East. The material will encourage them to explore the wide range of history and heritage which is available in Co Laois and beyond. It will include Audio Guides and PDF guides in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin to the Laois Heritage trail and Laois Gardens trail as well as audio-visual presentations in Donaghmore Workhouse and Timahoe Round Tower about Monastic and 19th Century Laois. A Laois Heritage App which will incorporate all the above material and be available in all 5 languages mentioned above.
Ros Tapestry, County Wexford
The proposal is for Audio guides which will allow the visitor to fully immerse themselves in the exhibition at their own pace and experience the rich history of Ireland's Ancient East as told through thread. New Ross is the first town visitors meet after disembarking in Rosslare Europort. Having this cultural experience as one of their first stops in Ireland will greatly enhance their experience of Irelands Ancient East and all it has to offer as we encourage visitors to partake in all the heritage and experiences awaiting them.
Cobh Heritage Centre, County Cork
The aim of the project is to tell the story of Cobh’s maritime past which is not presently depicted in the heritage centre. The proposed exhibition space will also complete the current story by adding the West Indies story of Irish servants/slaves as a prequel to the main maritime emigration theme. This project also includes the addition of a multilingual self-guided audio tour. The new exhibits in conjunction with the existing storyline and proposed audio tour, would contribute in making the “Queenstown Story” a world class experience and a memorable and educational voyage through Irish history and culture.
The Clockgate Tower, Youghal, County Cork
This project will result in a permanent interpretative exhibition over four floors of the clock tower that will bring its historical story to life. Interpretation will include costumed storytellers presenting and animating 700 years of history, in addition to storyboards and screen imagery supporting the story. The visitor will be able handle goods, ledgers, sit in a cell, listen to the sounds of street brawls, of rebellion, manipulate models, ask and answer questions and engage directly with the storytellers. An audio-visual companion will enhance the experience for non-native English Speakers.
The Norman Way, County Wexford
The Norman Way heritage and leisure route will encourage visitors to spend time exploring Wexford’s authentic cultural experience and is based on its substantial Norman heritage. The story of the Norman invasion of Ireland at the invitation of the local Chieftain will be told. Many of the locals encountered along the way, as visitors follow in the footsteps of the Normans, are direct descendants of those very first Normans. It opens up many hidden gems off the beaten track as well as incorporating the major towns within the region. It will link with the Ros Tapestry above.
The project will provide clear directional sign posting and interpretation panels at Norman sites, along the route bringing visitors on a journey from Lady’s Island to New Ross and beyond to encapsulate the wider Norman impact on the region including Waterford and Kilkenny.
The visitor can download the Norman Way smart phone app which will be developed to inform people of the background and significance of the historical sites, as well as local places to eat, where to get refreshments, lists of places to stay and give the locations of other areas of interest like bird watching, relative to their current location along the route.
The Butler Trail, County Tipperary
The Butler Trail is a driving route from Carrick on Suir, through Clonmel to Cahir (and vice versa) along the N24. Signage for this trail is currently limited to three town centres on the route. This project seeks to install directional signage along the route in all gateway towns and in parking facilities along the trail. It also includes the development of an App with audio guides (English, French & German) which will enable self-navigation of the route and improve the visitor experience. Through this project the Butler trail will link with the River Suir Blueway project which will make the overall experience more memorable.
Lifetime Lab, Cork City
This project will develop a multi-sensory 360 visitor experience targeted at visitors who are interested in industrial heritage. This will be done by transforming the boiler and engine rooms of the former Victorian waterworks (Lifetime Lab) in the city. This will enable storytelling around three and a half centuries of industrial development and establish links to other Cork experiences which chart the development of the old waterworks in tandem with the emergence of Cork city as a merchant and military stronghold. The project will utilize narrative holograms to tell the story of the building and its works.
The Celtic Tree Experience, Blackstairs Ecotrails, County Carlow
The Blackstairs Eco trails already offers a unique Celtic Tree Walk which reveals how important tree species were to our ancestors, the Celts who lived in Ireland 2,500 years ago. At that time each native tree was identified by a letter of the early Ogham Alphabet and cultural codes of behaviour developed to ensure the survival of ancient woodlands.
This project includes a commissioned Ogham stone sculpture along the route of the Celtic Tree Trail which would depict each letter of the Ogham Alphabet; this will greatly enhance the walk and help foster further interest in our ancient culture. The project will produce a short film to depict the Celtic Tree Alphabet and its importance to the Celts in this part of Ireland’s Ancient East. The development of an audio visual room with screen, projector, black out blinds and chairs are also part of the project.
Castle Saunderson, Co Cavan
This project proposes to enhance the ‘on the ground’ visitor experience and present the story of Castle Saunderson through the ages. This will be achieved through the development of a new ‘easy to explore’ heritage trail - The Castle Trail – and further development of the existing trails.
Through interpretative displays, visual art and written interpretation, the story will imaginatively portray the dramatic history and transition of this place as part of Ireland’s Ancient East from free land, through conflict, plantation and the divisive advent of Unionism and the Orange Order to the peaceful coexistence of the present day.
Louth Adventures, Co Louth
Louth Adventures plan to provide unique, on-water, guided tours of Carlingford Lough and will tell the stories and legends unique to the area such as Táin Bo Cuailnge, Cuchulainn and Queen Medb. These new guided Historical Sea Tours of Carlingford Lough will take in sites such as King Johns Castle, Greencastle and Narrow Water Castle.
In addition to providing the craft and related safety equipment, this plan will include the provision of interpretation through augmented reality story-boards which will enhance the visitor experience and understanding of the area’s rich heritage.
“Ireland’s Ancient Eats”, Co Meath
Located in an area dating back to 1798, “Ireland’s Ancient Eats” will provide a rich and immersive experience based on the history and heritage of food in Ireland’s Ancient East.
Visitors will learn about the timeline of Irish food from ancient times, the story of farming in an Irish context and will gain insight into 'old school' traditional methods of food production. They will also take part in the cooking and consumption of locally-sourced traditional food. Project elements include the refurbishment of a building into a visitor reception facility, reconstruction of a ‘fulacht fiadh’ (outdoor oven), landscaping and furnishings.
Glaslough Heritage Trail, Co Monaghan
The project involves the development of an audio walking trail and app, with associated interpretative signage in Glaslough, which will include a comprehensive range of sites of interest in the village and surrounding area and a number of locally researched stories which link directly to these sites.
The content will be casual conversation style and format and will include heritage, myths and legends, 'did you knows' and general tourist information. The trail will tie in with the local asset that is Castle Leslie - one of the best examples of a working estate and an estate village in Ireland.
3D Viking Experience, Waterford City
To complement the current exhibition in Reginald’s Tower, a more accessible, approachable guide to the Viking World is needed to appeal to a broader audience and bring a new added dimension to Waterford’s Viking Triangle.
The 3D Viking Experience will create an immersive, story-driven experience, using state-of-the-art technology, to take visitors back to the age of the Vikings. The stories that the visitors will take part in include an epic voyage from Norway, an attack on an Irish monastery, the founding of Waterford, and the impact of the Vikings on Ireland’s history and culture. This will staged in a replica Viking Age house, an exact model of a house excavated in Waterford. Elements include construction of replica house, fit out and technology development.