NATIONWIDE WEEK 33
MONDAY 14TH AUGUST
PRESENTER DONAL BYRNE
HERITAGE PROGRAMME 1
In the first of three programmes marking National Heritage Week, Donal Byrne is in County Sligo, a county very rich in heritage. He meets members of the Dominican Order, whose friars have been a presence in Sligo for over 800 years and visit their historic Abbey. Nationwide learns how a neolithic cemetery provides evidence of how our ancestors lived and farmed over 6,000 years ago and we visit a perfectly preserved Irish thatched cottage curated by the Irish Countrywomen’s Association.
WEDNESDAY 16TH AUGUST
PRESENTER ANNE CASSIN
HERITAGE PROGRAMME 2
On this evening’s show Nationwide continues our Heritage Week of programmes with a visit to a community in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, County Fermanagh whose local parish church is the holder of the title, The UK’s Church of the Year. Plus, in Wicklow Anne Cassin takes a tour of the latest attraction at the beautiful Russborough House. The final heritage story takes viewers to Sligo to see a conservation project on a local building which now houses the local Credit Union.
CHURCH OF THE YEAR/REPORT MARY HARTE
The theme of Heritage week this year is “Living Heritage” and the emphasis is on encouraging everyone to get involved in promoting and supporting heritage projects in our own area. Across Ireland there are community groups who are the driving force behind so many deserving projects. Reporter Mary Harte met one such community group in Augher in County Tyrone whose local parish church claimed the Church of the Year title.
RUSSBOROUGH HOUSE/REPORT ANNE CASSIN
An exciting new visitor experience has recently been unveiled at Russborough House and Gardens in County Wicklow, The Vernet Drawing Room, the only one of its kind in Ireland to house the original works it was designed for. The Vernet Drawing Room, conceived to display eight ‘Times of the Day’ paintings by French artist Claude Joseph Vernet, is now open for visitors to enjoy as part of a guided house tour.
FRIDAY 18TH AUGUST
PRESENTER BLÁTHNAID NÍ CHOFAIGH
HERITAGE PROGRAMME 3
Nationwide has more stories for Heritage Week as the programme visits Donegal to meet a collector of all kinds of things of old Ireland which he has on display in his mini museum at home. Plus, the programme hears about the restoration of a plane built in Portlaoise in the early 20th century.
THE PORTLAOISE FLYER/REPORT MARY FANNING
Reporter Mary Fanning hears the story of the The Portlaoise Flyer, a historic plane built in Aldritt’s local garage. It’s also reputed to have inspired Colonel James Fitzmaurice, the Irish aviation pioneer who was a member of the first successful transatlantic flight crew of the Bremen in 1928.
RURAL MUSEUM/REPORT MARY HARTE
The theme of the 2023 Heritage week is “Living Heritage” which is defined as the practices, knowledge and skills that have been passed down from one generation to the next and are still in use today and our next story is a shining example of this. Nationwide has been meeting a couple who have been collecting items of rural life and exhibiting these at their farmhouse museum for a number of years.