MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
MOTION NO.2
MOTION: Councillor F. Timmons
“That the Chief Executive presents a report on the Clondalkin Heritage day held on the 21 November and also to congratulate and commend Council staff on the success of the event”
REPORT:
South Dublin County Council are enhancing the site at the Round Tower in Clondalkin by renovating the adjoining terrace of houses to incorporate an interpretative centre, exhibition and retail space, with a new construction housing a café and ancillary services, along with an enhanced public open space. The Clondalkin History & Heritage Day came out of a desire to inform the local community and interested parties of the developments planned for this important historical site.
The event provided the Council with an opportunity to gather historical information of local interest to inform possible future exhibitions in the Round Tower interpretation centre. The Council’s County Promotion Unit worked closely with the Local Studies Section of South Dublin Libraries and a local community group, the Round Tower Heritage Group, to realise the event. Members of the public were asked to share photographs, ephemera and artefacts of Clondalkin from bygone eras, which included but was not limited to material relating to Clondalkin’s buildings, industries, transport, schools, and also items relating to Clondalkin during the revolutionary period. The items were scanned or photographed by library staff and were returned to the owner on the day. 13 people digitally donated a wide variety of items totalling 200 individual pieces – Local interest items included:
It is worth noting that the materials sourced from local groups, along with materials that the Council is in the process of sourcing from many other bodies, will form part of the future interpretative presentations in the exhibition space.
The event also allowed us to host a number of talks on Clondalkin and its history, which included a “Brief History of Round Towers GAA Club”, “Viking History of Clondalkin,” “Old Photos of Clondalkin” and “Of Gunpowder, Huguenots & Ha’pennys – 300 years at Corkagh” given by author, historian and co-presenter of RTÉ’s Genealogy Roadshow, Turtle Bunbury. The talks were extremely well attended.
Irish History Live, “the museum that comes to you” brought children of all ages a little closer to history with an interactive show. The day ended with a guided walk of historic Clondalkin curated by volunteers from the Round Tower Heritage Group.
It is estimated that up to 150 people visited Clondalkin Civic Centre on 21st November.
