 this late night talking there you go the sound of Harry Styles and late night talking and that's what we're going to be doing now talking of course about Heritage Week because they're over 90 events planned for Heritage Week here in County Donegal and the message is that there is something for everyone to let you to say and join the studio now by Joseph Gallagher Donegal Heritage Officer Joseph a very good afternoon to you they're good to have you with us on the show today thank you so Joseph this week or this year's theme rather is live in heritage tell us all about it yeah this year we're kind of focusing on the traditions and practices and knowledge and skills that have been passed down from one generation to the next and kind of trying to put a focus on that so again like you know kind of communities like there's a lot of local history in those areas but there's also like a lot of local traditions that would be there and you know some of those are disappearing and a lot of people are proud of those traditions and they want to share their knowledge about their local history and heritage so Heritage Week is really an ideal opportunity to do that and it's supposed to try and bring some of those stories to life and we've got some you know great people in kind of local historical societies and local Heritage groups who are very good at bringing those stories to life so if you want to find out about the traditions and skills in Donegal Heritage Week is a great opportunity to meet with local people and to find out sort of you know about the traditions in the county and of course a lot of those traditions now are you know particularly since Covid as well are regaining a new life and they're taking on a new forum so you know it's not just about the past as well it's about the present and how we can play our role in handing on some of those traditions into the future as well and is that a fear of losing some of these traditions as the years goes on well yeah I mean I suppose it's just the way the way the society is I mean we are we are losing traditions like you know that there are ones that fall out of favour again they're being replaced by by others but will become traditions as well in the future and I suppose that's kind of natural in society but I suppose what we want to do is we want to try and set a document and record and and convey sort of you know what those practices were and their importance in terms of the story of Donegal and the people of Donegal so like I said Heritage Week is really an opportunity to do that and then we'll be embracing sort of new traditions as time goes on as well yeah so keeping the current of the supposed traditions alive basically yeah and maybe maybe sometimes it's just kind of those traditions kind of being handed on in a different form like you know they're still there but they're being relayed in a different way you know with social media now there's a whole new opportunity there to promote our heritage as well whole new world basically absolutely absolutely and can you tell us about some of the events that will be taking place throughout the week yeah I mean it's it's a really varied program you know we've got we've got field trips there's guided walks there's site visits there's traditional skills demonstrations there's a number of open houses as well throughout the county there's exhibitions and talks and workshops historical reenactments and there's also kind of launch events so you know we're kind of encouraging people to basically go out and enjoy Heritage Week but also to support the local groups and individuals that have organized events for Heritage Week and it also might inspire you know people of all ages to get more involved in their local heritage because there's a lot of heritage that needs support and needs conservation and needs better management and again by doing that you know you're supporting kind of heritage professionals as well and you know there's there's supporting tourism because again a lot of our tourism relies on our our heritage and also kind of supporting kind of local businesses but the program in Donegal has always been very impressive and every year you know I say it every year but I really do mean it you know the quality of events every year you know just seems to increase and you know there's like I said there's over 90 events most of the events are free so this is really a great opportunity to try and explore the local heritage I mean some of the events that are that are going on now today over in Glen Bay and again Glen Bay National Park has has kind of a full program of events but they have an open day at the the Bridge House Education Centre so if you want to find out a bit natural heritage between 11 and 4 today and also next Sunday between 11 and 4 you can you can visit the Education Centre there in Ruffaux all days every day this week from 11 to 2 they've just closed now probably for for for today just last time but you you've got the rest of the week to explore that and it's our heritage and pictures again looking at the the heritage town of Ruffaux there's an exhibition also on in the courthouse in Lifford looking at a threat attract through time looking at sort of how traditions have changed over that period that's on from 10 to 4 daily the Workhouse and Dunfanny has a full program for events as well starting today tomorrow for example an interesting combination here history and yoga at the county museum yeah I was thinking about that earlier that that's an interesting one I that's it so I suppose it's kind of for the for the for the heart and the mind like you know so that's that starts at 11 o'clock and if you just contact the county museum just to to book your place on that so you can find out about the history of the place and then we like said get a little bit of exercise in as well and I suppose that's one of the things too about a lot of the field trips that are organized for Heritage Week it's not just about kind of relating the history or the the heritage of a particular area it's also a social event it's kind of meeting other people that have similar interests and maybe people from abroad who are visiting the county it's a chance to to meet people in the local community as well who are kind of you know kind of telling us about the heritage in their area but it's it's also kind of about getting out and getting some exercise walking around so you know again you know you're not you're not in a gym you're actually out walking around and you know you don't realize that you're doing perhaps as much walking as you as you could so it's a good opportunity to do that as well tomorrow evening as well in St Garvin's National School in Rathmullen there is also an illustrated talk on the wildflowers and aspects of built heritage in 17 townlands from Uchtar Linn to Los Willy and that starts at eight o'clock and again there's a great local history group there that that are kind of are promoting the heritage of the area there on Wednesday the Litterkenny Cathedral Quarter here they have the Litterkenny Cathedral Quarter experience and I say if anybody hasn't been on that tour it's only about 45 minutes it's a little walk around the Cathedral Quarter but you get to meet some of the the characters who lived in the area there's kind of the historical reenactments and it's really a wonder and there's one or two surprises as well along the way so I'd encourage you it's free it starts at 7 30 on Wednesday evening it's also on Saturday at 2 30 and like I said it's you'll find out about the history of the area but like I said you'll also meet some of the characters and in that Thursday then like in a nation there's eco in a show and again our natural heritage is really important as well because our heritage covers you know our natural built in our cultural heritage so it's very broad and they have a whole day plan from 12 30 to 2 30 talking about sort of our biodiversity in our natural heritage and that's in the Colgan Hall in Cairndona and in the Central Library on Thursday evening as well Dr Angela Byrne is giving a series of talks on life in society in Donegal in 1923 because this is the end now of the decade of Centenaries yes yes so she's giving that talk at various regional locations around the county but she happens to be in Letterkenny in the Central Library at 6 30 on Thursday evening so it's a good opportunity to catch up there and and then there's there's aspects of heritage too perhaps that that many people wouldn't be aware of and you know there's an exhibition on called A Resolute People which opens on Thursday evening between six and nine and also on Friday evening between six and nine in the Orange Hall in Newton Cunningham entitled A Resolute People the Story of Orangeism in the Republic of Ireland so again to find out about you know different traditions like you know and a chance to hear sort of you know the the different aspects of our heritage as well and so there's a great program there Friday then in the west of the county the treasures in our bogs again looking at our natural heritage you know many of us would be familiar with the day in the bog but also there's that they've got an exhibition there the the Donegal Gap Heritage and History Group they've organized an exhibition and also a concert that evening sort of around the theme of our natural heritage and about our bog lands so there's really a wonderful a wonderful program there and then like I said into the weekend there's a whole whole variety of other events as well so there's something basically for everyone in there there really is and like I said you know we could we could sit here all day and probably wouldn't get through all the all the different events like you know and there's there's a wonderful festival over which starts on Thursday as well over in the west of the county in Chamomile McGowan and there's things like a tour to Enish Boffin Island there's demonstrations of traditional skills there's talks about local traditions over over four days like you know so there's wonderful there's wonderful events going on out there and I would encourage people to to go along and support them and to to get involved in heritage in the longer term as well because you know it does rely I mean I suppose a lot of the the heritage management that's taking place through these groups is taking place on a voluntary basis and you know they're very proud of their heritage and again they want other people to know about it and but they can always do with that little bit of extra support as well so if you're interested in heritage and you'd like to get involved in your local area go along to some of these events there's lots of opportunities to do that as well because it's important as opposed to for even the area now and preserving things and having for for visitors to have these attractions for people to come to and see this was the way of life in Ireland say a hundred years ago well absolutely and again too I think it's important to say you know that the heritage sector really has played its part you know in terms of economic recovery like I said a lot of the work is done on a voluntary basis but again there are people sort of coming out of college as well that you know there are opportunities as well in the heritage sector and we need to make sure that that their skills are are recognized as well and the importance of heritage be it to our tourism be to our economic development or to job opportunities I think you know heritage really highlights the fact that there's greater investment needed sort of in our heritage sector to support that sector and to get more people involved in our professional basis in heritage yeah so there's something basically for everyone whether you have young kids or whatever like there's you know every every box is ticked basically absolutely and I suppose a lot of the a lot of the school children now will be going back to school in the next 10 days or two weeks like you know so this is kind of maybe a kind of a last opportunity as well to get out and and like I said it's a good opportunity for families to go out and see what's on and like I said there's so much going on all across the county and you know again for you know for families as well you know it's challenging time financially and with a lot of these events being free it's great to go along and support them and you know and and some of them you'll get a cup of tea and you'll get a pastry and and so on the the generosity of some of the groups is actually tremendous like you know so so people are interested or to think and might go to something they can check out all the events on the website that's right yeah the the heritage week is coordinated by the Heritage Council and the local authority heritage officers around the country so if you go to heritageweek.ie you get all the details there and you can search by day and you can search by county um you can also search by times you know so you can get the whole listing there you can also create your own events trail if there's events that you want to see and you can print that out and you can share it with your friends on social media as well so there's there's an opportunity to do that we've also got a listing and a day-by-day breakdown on the Donegal County Council website DonegalCoco.ie so the the details are there and some of the local newspapers as well have carried the listing in last week's papers you know and can you tell us too about the particular theme on Saturday August 19th it's Wild Child Day that's right yeah that's right there's two theme days and like you said Wild Child Day is on Saturday the 19th and it's that really encourages kind of children and families to go outdoors and to explore the natural heritage in their area and the biodiversity and you know again one of the one of the crisis now at the moment is biodiversity loss we've got biodiversity loss and climate change to nationally declared crises so there's a great opportunity and again we have we have wonderful ecologists again working in the area who are trying to convey that not in a you know not kind of overtly scientific but kind of trying to get people to engage about their heritage in their local area and there's some wonderful resources out there as well you know that that schools can use so again we'd encourage teachers and like I said families to go out on that day and to explore some of the events there and to also get their children enthused and concerned about our natural heritage and the stories that they tell but again above all I suppose the main thing is to have fun and to enjoy it and that's a lot of the events are targeted in that way yeah perfect just remind us again of the dates yeah so it started there on Saturday the 12th of August and it runs until next Sunday the 20th of August and like I said there's there's events where you're interested in the natural heritage the built heritage or our cultural heritage there's something there for everyone and you can find out a list of all events on the website as well on heritageweek.ie yeah that's perfect Joseph Galler will best of luck with the rest of the week and I suppose it's about telling people that get out there and enjoy I suppose the last couple of days we have of the summer and enjoy basically your history that's right and I think the forecast as well I think the weather supposed to improve as the week goes on so let's hope we get to get lots of people coming out for that keep the fingers and toes crossed Joseph Galler the Donegal Heritage Officer thank you very much for joining us here on the program get ready for an extraordinary summer at Manor Motors rev up your excitement with a brand-new oboe