The South Wexford Beekeepers Association has received a national award for a project on the stories and traditions of local beekeeping throughout the years.
The oral history project focused on gathering stories about the rich history of beekeeping in Wexford – in a bid to preserve the history of the bees and the bees themselves.
The group was one of three to receive the Special Recognition Award from Heritage Keepers at a celebration held in Rathcroghan Visitor Centre in Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, last weekend.
Heritage Keepers is a free programme for community groups and primary schools that helps participants to delve into their built, cultural and natural heritage, providing funding to allow them take positive local action.
The Tulsk event marked the end of the fourth year of the programme and was attended by community groups from all over the country who participated in Heritage Keepers projects.
Heritage Keepers is now looking for new applications for the fifth year of the programme, with the closing date September 30th. It is open to community groups and primary schools across Ireland in both urban and rural locations. Applications can be made online at www.heritagekeepers.ie
South Wexford Beekeepers Association was one of three groups to receive the special recognition award. The other two were community heritage projects in Gortroe, Co. Cork and Kilbride, Co. Meath.
As part of the Wexford project, organisers recorded people’s stories and memories of Wexford beekeeping from past to present, focusing on the twin themes of biodiversity and heritage.
Working with local historian, Michael Fortune, project leaders put a call out to people in the locality with interesting stories. A total of 11 stories were picked from those who applied and interviews were held with participants in the beautiful gardens of Johnstown Castle in May.
On June 4th, the project was launched at Johnstown Castle with the participants, their families, members of the association, the press and the Heritage Keepers all present. The group’s oral history interviews are also available on YouTube for the wider public to view here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrw-XMzMCkuhgvcAXU1k3VnCTYqaXPrVf
Heritage Keepers felt the South Wexford Beekeepers Association project showed “how much knowledge, passion and tradition exists in communities across the country”.
Jacintha Cloney of South Wexford Beekeepers Association says:
“By using the Heritage Keepers funding to collect an oral history of beekeeping in Wexford, our group had hoped to preserve knowledge and practices that may otherwise be forgotten. With the help of Michael Fortune and the support of The South Wexford Beekeepers Association, Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum and Gardens, The Irish Heritage Trust, our own South Wexford Beekeepers Heritage Keepers Group and, most importantly our interviewees, we believe we have created something even more special and rewarding than we initially set out to do.
“We also feel that we will revisit similar projects in the future. We are ‘buzzing’ that our project received a special recognition award from Heritage Keepers and thank them for the fantastic support and training throughout and would encourage anyone considering it to get involved in Heritage Keepers. The videos will be shown in Johnstown Castle as part of the upcoming Heritage Week activities in August which we are very proud of.”
This year’s Heritage Keepers programme will have an increased number of places for both community groups and schools. Last year, 75 groups took part in the programme, with more than 200 groups having participated since its started in 2022.
The closing date for applications is September 30th with the latest round of the programme starting in the autumn and running until the spring. Applications can be made online at www.heritagekeepers.ie
