Several parishes in the Diocese of Meath hosted events to mark National Heritage Week (18 – 26 August 2012).
At the Cathedral of Christ the King, an introduction to the artefacts of the Diocese of Meath was presented by Kitty Murrin at the Cathedral Museum on Saturday 18 August at 11.00am. Guided tours of the Cathedral were conducted by Ruth Illingworth on Tuesday 21 and Thursday 23 August, beginning at 2pm and lasting for 2 hours.
A pilgrim walk from the Hill of Tara to Hill of Slane will take place on Saturday 25 August. Tara is a symbol of our pagan past and Slane, according to tradition, is the site where St Patrick lit the Paschal Fire for the first time in Ireland. The walk is therefore a journey towards the Light of Christ, a symbol of our faith journey through life.
Several events are underway in Dunshaughlin-Culmullen parish, including a guided walk in the Culmullen area presented by Neil O’Riordan on Sunday 19 August. A photographic collection relating to Dunshaughlin was conducted by Brendan Murray on Tuesday 21 August.
A presentation on the Meath Field Names Project takes place in Navan Library on Thursday 25 August at 7.30pm.
Meanwhile, a new study currently being undertaken at the Department of History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin is seeking the assistance of parishes in providing archaeological information on churches built between 1850 and 1932.
The “Building Catholic Ireland” project will establish the full scale of Catholic church building activity during that time period and is the first time such a wide-ranging investigation into Irish ecclesiastical architecture has been undertaken.
The study will examine the financing of church building projects and the relationship between expenditure and the quality of architectural design and will seek to determine the extent to which the building of churches acted as a driver of ecclesiastical art production in Ireland at the time.
Parishes are asked to complete a short online survey to help further this research, submitting information about the church location, building, decoration and seating capacity. Click here to take part in the survey.
