The catchment of the Avonmore River, taken together with the Avonbeg and Avoca rivers is the largest in county Wicklow, covering some 650 sq kilometres. It stretches from Lough Tay and Lough Dan in the north and includes most of the east Wicklow glens as well as rolling countryside south from Rathdrum, Avoca and Arklow, where it reaches the sea. 

The river waters and riparian corridor sustain a rich biodiversity and transect a landscape and countless towns, villages and places steeped in history and cultural heritage. Using the river as the geographic anchor, this project seeks to curate a series of short stories, using local community input and expertise to highlight and document aspects of local cultural heritage and history.

The outcomes from this project will be hosted on the Our Wicklow Heritage, the online community heritage archive for county Wicklow and will be disseminated in the wider community through the Wicklow County Council’s and local stakeholder’s social media. The content will also be made available to the Arklow Maritime Museum as part of an upcoming exhibition on this theme planned in 2021. 

Alongside the filming and community engagement, poet Jane Clarke will be commissioned to create a series of up to ten poems based on the unearthing and capturing of these stories and cultural heritage. The project will involve therefore some oral history, biodiversity, poetry and filmmaking.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.