Blow to Longford tourism as Ardagh Heritage Centre set to close

After 13 years in the historic old school house in the picturesque village of Ardagh the local Heritage and Creativity Centre is set to close its doors.

The operators made an announcement on Wednesday, October 8 on their social media platforms that they were to vacate the Ardagh Heritage Centre premises. The closure comes as the building owners have indicated to the leaseholder they will not be renewing the lease.

The building houses artefacts donated to the centre by local people and is home to the heritage exhibition which the community has created. “It's very important to the village and the memory of the original committee, who put their hearts and souls into it,” said Ann Gerety Smyth of Creative Ardagh.

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The other part of the Creative Ardagh partnership is Annette Corkery. The duo have established a cultural network across the region, including schools, authors, artists and craftspeople to provide opportunities for participation in the arts.
In 2016 they were nominated for a Pride of Place award for reaching out to marginalised groups and offering creative cultural experiences to all ages.

“We have recently received unexpected news,” Annette told the Leader, “We have been processing that and it has led to us recalling and reliving the 13 years we have spent doing all we can to keep The Old Schoolhouse's heart beating and putting Ardagh and indeed Longford in the minds of many far and near.”

The poignant recollections recall the foundations of Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre: “We remember the dedication and work of the people who came before and created this space, the community we live in which has a tremendous pride and love for the history, heritage and unique beauty of Ardagh. We can see a vibrant renewal of that spirit all around us.”

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Over 100,000 people passed in through the Heritage Centre doors since the 2011 opening. In recent times Creative Ardagh reduced the number of activities to facilitate maintenance and repairs of the building. They have continued with their visits to schools and to keep the space relevant with their main annual events.

The team are making the necessary preparations for the closure of the centre: “We are currently working on sorting and packing and would appreciate the time to do so. We will be in contact with any crafters who still have their stock in the building shortly.

“Given the sudden nature of the situation, there is a need to control the management of the artefacts, and there is a procedure in place with our lessor,” Ann said.

Creative Ardagh have curated the Heritage Centre and artefacts for the past 13 years, and will continue to do so up to the handover of the keys: “We will continue our work in Heritage in Schools and Scéalta Beo and are looking forward to participating in the Samhain Events in Corlea Trackway again this year.”

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Creative Ardagh have committed to continuing the main annual events. They include the launch of Longford's Ancient Ways last Samhain, St Brigid's Day cross making workshop for Imbolc, the Beekeeping talk for Bealtaine and the annual Bilberry Walk for Lunasa.

Annette said Creative Ardagh will continue: “We are still coming to terms with the situation. We feel like pieces on a fidchell board between the God Midir and the King Eochaidh with the centre being Etain. We are nowhere in the story and are to accept whatever is imposed on us.

“We need time to gather our 13 years of materials and equipment and are currently looking at storage options. We will no longer have a base.”

The owners of the building that houses the Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre is the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois. Fr Tom Healy, the Secretary of the Diocese, said of the lease: “At this moment, no decision has been made on the future of the lease on the property.”