Longford County Council confirms that Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre is in diocesan ownership

Longford County Council have confirmed that the closure of the Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre comes as the property owner did not renew a lease that expired at the end of last year.

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.

In a statement Longford County Council indicated that the Licence Agreement between Longford County Council and the owners, St Mel’s Diocesan Trust, expired in December 2023 and has not been renewed.

The statement read: “In January 2020, a tender was prepared for a feasibility study for the upgrade and development of the cultural/heritage tourism potential of the heritage centre.

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This was subsequently cancelled and was not published. The documentation referred to incorrectly identified Longford County Council as the owner of the facility.”

The operators, Creative Ardagh, 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.

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.

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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.”

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.”