Creative Ardagh

One of the reasons that this blog has been so quiet is that I've been busy with a new venture. In August myself and my cousin got the opportunity to open a new business. The heritage centre in Ardagh, Co. Longford was opened in the 90s in the old school building where I spent part of my Junior Infants year. It subsequently closed and reopened briefly as a restaurant but has been empty for a long time. My mother and my grandfather both taught in the building. The history and heritage of the area, which stretches from ancient mythology, through saints and scholars and famine times to national tidy towns success, formed the basis of many of my own projects in college. Bringing this to life for a wide audience through art has been one of my ambitions for many years and when the chance to take over the building arose during the summer I jumped at it. At the moment we are running creative programmes for children and adults and hope to expand to include arts-based heritage programmes for schools in the near future. You can find out more about what we have done so far at Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre and our plans for the future at www.creativeardagh.com