JIM WHEELER DISCOVERIES ON ICCROM Research Fellowship

What do these three images have in common ?

1 - a moss-covered rock in the back corner of a field where the legendary Fionn McCumhaill was said to have landed on his flying horse.

2 - a roadside memorial beside an old swamp in memory of a much-feared supernatural black dog said to have once haunted the place!

3 - an old abandoned forge that was once a vital social hub.

They’re examples of important heritage that can often slip through the cracks in traditional heritage protection systems. They are culturally significant places to local community, but they do not fit easily into systems that focus on identification and protection of archaeological sites on the one hand, and protection of architectural heritage on the other hand.

These places were among a wide array of sites, landscape features and intangible values identified by ICCROM Research Fellow Jim Wheeler, of Extent Heritage, during his recent research work in Pallasgreen & Templebraden, Co Limerick, Ireland. Jim has been applying cultural values mapping methods developed in Australian heritage practice to test whether they might have broader international application in Ireland. Jim’s work shows the potential benefits of integrating cultural values mapping methods into the way heritage assessment is done, and making heritage more people-centred.