.
At the launch of the new Tralee Family Heritage Trail were Colm Nagle of Kerry County Council, Claudia Kohler of Kerry County Museum, Brendan O’Brien of Tralee Tidy Towns, former County Archivist Mike Lynch, Cllr Angie Baily, Colette O’Connor of Tralee Chamber Alliance and Joan O’Regan of Tralee Tidy Towns.
THE Heritage Council-funded Tralee Family Heritage Trail offers a new free and fun family activity in the town.
Building on the Tralee Heritage Trail self-guided digital tour which was developed in 2023, the Tralee Family Heritage Trail is a walking trail around Tralee town centre with an accompanying activity booklet to engage children with each of the stories and sites on the route.
Taking in iconic Tralee locations such as the Ashe Memorial Hall, Denny St, Day Place, the Island of Geese, Tralee Courthouse and the Town Park, the trail aims to introduce the histories of the town to resident and visiting communities.
Continued below…
.
The trail was developed in a collaboration between Tralee Tidy Towns who were awarded the funding, Mike Lynch (former county archivist), John Hickey (principal of Presentation Primary School), Claudia Kohler (Education Officer, Kerry County Museum), Tralee Chamber Alliance, Kerry County Council and Abarta Heritage.
The trail StoryMap and Activity Booklets are freely accessible from the main Tralee Heritage Trail Story Map: Tralee Heritage Trail by clicking here.
Through funding acquired from the Kerry County Council Community Support Fund 2024, Tralee Tidy Towns has made a limited number of hard copies of the Tralee Family Heritage Trail activity booklet available at the Kerry County Museum, the Tralee Tourism Information Office and Kiosk and the Tralee Bay Wetlands Eco and Activity Park.
.
At the launch of the Tralee Family Heritage Trail on Saturday, Tralee Tidy Towns Chair, Brendan O’Brien said: “We are very grateful to the Heritage Council for funding this project and to a small group of very committed volunteers who worked with Abarta Heritage over the last year on putting this trail and activity booklet together. We would also like to thank the Kerry County Council Community Support Fund for funding aa limited print run of the activity booklets to help promote the trail. We continue to work with our town partners to build a sense of community and place and this Family Heritage Trail is a fabulous opportunity to invite people to engage with the heritage of our town, the main Tralee Heritage Trail can provide more detail to those interested in learning more. We will continue to develop on our heritage interpretation work and we invite anyone interested in getting involved to contact us at tidytownstralee@gmail.com”
Terry O’Brien, Mayor of Tralee said: “As Mayor of Tralee, I have to give huge congratulations to all involved in the Tralee Family Heritage Trail booklet. It is a fantastic idea and will be a lovely addition to Tralee’s tourism product. I would encourage everyone, not just our tourists, to follow this trail as it is very informative and an education to all about our history.”
Claudia Kohler (Education Officer, Kerry County Museum) said: “This beautifully designed activity booklet will undoubtedly become a fabulous resource for local and visiting families alike. Tralee has a fascinating history going back to the town’s foundation by the Anglo-Normans in 1216. Up until recently, the history of the town was difficult to access and engage with. We now have a digital heritage trail for adults and secondary schools, as well as an engaging, child-friendly trail activity for families and children.”
John Hickey, Principal of Presentation Primary School and member of the Heritage steering committee for the project said: “I was very interested in getting involved in this project as I feel local history and a sense of connectedness to where you live is essential to a child’s sense of self and wellbeing. With the right opportunities, children are naturally curious about their surroundings and how they came to be. You have to remember that the largest heritage project undertaken in the history of the state was completed by children, namely the Dúchas project.
As the principal of a large school in the centre of town, I quickly understood the potential for our pupils to derive immediate benefit from this. We look forward to getting our pupils out hunting down the sites and completing the activities. In fact this project is acting as a springboard into a more comprehensive whole-school local history programme which we are creating in school at the moment in conjunction with members of this steering committee.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
