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Launching the Tralee Heritage Trail were, in front; Kerry Rose Edaein O’Connell and Chairman of Tralee Tidy Towns Brendan O’Brien with, at back, Claudia Kohler of Kerry County Museum, Michael Lynch, Mayor of Tralee Mikey Sheehy and President of Tralee Chamber Nathan McDonnell. Photo by Dermot Crean
A NEW Tralee Heritage Trail and accompanying audio guide and story map was launched last Saturday at the Ashe Memorial Hall.
This was the culmination of a collaborative project which was initiated by Tralee Tidy Towns, funded by the Heritage Council and supported by a development team comprising members of Tralee Tidy Towns, Tralee Chamber Alliance, Kerry County Council, Kerry County Museum and former county archivist Mike Lynch.
Indeed, Mike Lynch was instrumental in the creation of this walking trail, providing fascinating stories and insights on the historic town of Tralee from the archives. Attendees were treated to a guided walk of a section of the trail by historian Mike Lynch and the event ended with some refreshments courtesy of McCaffey’s Bar.
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The launch was attended by the Mayor of Tralee, Cllr Mikey Sheehy, the Kerry Rose, Ms Edaein O’Connell and Tralee Chamber Alliance president, Mr Nathan McDonnell.
The free audio guide is available to download as a podcast and the accompanying Story Map is freely available online – both were developed by Abarta Heritage and can be used by the local community to brush up on their knowledge of Tralee or by the visiting community to interpret the many historic buildings and stories of Tralee both in advance of and during their visit.
The walking tour takes in 16 stops or ‘points of interest’ in total. Commencing at the Ashe Memorial Hall, the route takes the walker through the town park and winds its way through the historic streets of Tralee, introducing the audience to noteworthy built heritage such as Siamsa Tire, the Dominican Church, the Island of Geese, The Court House, the Tralee law chambers and the Georgian buildings of Day Place and Denny Street.
“The creation of this trail is purely down to the hard work of a dedicated team with a vision to preserve and develop our local heritage,” said Mayor of Tralee, Mikey Sheehy.
“Tralee is a town with a proud history and heritage and I would encourage both locals and tourists alike to experience this fantastic community asset.”
Brendan O’Brien, Chair of Tralee Tidy Towns said: “We are truly delighted to launch the heritage trail which will be a wonderful amenity for the town. We would like to acknowledge the funding provided by the Heritage Council without which, this would not be possible.
“We would also like to thank each member of the development team for the strong collaboration shown – this community spirit is building and we are seeing fantastic results from all of the stakeholders in Tralee working together for the good of the town.
“We would especially like to acknowledge the huge contribution of Mike Lynch, to have such an expert in heritage at hand to advise us was invaluable.”
Colette O’Connor, CEO of Tralee Chamber Alliance said: “We were very happy to collaborate with Tralee Tidy Towns, Kerry County Council and the County Museum on this project.
“It will be a fantastic addition to our tourism offering and we looking forward to continuing with the development team, and all of those working together to provide an excellent visitor experience in Tralee, to develop and roll out familiarisation trips and guided tours of the trail in the coming weeks to really leverage this walking tour.”
The audio guide is accessible here: https://www.abartaheritage.ie/tralee-heritage-trail-audio-guide/ For the Storymap click here https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7047eff138064ba89b47174432e810f6
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