Despite what our national image may be abroad, on home ground, we are a robustly unsentimental people when it comes to our surroundings. We demolish our old buildings, sometimes furtively and illegally, and sometimes simply because we see no value in retaining them. We drop litter and dump cars in our most scenic areas, as if we were genetically programmed to do so.
Next week is Heritage Week, when the public are invited to celebrate manifold elements of our cultural past. Dúchas, in association with many organisations around the country, has put together an extensive programme for the week. There has been a designated Heritage Day since 1991, and since 1999, it has been expanded to a week.
Heritage Week activities range from simply dropping admission charges to certain buildings for the period; opening up buildings or gardens that the public do not generally have access; and putting on one-off cultural events in Dúchas properties; to organising lectures, talks, story-telling session, craft workshops and other activities in locations all round the country (with many events specifically aimed at children).
This year, there will be a number of places opening briefly and magically to the public: doors literally being opened where they were not open before. Among these will be No 9 Merchant's Quay, an 18th-century building which has just been fully restored and is in use as offices for some lucky members of Dublin City Council. During restoration, archaeologists discovered part of the original Liffey wall in the basement of the building: the wall has been left in situ and Donnacha Ó Dúlaing, Heritage Officer with Dublin City Council, says that the sea still comes over it in high tide. As the building is now a full-time workplace, it will be open for only for two tours on one day, and should not be missed by anyone interested in either Georgian architecture or medieval Dublin.
All events are listed in a brochure, produced by Dúchas and available from its sites and public libraries.