Ballybrilliant

Ballybrilliant: Heritage-led Regeneration in 5 Irish Towns Table of Contents Foreword 2 Introduction 4 What have we learned? 5 Case Studies Fethard 11 Tramore 17 Westport 23 Carlingford 29 Youghal 35 Possible funding opportunities 41 Helpful resources 42 National policy 47 Acknowledgments 48 Westport Carlingford Fethard Tramore Youghal Foreword The title of this publication needs an and create interesting places. Perhaps ation of vibrant and interesting plac- explanation. Baile is the Irish for a most significantly, these case studies es. Through programmes like the Irish townland, a town, or homestead. In demonstrate the need for leadership Walled Towns Network, the Historic Irish placenames it normally precedes and people-centred responses in our Towns Initiative and grant programmes, a person’s name or a description of towns. Heritage is as much a process the Heritage Council will continue to a geographic feature. In this case, involving people and their values, as it support energised communities seeking we created the imaginary name of is something inherited from the past. to maintain their urban centres. Ballybrilliant. This is not to say that the five towns whose work we describe Like the positive developments in the In the midst of a crisis of confidence have achieved complete regeneration. towns themselves, this publication is the about the future of our smaller towns, Rather, the approaches taken and the result of shared knowledge and ex- these studies provide hope and demon- efforts set out, often in the face of ad- pertise, and using networks to set out strate that there are efforts underway versity, are to be celebrated. good practice. The Heritage Council’s across Ireland to respond to the chal- Urban Team provided an initial briefing lenges of the twenty-first century. Heritage is a key resource in all of this. about each of the five towns followed Internationally, we have seen the grow- by local introductions. The communities This publication is a Heritage Council ing practice of heritage-led regenera- themselves generously shared informa- action for the Euro- tion. In Ireland, we have not yet estab- tion about their towns, as well as the pean Year of Cultural lished how heritage-led regeneration vibrant images included in these pag- Heritage 2018 and has developed in our smaller towns. es. On behalf of the Heritage Council I we hope it will en- Ballybrilliant seeks to remedy this. would like to thank all those who con- courage and inspire tributed to this publication, in particular towns as part of the legacy of this year. This publication features five Irish towns Ms Eimear O’Connell, for her time and - Carlingford, Westport, Tramore, dedication in drafting and editing Bal- Fethard and Youghal - where commu- lybrilliant. MICHAEL PARSONS nities have worked to ensure that their Chairman, urban centre remains vibrant but also The National Planning Framework An Chomhairle Oidhreachta true to its origin and identity. For these and the National Development Plan, MICHAEL STARRETT five towns, heritage was not a con- both published this year, acknowledge Chief Executive, straint, but a resource used to promote the importance of heritage in the cre- An Chomhairle Oidhreachta Introduction Investment in ‘ our towns and villages through regeneration, public realm improvements and the appropriate adaptation and re-use of our built heritage, are key factors in developing, promoting and investing in a sense of place... Government of Ireland, National ’Planning Framework 2018, p. 72 t its most basic, heritage-led urban re- in line with emerging international practice and generation means using a town’s existing has worked with Youghal, since 2005, to help Aheritage resources as a starting point to implement the strategy. That process is ongoing. improve the experience of living in, visiting and None of the heritage-led regeneration schemes doing business in that town. featured in these case studies can be described as finished - balancing the heritage of a town with In Ireland, the vast majority of our city, town and the needs of living and doing business is a contin- village centres are historic places with their own uous undertaking - but, based on our experience distinct identities. Sustaining these places is a com- of this work, we believe that the cultural heritage plex process that in many cases involves the con- of historic towns can be used to create desirable servation and re-use of existing buildings, the care places where people live, visit and trade. With of public spaces, the provision of community facil- leadership, vision and investment, heritage-led ities, and the communication and interpretation of regeneration can bring benefits that enable our what makes the place interesting if not unique. The historic towns to prosper through increased resi- current literature on heritage-led urban regenera- dential occupancy, increased visitor numbers and tion is dominated by foreign examples, but there decreased numbers of vacant buildings and com- are important examples from here in Ireland that mercial premises. deserve greater exposure. Places like Fethard, Tramore, Westport, Carling- This publication provides a snapshot of what the ford and Youghal - as well as numerous other his- Heritage Council has learned over many years of toric towns around Ireland - are investing in the ur- working with Irish towns to support and encour- ban environment and in the building of community age heritage-led urban regeneration. As an ex- networks. While this is very much work in prog- ample of what can be achieved, it features case ress, such Irish examples have important lessons studies from five towns: Fethard, Tramore, West- to share both nationally and further afield. The port, Carlingford and Youghal. In many of these case studies presented here are perhaps more places, communities have been working together qualitative than quantitative but there is a sound since the late 1980s and early 1990s to improve economic rationale for investment in heritage-led their shared living experience by undertaking urban regeneration. The Ecorys (2012) report on heritage-based regeneration projects, often with the value of Ireland’s historic environment found the Heritage Council’s support. This process was that heritage was a significant contributor to the formalised In 2005 when the then Youghal Town Irish economy and the Peter Bacon and Associ- Council embarked on a strategy for heritage-led ates (2014) report on fiscal measures for built heri- regeneration in their town. The Heritage Council tage conservation also noted distinctive economic recognised this as a novel approach in Ireland, benefits. 4. What have we learned from each of these places? Heritage as a Resource: means to do this is by identifying what heritage is distinctive to a town and what gives it a Identifying Heritage Assets unique character. There are established plans and tools that allow such assets to be devel- In the first instance, heritage is a resource and oped and nurtured. See the references section it presents opportunities. Public attitude sur- at the end of this document. veys conducted as part of the 2013-14 His- toric Towns Initiative found that the visual pre- sentation of buildings and monuments and the Involving the whole community quality of interpretation at heritage sites were the top two drivers identified by visitors out While many of the projects featured in this of a field of eighteen items which were likely publication deal with the physical bricks and to result in recommendations to visit a town. mortar of urban heritage, the process of her- A growing body of international research in- itage-led regeneration runs far deeper than dicates that the historic environment is a key this. A key feature of all the places where we consideration for people choosing towns have seen success is community engagement in which to live - and choosing areas within and empowerment. Approaches like this bring towns in which to live - particularly for young- benefits not just for our heritage assets but er people in the 20-35 age bracket. The vast they help create social capital and networking majority of Irish towns have historic assets, too. In effect, heritage acts as a glue to bring be they the streetscape, key buildings, green people together in caring for a place. This is and public spaces or intangible heritage such one of the most exciting things that we have as literary or musical associations. As seen in seen when working with heritage projects and these case studies, the care of this resource in an urban setting it is even more powerful. and its interpretation can offer diverse oppor- Places like Westport or Tramore have success- tunities for growth and development. A key fully involved the local community through existing bodies like Tidy Towns and Chambers of another key element – leadership. Ireland is very Commerce as well as new community organisa- much a relationship-based society where person- tions like local heritage trusts. al connections and influence make a difference. Leaders who build support and make things hap- The role of the private sector and of private own- pen might be within the local authority, the Cham- ers in caring for heritage is vital. The basis of heri- ber of Commerce or within a voluntary group. tage-led regeneration is that if the state sends out Leadership is critical and is a key means to build a signal of confidence by investing in important trust, harness interest and to translate vision into buildings or streetscapes then business interests will action. Insights we have had into successful lead- pick up on this signal and on increased footfall by ership involving urban heritage show us that work- following up with investment. Simple measures like ing collaboratively and bringing people along in street façade painting schemes in towns like You- genuine partnership are the most effective means ghal and Westport are a ‘quick win’ in this process.

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