Landscape
Welcome to the Landscape Section, the Irish landscape is a living landscape in every sense of the word. It has and will continue to be used in an ever-changing variety of ways.
Publications
This is the Landscape publications section. Here you can find all publications, reports and presentations for this heritage area of interest.
Proposals for Ireland’s Landscapes 2010
The Irish landscape is where we all live, work and spend our leisure time. Today, it faces an increasingly complex range of challenges. Whether through the accelerating natural and man-made impacts of climate change, or the demands of an increasingly urbanised society on our natural and cultural resources, there are major issues that need to be resolved and changes made in how we legislate for, plan, manage and conserve our landscapes today and in the future. The evidence supporting the need for these changes is etched in our towns, villages and the countryside throughout Ireland.
This document reflects new ideas regarding how we might manage, plan and conserve Ireland’s landscape into the future. It is based on the work of the Heritage Council and many of its Irish and European partners in seeking, over a ten-year period, to promote the implementation of the European Landscape Convention (ELC). The Convention offers us a new way of thinking about our landscape — one that places people, and their active participation in shaping their landscape, in a central position. The frameworks within which this is delivered may vary from country to country, depending on their needs.
The proposals made in this paper are not about freezing the development of the Irish landscape. Instead, they seek to manage change in a proactive, informed and inclusive manner.
Click here to download 'Proposals for Ireland’s Landscapes 2010' in PDF format [PDF 4MB]
Latest Publications
A Geological Field Guide to Cooley, Gullion, Mourne & Slieve Croob
Louth County Council, with grant support from the Heritage Council and the Geological Survey of Ireland, has published a field guide to the geology (and geography) of the greater Carlingford Lough region (north Louth, south Armagh and south Down).
The book is written to maximise its value to senior secondary teachers (and to college lecturers). It aims to show educators how they can use some of the best and most accessible field sites in the region to teach essential elements of the Leaving Cert and A Level geography curriculum (and geology where this is taught in a few northern schools and on undergraduate courses).
Click here to download a copy of the document in PDF format [4.2 MB]
Kildare's Hedgerows
Kildare’s network of hedgerows is a huge asset to the county for agriculture, landscape, water quality, carbon sequestration, employment and our wild flora and fauna.
The 2006 County Kildare Hedgerow Survey was initiated by the Heritage Office of Kildare County Council as an action of the County Kildare Heritage Plan. The survey was conducted by Neil Foulkes and funded by Kildare County Council and the Heritage Council. The aim of the survey was to record the extent, species composition, structure, condition and management of the county’s hedgerows.
Click here to download publication [PDF 740K]
Landscape Highlights: Heritage Outlook 2004 -2009
To celebrate the Landscape Conference The Heritage Council has published a special edition of Heritage Outlook bringing together all the landscape articles featured in the magazine from 2004 -2009.
Download Landscape Highlights: Heritage Outlook 2004 -2009 [PDF 11MB]
Landscape Character Assessment of Co. Clare
This study built upon an earlier pilot study undertaken by the same team in 1999 that sought to investigate the suitability of using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a basis for landscape character assessment. The pilot study essentially assessed the currently available digital data relating to landscape such as geology, land cover, natural and cultural designations. The study sought to develop landscape types using only the GIS system.
PLEASE NOTE: Download the various chapters and sections included in this publication in PDF here.
Forestry and the National Heritage
A review of the Heritage Council's Forestry Policy
The Voice on the Ground: A Survey of the needs of Burren Farm Families
Commissioned by Burrenbeo Trust Limited in association with the Burren Irish Farmers Assocation and supported by the Heritage Council
The Voice on the Ground: Foreward [1MB]
The Voice on the Ground: Executive Summary [43KB]
The Voice on the Ground: A Survey of the Needs of Burren Farm Families [1MB]
HERITAGE IN YOUR AREA
Select your county from the drop-down list below for more information about heritage projects in your area.
LANDSCAPE NEWS
‘Ghost Estates’ and inappropriate construction on floodplains underlines need for new national landscape strategy
Council publishes blueprint to involve local communities in landscape management.
LANDSCAPE EVENTS
Launch of ‘Landscape Conservation for Irish Bats’
Dr Liam Lysaght, Director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, will launch the results of the new study on Monday 23rd January 2012 at 3pm in the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin 2.