Irish Walled Towns Network
Formed by the Heritage Council in 2005, the role of the IWTN is to help the Walled Towns of Ireland become better places in which to live, work and visit.
Towards the end of August each year we celebrate Ireland’s natural, built and cultural heritage with an inspiring, informative and enjoyable programme of events.
Overview
Heritage Week 2026 takes place from 15th – 23th August 2026.
Each year, Heritage Week kicks off on the third weekend of August and runs until the end of the following weekend. Many national and hundreds of local community organisations participate by organising events throughout the country. Many of the events that take place during the week are free and the programme highlights the abundance of great work that is carried out in all communities in Ireland to preserve and promote our natural, built and cultural heritage.
National Heritage Week is part of European Heritage Days. These are a joint initiative of the Council of Europe and the European Union in which over forty countries participate each year. The main aim of European Heritage Days are to promote awareness of our built, natural and cultural heritage and to promote Europe’s common cultural heritage. Every year millions of Europeans visit historical monuments and sites throughout Europe on European Heritage Days. In Ireland we celebrate European Heritage Days with a full week of events throughout National Heritage Week.
The Heritage Council assumed the role of coordinator of National Heritage Week from the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government in 2005. Since then the week has grown into a highly successful programme of over 2,000 events.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of Heritage Week is to build awareness and education about our heritage, thereby encouraging its conservation and preservation.
We're encouraging everyone young and old to get outdoors more often and value what our natural world has to offer. Protecting our natural heritage is so important to every aspect of our lives; jobs, tourism, water, food, health and wellbeing.
Resources & Getting Involved
Visit www.heritageweek.ie
