A new Heritage Council award in honour of the legendary GAA commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh was launched this Friday by Tánaiste Micheál Martin at the Cork Camogie Grounds in Cork.
The inaugural Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh Cultural Heritage Award will be presented to a Kerry group whose 2024 National Heritage Week event encouraged a greater appreciation of local traditions, crafts, skills, customs and practices.
The Maharees Conservation Association will be recognised for its Currach making demonstration by the O’Leary family who have been making currachs in Maharees for five generations.
Those who attended their event learned how the currachs have connected and sustained the communities living in Maharees and around the Tralee Bay area.
Recent Heritage Council research into attitudes towards heritage revealed that people value cultural heritage more than any other type of heritage. This includes things like storytelling, having a personal connection to a particular area, the passing on of generational traditions, spending time with older people to learn about their life, GAA and language.
Throughout his life and career, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh embodied these cultural touchstones.
The Tánaiste and the Heritage Council were joined today by the award winners, members of Micheál Ó Muirecheartaigh’s family, several players from Cork’s 2024 All-Ireland winning Cork camogie team and UCD history professor Paul Rouse.
Mr Martin said there is scarcely an individual in the country who could represent the richness of our cultural heritage more than the great Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh.
“The sound of his voice provides, for many, the backdrop for times now past and offers a window to so much that is positive about our culture – our language, our national games, storytelling and a sense of where we come from,” he said.
Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan, added: “Our national games are, of course, a fundamental part of our cultural heritage and it is an honour to be joined today by members of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh’s family.
“Although he lived most of his life in Dublin, Micheál is unmistakably associated with the community of West Kerry”.
The Maharees Conservation Association will be formally celebrated along with all the other 2024 award winners at the National Heritage Week awards ceremony at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin on November 15.
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