Further development planned at St Kilian’s Heritage Centre

St Kilian’s Heritage Centre in Mullagh was the largest beneficiary when the Ballyjamesduff MD funding was confirmed.

The centre received match funding of €12,000 to go towards its development.

The community was a hive of activity last year when the relics of St Kilian returned in what was a historic occasion now etched in the minds of those who attended the celebrations.

Over six months on, the centre continues to thrive with those involved embarking upon new and innovative ways of keeping the history of the area alive.

Speaking to The Anglo-Celt on the funding, chairperson of St Kilian’s Heritage Centre Ruairí Lynch, said it was “brilliant news to get”.

“A big thank you to all the elected members of the Cavan County Council for their continued support.”

Having recently upgraded the St Kilian exhibition, the committee there hopes to “digitalise that down the line” by adding barcodes to the walls where people can scan them and be taken to websites with more information.

Ruairí, who has lived in the parish of Mullagh all his life, believes it’s important that the area’s heritage is passed on to future generations, which is why it’s important to keep improving the centre.

“It’s really important to try and keep our heritage alive and ongoing and bring it to the youth of today.

“There’s always a danger of your heritage being forgotten so it’s to try and keep it alive and keep it in the minds of people,” he said.

“When St Kilian was home it was a magnificent celebration and people came from far and wide to help us celebrate.”

The match funding went towards an outdoor performance area which was installed at the centre in 2022, where local artists have had the opportunity to showcase their talents. Now the plans are to develop that area, which will be used for future heritage and culture events.

Also in the pipeline for the centre is a celebration of the anniversary of the relics’ return.

“We hope to have a full weekend event that weekend,” he outlined, adding that this will include events in the outdoor area and a rerunning St Kilian’s Way walk, which was a “huge success” last year.

“We hope to run it again along with some concerts and other things over that weekend.

“It’s still in development but it looks to be very promising,” he said.