A special Shannon restoration project will be launched this weekend as part of National Heritage Week and will feature an afternoon of music and storytelling.

Dúchas na Sionna in collaboration with the Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society are planning to fully restore Hasting’s Farmhouse, for use as a heritage centre, community venue and exhibition space. The farmhouse is the last surviving remnant of the nineteenth/early twentieth century farming community in the Tullyvarraga area.

The Hastings Farmhouse Restoration Project launch by Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr. P.J. Ryan (IND) takes place on Saturday August 14, from 3pm – 5.30 p.m. Dúchas na Sionna Secretary Olive Carey stated that “There will be an opportunity to hear about the proposed restoration of the farmhouse and to meet with a representative from Kittiwake Solutions who will be conducting the feasibility study. This is the first of several public consultation opportunities for the community to contribute to the ideas on the future of Hastings Farmhouse.”

Phase one of the project, which is to carry out a conservation plan, feasibility study and consolidate the existing walls, is grant aided from the LEADER fund administered by Clare Local Development Company, Clare County Council, Shannon Municipal District, the Heritage Council, and the Built Heritage Fund.

The event will feature the traditional music of the Sixmilebridge Folk Group and friends plus the chance to hear the stories of the farmhouse including how General Lucas, who was captured in Cork by the IRA was accommodated in the farmhouse during the War of Independence.

A second Heritage week event will take place the following day on August 15 at 6:30pm in front of Ballycasey House, Shannon.

Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society members Jake Justice and Micheál Mac Gearailt along with students of Heritage and Celtic Languages will be providing “an opportunity to learn about their work in Shannon as they wind their way through the modern estates of Shannon Town, revealing the near-forgotten placenames of what was once the marshland and pasture of the Ballycasey and Clonmoney Estates,” Olive informed.