About Us
Established by the Heritage Council in 2005, there are currently 29 member towns throughout Ireland. These are:
2.Athlone,
3.Athy,
4.Bandon,
5.Buttevant,
6.Carlingford,
7.Carrickergus,
8.Carrick-on-Suir,
9.Cashel,
10.Castledermot,
12.Cork City,
13.Derry/ Londonderry,
14.Drogheda,
15.Dublin City,
16.Fethard,
17.Galway,
18.Kells
19.Kildare,
20.Kilkenny,
22.Limerick City,
23.Loughrea,
24.New Ross,
25.Rinn Dúin (Rindoon),
26.Trim,
27.Waterford,
28.Wexford
29.Youghal.
The role of the Irish Walled Towns Network (IWTN) is to unite and co-ordinate the strategic efforts of local authorities involved in the management, conservation and enhancement of historic walled towns in Ireland, both North and South, helping to make Ireland’s walled towns become great places in which to live, work and visit.
Guidance and assistance is provided to member towns by providing grants for town wall conservation and for community festivals and heritage interpretation. Training is delivered to community groups on how best to use their town’s heritage for the benefit of those who live there and user friendly advisory documents are researched and published. More information about those documents and other IWTN projects can be found here: https://www.heritagecouncil.ie/projects/irish-walled-towns-network
The Heritage Council is a public body working in the public interest. Ian Doyle, Head of Conservation, The Heritage Council, oversees the management of the IWTN. The network is currently project managed by Róisín Burke of Abarta Heritage on behalf of the Heritage Council. Róisín has extensive experience both in archaeology and the field of heritage tourism.
The IWTN’s activities are coordinated by a steering committee made up of representatives from the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht, Northern Ireland Historic Environment Division, the Heritage Council and four representatives from member towns. The committee is chaired by Declan Nelson. Current members of the committee are: Deputy Chairperson: Sarah McCutcheon, Executive Archaeologist, Limerick City and County Council, Ian Doyle, Head of Conservation Services, the Heritage Council, Nicola Matthews, Senior Architect, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dr Paul Logue, Historic Environment Division, Department for Communities, Northern Ireland, Marie Mannion, Heritage Officer, Galway County Council, James Lavin, Senior Executive Planner, Wexford County Council, Conor Nelligan, Heritage Officer, Cork County Council, Shirin Murphy, Carrickfergus Museum, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Northern Ireland.