Eligibility
To be considered eligible to join the network, a town must:
- have physical remains of town walls or associated towers or sufficient documentary evidence of historic walled defences
- be located in the island of Ireland
If you are unsure whether your town had town walls, there are two sources you can check:
- The book The Walled Towns of Ireland by Avril Thomas (Irish Academic Press, 1992) lists 56 ‘proven’ walled towns. Your town must be on this list.
- Search the Heritage Council’s Heritage Maps website to find out whether there are town defences recorded for your town. ‘Walled Towns of Ireland’ are listed in the Archaeology datasets.
Applying to join the Network
Membership is facilitated by your town’s Local Authority through payment of a membership fee to the Heritage Council. The application must be filled out by a community group (e.g. a local historical society or Tidy Towns committee) and the relevant Local Authority. For your application you will need:
- Name and contact details of community group and examples of previous community projects by the group or key members
- Details of Local Authority and relevant personnel
- Information on extent, location and ownership (public or private) of town walls
A list of current Local Authority Heritage Officers in the Republic of Ireland can be seen here. Details of the eleven local councils in Northern Ireland can be found here.
If you would like to discuss an application to the Irish Walled Towns Network, please contact iwtn@heritagecouncil.ie
