Council wants help with audit of plaques, memorials

An audit of commemorative plaques and memorials is to be conducted by the Heritage Office of Kildare County Council, writes Brian Byrne. And they'd like to have the help of individuals and heritage groups around the county.

"Memorials and plaques are an often overlooked part of our cultural heritage," says Heritage Officer Bridget Loughlin. "They identify and honour people, historic events and heritage landmarks of the county. Whilst we know that there are many such plaques, memorials and signs located throughout County Kildare, to date they have never been recorded."

Not being included in this audit are headstones in graveyards, dates stones on buildings (unless there is an inscription with the date stones) and memorials in churches.

KCC have developed a form, which should be returned to the Heritage Officer at bloughlin@kildarecoco.ie by the end of July 2016. The form can be downloaded from the Kildare County Council website http://kildare.ie/CountyCouncil/Heritage/NewsandEvents/

A detailed location of the site should be given when filling out the form as well any relevant background information that may be available on the memorial or plaque.

The information gathered in this audit will be made public and may be of interest to local historians, community groups and historical societies. It will also useful to inform policies about civic memorials in the county.