Ardglass gets new tourism heritage centre

Ardglass gets new tourism heritage centre

8 April 2015

A NEW Tourism and Maritime Heritage Centre has opened in Ardglass.

The centre, along with a new heritage trail, Ardglass website and mobile app, has been financed thanks to £70,000 provided by the Down Rural Area Partnership, the Ardglass Development Association and the family of the late Gerry O’Shea.

The community and tourism website is connected to an interactive social media heritage section featuring a photographic history of the village which contains archive material from the National Museum in Dublin.

Last week’s opening of the new tourism and maritime heritage centre was attended by representatives from the Down Rural Area Partnership (DRAP), local community groups and South Down MLAs Chris Hazzard and John McCallister.

Ardglass Development Association chairwoman, Margaret Smyth, thanked everyone who had helped deliver the new centre, extending particular thanks to all those who provided funding, with particular thanks extended to DRAP for its £48,000 contribution.

She also praised the key role of Downpatrick councillor Cadogan Enright for stepping in as the new centre’s project manager following the sudden death of Gerry O’Shea who had been overseeing the project.

“The website and new app in particular would never have seen the light of day without Councillor Enright’s input and had it not been for him the projects may have fallen by the wayside,” she continued.

“This project was Gerry O’Shea’s vision and for some years he tried to bring it to fruition. It was a matter of regret to us all that he passed away just as we had the opportunity to make it happen. Without the support of Sally O’Shea and the O’Shea family contributing £10,000 to the project it would never have happened.”

Margaret explained that under Gerry’s guidance, the Ardglass group was registered as a charity as soon as the Charities’ Commission was established and signed up to the ‘best practice’ of community development, using Portaferry as a guide.

“Portaferry showed us how it used surplus money on its marina and other developments to secure match funding and buy and renovate derelict property, enabling local people to start their own businesses including a community-owned hotel, restaurant, a light industrial centre, tourist centre and the regeneration of other buildings,” she said.

Margaret explained the last significant meeting Gerry O’Shea chaired was to formulate a plan to bring back the Ardglass marina under what she described as “democratic, local community control.”

She added: “The original 1994 plan for the marina was to use surplus money to drive the development of Ardglass and revitalise the village. For this project, the Development Association obtained well over £1.5m and the intention has been for this to become the engine to enable our group to regenerate areas of Ardglass and bring jobs to the village in the same manner it was done in Portaferry.”

Councillor Enright said Ardglass and the Lecale coast “boasts a rich history” and agrees with others that the new tourism and heritage centre in the village can help plug the tourism gap between the Mournes and Strangford Lough, completing the tourism product for the whole of South Down from the Cooley Mountains to the Strangford Narrows.

“The Ardglass Development Association has secured millions of pounds for the village since its launch over two decades ago, financing dozens of projects to improve the area,” he continued.

The web address of the Ardglass Community and Tourism website is www.ardglass.eu