Happy New Year from the Ring of Gullion Team. If you haven't picked up one of the Ring of Gullion 2017 calendars yet, there are still some available from Crossmaglen Community centre. 2016 was such a busy and exciting year for us here in beautiful South Armagh. Here are just some of the Highlights.
2016 Highlights
StreamScapes Gullion Project
The Ring of Gullion team and local schools launched the ‘StreamScapes Gullion’ Project in February, which was supported by NIEA’s Challenge Fund. The project raised awareness of the streams and rivers flowing from Slieve Gullion, with the participating students engaging in related ‘Eco-Art’ projects to share with the wider community.
Woodland and Hedgerow Creation
Over 14km of hedgerows and 11,000 saplings were given away at Slieve Gullion in February, to farmers, householders and community groups. The crisp winter’s day saw the culmination of the Gullion’s Green Woodland Scheme, which was run by Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership together with the Million Trees in a Day project and the Woodland Trust.
Launch of Bessbrook Model Village Project
In April the Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership received £55,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, ‘The Model Village Living History Archive’, in Bessbrook. The project focuses on Bessbrook’s heritage and will allow people to be proud of their village again. It aims to do this by creating innovative interpretation, developing local skills, knowledge base and networks and engaging with the local community in a fun way and hosting inter-generational and cross community workshops.
Archaeological Dig
May saw excavation into the site of a ringfort at Cornahove. This provided an exciting opportunity for archaeologists to explore the hidden history of south Armagh. The programme was undertaken by the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork at Queen’s University Belfast on behalf of the Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership Scheme. 330 local school children were key to the success of the excavation.
Ring of Gullion Ambassadors Training
The Ring of Gullion Ambassadors course continued to grow and nine brand new Ambassadors graduated from this accredited course in September.
Youth Rangers Programme
During the last two weeks of July we had a fantastic group of ten young people from in and around the Ring of Gullion, working with us as part of the Volunteer Youth Ranger Programme. The programme provided the Youth Rangers with the skills and confidence to explore our wonderful AONB.
Townland Education Programme
The Townland project was delivered to 27 schools from Kingsmill to Clonalig and Newtownhamilton to Killeen. Over 800 children now know their townland, the neighbouring townlands, the civil parish, poor law union and barony in which they live. They have examined the historical information of Griffith’s valuation, locating their families in their townlands living on two or three acres of land controlled by landlords.
ROGHA Shop Launch
Local arts group ROGHA (Ring of Gullion Handcrafts and Art) launched an online retail shop in partnership with the Ring of Gullion Partnership. Their offline shop was also launched in the Tí Chullain centre and a Christmas pop up shop in the Quay Shopping Centre, Newry. You can also view some of the fantastic work at www.roghashop.com .
Trace Your Family Tree workshop
The Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership, with Pauline Loughran, ran two workshops in February for sixteen enthusiastic participants to develop knowledge, skills and understanding in how to trace family trees and find out who our ancestors are. Participants examined a Crossmaglen family from the 1790’s and used this to see how to join the dots with any family
Lúnasa Festival 2016
Lúnasa Festival 2016 ran from 30th July to 29th August. This fantastic community-led festival opened with the revived Flagstaff Fiesta and included Guided Bus Tours & Walks, Arts & Crafts and the first Footsteps in the Forest event. It was enjoyed by many locals and visitors.
How to be a Hollywood Producer
In July and August young people from south Armagh took their first steps onto the red carpet as part in an innovative new summer scheme “How to become a Hollywood Producer”. The project provided opportunities for young people to experience professional script writing techniques, learn how to design a story board and discover the world behind the camera from experienced producers, directors and camera operators.
Winter Solstice Festival 2016
We completed 2016 with another highly successful Winter solstice festival. The Ring of Gullion team and local community groups hosted a series of events this year in December to celebrate the arrival of the shortest day and the turn in the year. The unpredictable weather had an impact on the ever popular walks to the Slieve Gullion Cairn, however some lucky hikers experience the breathtaking lighting of the passage tomb.
Coming Up in 2017
2017 is set to be another fantastic year and we are busy putting plans in place. There will be lots happening in Slieve Gullion Forest Park so keep an eye out for updates on social media and ringofgullion.org . The Ambassador training and Youth Rangers programme will run again this year and the Townland project will be completed.
We look forward to seeing you all at our events though out the year.
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