Ports, Past and Present Closing Event
April 26 - April 27
This closing event of the five-year Ports, Past and Present project takes place in University College Cork on the 26th and 27th April, 2023. The event will celebrate project outcomes including creative works, over 200 cultural heritage stories, and a new tourism business network. The project team will reflect on the power of heritage storytelling for cultural tourism, the importance of stakeholder engagement and the impact of Digital Humanities approaches in creating sustainable cultural tourism products.
The closing event will take place in Cork City, a port town located in one of the largest natural harbours in the world. As well as reflecting on project findings and futures, the closing event will consider the heritage of Cork as a port and seek to inform approaches to the interpretation of Cork’s multifaceted heritage through lessons learned during the delivery of Ports, Past and Present.
Ports, Past and Present has been a cross-border initiative between Higher Education Institutions in Wales and the Republic of Ireland, including University College Cork, Aberystwyth University, the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies/University of Wales Trinity St. David’s alongside a local authority, Wexford County Council, in the Republic of Ireland. The closing event includes presentations by the project team, along with papers by invited speakers from across Europe including Isabel Hofmeyer, Carola Hein, Lukas Hoeller, Porscha Fermains, Aisling Ward, Deirdre Cole, Gillian O’Brien, Tom Spalding, Finola O’Kane, and John Hegarty.
| Wednesday 26th April
Mary Ryan Room, O’Rahilly Building |
Thursday 27th April
Mary Ryan Room, O’Rahilly Building |
| 10.00 Tourism futures | 10.00 Mapping port histories and futures |
| 11.30 Ports and their dark pasts | 11.30 Creative ports |
| 13.30 Historic port landscapes | 13.00 Ports Past and Present Session |
| 15.00 Ports Past and Present session | 14.30 Ports Past and Present Session |
| 16.30 Harbour event | 15.30 Ports, Past and Present Plenary |
| 18.00 Reception at Centre for Executive Education, Lapp’s Quay, Cork city | 16.30 Future Funding Discussions |
Ports, Past and Present is a project led by University College Cork in partnership with Aberystwyth University, the University of Wales Trinity St David and Wexford County Council examining the cultural heritage of the ports in the Irish sea basin. Funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation programme.