Background

Understanding Our Area – People and Places was a cross-community project supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme. It set out to increase the understanding and expression of our culture and history, our people and places, through museum collections, historic sites and cultural heritage using interpretation, arts and multimedia to create a peace building legacy. The initiative is part of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s PEACE IV Local Area Action Plan, funded by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, which is providing £3.8 million for community projects across the borough.

Between 2017 and 2020, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services supported a range of community-led projects, along with a range of events, showcases and resources exploring the history of the Causeway area.

Lore of the Land

The Lore of the Land regional project, in partnership with Clanmil Housing Association, engaged with older residents from four housing schemes (Abercorn Court and Mews, Cramsie Court, Glenshesk Court and Hezlet Court) to stimulate reminiscence and discussion of local folklore. Participants took part in loosely themed story-telling and reminiscence workshops, an art workshop, and folklore tours of sites across the borough: Bonamargy Friary and Dunluce Castle in Co. Antrim, and Slaghtaverty and Dungiven Priory in Co. Londonderry. The Stories explored through the workshops and tours formed the basis of a book exploring and sharing cultural heritage through the folklore of Causeway communities. Members of Carey Historical Society, the Hervey Heritage Group, and Rathlin Development and Community Association also contributed material to the Lore of the Land project.

Hardcopies of the Lore of the Land book are free and can be picked up from Ballymoney Museum, or by contacting Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services through this website.

A digital copy of Lore of the Land may be downloaded from RESOURCES.