Heritage Week Begins with a Battle Cry at Woodstown
On Sunday, August 17th, visitors to the Waterford Greenway enjoyed a thrilling start to Heritage Week in Waterford at the Aonach na nDéise Viking Festival.
Back for its eight year and attracting nearly 2,000 visitors over the course of the weekend the event played host to over 120 re-enactors from Déise Medieval, including six visiting re-enactors from Iceland.
The increasingly popular festival is supported by Waterford City and County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, National Museum of Ireland, TVAS Archaeology, The Discovery Programme, Abarta Heritage and SETU.
A great addition this year was Fuinseog Woodland Crafts who brought entertainment and a new world of wooden games to everyone aged three to seventy-three, along with regular features such as the Irish Wolfhounds, Viking Boat and wonderful craft displays in the Viking Village.
The Outreach Education Team from the National Museum of Ireland, TVAS Archaeologists and the Discovery Programme were also on hand with fun challenges and fascinating displays.
Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Seamus Ryan was in attendance and praised the level of activity, energy and entertainment provided at the event.
Also on site to view the activities and the value of the Community Monuments Fund for supporting events such as this were Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health, Mary Butler T.D and Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan T.D.
There they met with the participating groups and commended the strong collaboration behind the project, acknowledging the significance of the Woodstown Viking Site which is unparalleled in Ireland.
Aonach na nDéise will be back next year with more battle tactics and Viking craftwork.
