Young European Heritage Makers – Fedamore Community National School Represents Ireland

Cara Moloney and Dan Reidy from Fedamore Community National School were recognised as Ireland’s winning entry to the Young European Heritage Makers competition for 2024. Pic Don Moloney

Fedamore Community National School’s students have been recognised as Ireland’s official entry in the prestigious European Young Heritage Makers competition for 2024

The students’ outstanding contribution to the European Young Heritage Makers competition, a four-minute video titled ‘The Irish Elk’, explores the story of this majestic prehistoric creature and its presence in their local area during the Pleistocene era.

Under the guidance of school principal Jacintha Mullins, students Dan, Cara, and Jim took charge of the visual elements of the project, while Heritage in Schools expert and composer Fiona Linnane collaborated with the children to craft the film’s musical score. This immersive educational initiative was conducted through the Heritage in Schools scheme, allowing pupils to engage in a broad range of audiovisual activities such as sound recording, composition, performance, shadow puppetry, and video editing.

This cross-curricular project extended into multiple academic disciplines and culminated in the creation of ‘The Irish Elk’ film, which has now been selected to represent Ireland in the European Young Heritage Makers competition. The winners of this international event will be announced in March 2025.

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This is not the first time Jacintha Mullins and Fiona Linnane have been recognised for their innovative work in arts education. In 2020, their collaboration earned them the Arts in Education Portal Documentation Award, and their project also won Best Musical Score at the Fresh International Film Festival.

Young European Heritage Makers is a programme under the European Heritage Days initiative, of which the Heritage Council and National Heritage Week are members. This initiative encourages young people to explore their local history, uncover historical narratives, and creatively share their discoveries.

The theme, “Heritage of Routes, Networks, and Connections,” invites participants to explore how Europe’s interconnected past has shaped its present, fostering a greater appreciation for the continent’s rich cultural diversity. The competition, jointly organised by the European Commission and the Council of Europe, has been running since 2018 across multiple European nations. Ireland is one of 12 participant countries, alongside Armenia, Croatia, Finland, Italy, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia, Portugal, Poland, and Ukraine.