Glór

Curriculum based workshops on history, Celtic customs, and changes in technology were promoted to Primary and Secondary schools and adult education classes of the LCETB during the year, a total of 1,154 pupils from 20 schools attended between January and June. LCETB activities include presentations/workshops on the museum and its facilities and support to courses on citizenship and sewing and needle work in Ennis.

Looking ahead to 2019, the museum will be redeveloping its website and upgrading its collection management database. It is intended to recruit three new volunteers with a view to expanding the education programme. It is expected that these volunteers will be in place by the end of the year. The Creative Ireland project – the excavation of a famine village –should garner public engagement and publicity in the year ahead also. In late October, a Certificate course in Tour Guiding and local heritage will be run by LIT. The programme is targeted at local tour guides in Ennis and is being supported by Ennis Chamber of Commerce and will be of great benefit to the museum in the long term. It is likely to begin on 24th October and run for 20 weeks. The museum was officially awarded its Full Accreditation status under the Museum Standards Programme for Ireland in July, becoming one of Ireland’s elite museums. The Museum has also qualified as a finalist in this year’s Clare “Business Excellence Awards” in the “Best Tourism Experience in Clare” Category. The winner will be announced on November 15th . The anticipated end of year visitor figures is similar to last year at 30,000.

Glór

Glór's mission is to be a leading multi-disciplinary arts centre of excellence for audiences, artists and communities, by presenting quality arts experiences to enhance Clare’s rich cultural landscape, with a particular focus on the traditional arts. Glór’s artistic policy has developed in tandem with a set of strategic goals set for 2017-2019. Under “Arts & the Artists” , Glór’s focus has been to develop and extend the artist opportunities provided– and a range of initiatives have commenced including PlatForms, Soundings, The Artist Supper Clubs, Short Film Submissions, and Rithimí Núa (in partnership with the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at UL). In 2018, Glór also continued to copresent the “First Friday” series for visual artists (in partnership with the Arts Office), and continued the partnership with Cultúrlann Sweeney Theatre.

Glór has worked with 111 artists/companies on performance and visual art exhibitions over 2018, presented 515 events and welcomed 45,000 audience members through its performance and visual arts programme. Glór has developed a pilot schools programme to subsidise costs for 8 primary and secondary schools across the County to access multiple