Passionate About Great Visitor Experiences
The Irish Heritage Trust is an independent non-profit organisation which manages and cares for some of Ireland’s most prestigious house, gardens and museums.
The Trust cares for and manages Strokestown Park House, Gardens & National Famine Museum; Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens, Cork; and Johnstown Castle, Estate, Museum & Gardens, Wexford.
The Trust provides for their conservation and maintenance, and it ensures that they are available for members of the public to enjoy and appreciate in perpetuity. It is also helping them towards financial sustainability, so they can make positive contributions to Irish culture and their communities.
Irish Heritage Trust Membership
By taking out membership of the Irish Heritage Trust, you are supporting our work in bringing historic properties to life across Ireland, and ensuring they survive and thrive for future generations.
Environmental sustainability is a core objective, including the protection and enhancement of our natural heritage across all properties.
In 2015, the Irish Heritage Trust took responsibility for the property with the help of private philanthropic support from individual Directors of the Westward Group. Since then, it has been developing on the re-imagined state-of-the-art National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park which opens in summer 2022.
Funded by Fáilte Ireland and Westward Holdings Ltd, in partnership with the Irish Heritage Trust, the new National Famine Museum showcases material from the archive and interpret the story of the Great Irish Famine in Ireland for a whole new generation of visitors and researchers.
What does the Irish Heritage Trust do at The National Famine Museum | Strokestown Park
- We work tirelessly to conserve and preserve the fabric of the house and the history held within its walls, as well as the gardens and woodlands.
- We take care of Strokestown Park’s visitor experience and education programmes.
- We run a volunteer programme, which connects Strokestown Park House with the local community in lots of important ways.
- And we support wider access to the compelling famine documents archive, through which Strokestown Park contributes to international study of the Great Irish Famine.
Plans for the Future
Over the coming years, through major funding programmes and partnerships, we will carry out further work to conserve Strokestown Park and enhance its role in rural regeneration. Our aim is to fulfil The National Famine Museum | Strokestown Park’s potential as a local amenity, a national asset, and an international resource for learning about the Great Irish Famine.
We already working on bringing the house and community together through our new volunteering programme and successful events, such as the Plant Fair and Family Féte, which are bringing new audiences to the house and gardens.
