Over 200 historic Offaly gardens to be surveyed

A field survey of over 200 historic gardens and landscapes in Offaly is to be undertaken this year.

Tenders for the work have been sought by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government recently.

The survey is part of the work of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH), a state initiative under the administration of the department.

An Inventory of Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes is being compiled as part of the NIAH project.

This is designed to identify, classify and evaluate sites which demonstrate an aspect of garden history or design and/or contain notable plant collections including trees, and/or form an integral setting to an historic building and/or are associated with particular people or events.

The first two phases of the project were desk-based and are published on www.buildingsofireland.ie. Approximately 6,000 sites were identified across the country.

The department is now tendering for the field recording of the 202 historic gardens and designed landscapes that were identified in Offaly.

The contract will run for 120 calendar days from the date of the awarding of the contract, expected to be within the next few months.