Heritage Conservation in Action at the Ellison Awards Ceremony

The Ellison Awards ceremony which took place on November 1st was opened by Jean Carr, Chairperson of the Meath Association, following a walk round the castle grounds by Mary-Rose Carty author of ‘Killeen Castle’ who later spoke about its ancestry.

This year’s projects were of such a high standard that the independent judges architect Philip Geoghegan and architectural historian Kevin Mulligan had to award joint first prize to Michael McMahon and John Bentley-Dunne of Collon House and Jean and Jeff Young for the Rokeby Hall Conservatory project. Philip commented that both nominations were of national significance and that the exceptional design and restoration work made it impossible to distinguish one from the other.

Second prize was also jointly awarded; the winners were Barbara and Georg Heise of the Old Mill House, Rosnaree and Paddy Conneff (ex-President) representing Martin Kearney Chairman of the Kilbride Anglers Club for their spawning project on the River Blackwater on the Bloomsbury Bridge to Liscarton section.

John Harnett Chairperson of An Taisce presented the plaques and certificates, stating that it was wonderful to see people from both Meath and Louth bringing life back into old buildings and preventing them from falling into total dereliction, thereby protecting our heritage for future generations.

For more information about the Ellison Awards, please follow this link: http://www.antaisce.org/events/ellison-awards-2014-nomination-deadline