Join us in Wexford Town Library as part of National Heritage Week to hear about the  important next steps: ‘Towards a National Circus and Fairground Archive’. 
Key speakers: 
- Lucy Medlycott  | ISACS Executive Director
- David Duffy | Duffy Circus
- Gráinne Doran | Archivist at Wexford County Archive.

The Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle (ISACS) Network, in partnership with the Irish Showmen’s Guild, the University of Galway and Archives Ireland, have been awarded funding through the Heritage Council – Community Heritage Grant, to start work on a joint project: ‘Towards a National Circus and Fairground Archive’. 
ISACS, whose headquarters are in Wexford town, is a membership organisation and a leading example of an artist-first network that supports the street arts, circus, and spectacle in Ireland. Its mission is to celebrate these artforms and advocate for the policy and practical changes that will allow the sector to flourish.  

About 'Towards a National Circus and Fairground Archive' This project aims to map key materials and items relating to circus and fairgrounds in Ireland that are still in existence.  Recently Traditional Circus and Fairgrounds have been recognised and designated as protected heritage through Irelands National Inventory for Intangible Cultural Heritage. The NIICH aims to protect, promote and celebrate Irish living cultural heritage practices, customs, crafts and traditions.

Our intention for this funding is to scope out if and how we can establish an archive with these communities, which will serve to protect the past and inform the future.  

The aim is to research what is out there, identify where it is, grow the knowledge, build awareness of the contribution of this special community and acknowledge the current custodians’ invaluable work in collecting, keeping and maintaining such treasures at their own expense over the years. 

Growing a national archive requires specific skills and we are very excited to hear from Grainne Doran about how to start archiving and why archives matter.