National arts award for the Stratford-on-Slaney Irish Countrywomen's Association guild local history project.
Members of the Irish Countrywomen's Association (ICA) guild in the village of Stratford-on-Slaney in County Wicklow have spent six months compiling a history of the area. Their efforts have been rewarded with an All Ireland win in a local history arts competition sponsored by the ICA.
The project involved the preparation of a complete history of the village, founded in 1790, and the preservation of one place of historic interest.
For this, the guild chose Mackey's Well, the water source for the local Fever Hospital in the 18th century.
A great deal of work and research went into compiling a comprehensive booklet, with photographs, covering the history, folklore, flora and fauna of the area. It is thought that the work will now be published as a local history booklet.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 March 1976. The reporter is Dermot Mullane.
