Heritage at Risk on the River Shannon

The Shannon River Keepers project began by listening and connecting, across the Shannon catchment to individuals, community groups, environmental organisations, local authorities, landowners, farmers, fishers, researchers and cultural practitioners already caring for the river.

Through collaborative mapping and relationship-building, we aim to seek to reveal the existing constellation of people and initiatives that together form the living guardianship of the Shannon. This evolving living map will become a shared resource, helping people discover one another, collaborate across regions and strengthen collective action.

For Heritage Week 2026 CELT was delighted to support the Shannon River Keepers project to host a number of events on the River Shannon, travellin g from the Shannon Pot to Athlone and onto Lough Derg for a number of days bringing together communities, heritage practitioners, local knowledge holders and others connected to the Shannon to explore the relationship between river rights, cultural heritage and place.

The events aimed to introduce the emerging Rights of Rivers movement and consider what recognising the Shannon as a living entity could mean for heritage, protection and long-term care. Drawing on the wider Rights of Nature global movement, now deemed the fastest legal movement in the world, we aimed to explore examples from rivers and ecosystems around the world, and consider what these ideas and inspiration might mean for the Shannon.

During Heritage Week in August 2026, we hosted a series of participatory gatherings across the Shannon catchment, bringing together stakeholders to share knowledge, build relationships, and imagine new possibilities for the river. 

Our Work entails 

Five Streams of Water Custodianship

Our work is guided by five interconnected streams of practice that nurture healthy ecosystems and thriving communities.

• ❋ Practical

• ❋ Educational

• ❋ Legal

• ❋ Cultural

• ❋ Sacred

Our Lough Derg Programme - Heritage at Risk

entailed an optional morning visit | 10am-12pm | Inis Cealtra (Holy Island)

To connect with the river through taking a boat trip to Holy Island and visiting our natural, cultural and monastic heritage there

The Discursive event took place from 2-5pm in the Mountshannon Community Hall

The afternoon included presentations, a panel discussion and a facilitated Heritage at Risk World Café, exploring:

- River as Living Heritage

- Heritage at Risk  

- Future Guardianship

The gathering aims to help build a source-to-sea Shannon community network, share knowledge, explore community-led approaches to future river guardianship through the Rights of Rivers lens, and contribute to the development of a Shannon Rights of Rivers Charter. For more information on the Shannon River Keepers project please us at visit - https://www.shannonriverkeepers.org

  CELT receives funding from the Irish Environmental Network (IEN) under the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCE).

Shannon River Keepers Cultural Project 2026: Source to Sea - Saol na Sionainn is funded by the Community Water Development Program 2026 of the River Basin Management Service(formerly LAWPRO), supported in turn by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.