Connaught Street: The Street That Worked is a place-based heritage and creativity project that records and shares the lived history of Connaught Street as a working environment shaped by labour, trade, and everyday social life.
Focusing on intangible cultural heritage, the project will capture personal histories from former
shopkeepers, residents, lodgers, and workers through recorded interviews, transcription, and
interpretation. It will document the street as an active economic and social setting rather than a static historic environment.
Creative practitioners in oral history and visual interpretation will collaborate with the local community to produce accessible outputs, including short illustrated texts, archival imagery, and discreet temporary installations within shopfronts and along the street. These will allow heritage to be encountered in situ as part of everyday experience.
The project prioritises participation, accessibility, and place-specific storytelling. By embedding interpretation within the street itself, it encourages informal engagement from residents, traders, and passers-by. The outcome will be a modest cultural archive, increased public understanding, and a replicable model for community-led heritage projects in Westmeath.
Connaught Street & Environs Community Group
