Sligo’s campaign to secure UNESCO World Heritage Site status for ‘The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo’ has reached a key milestone, with a first formal Nomination Team meeting which took place on the 2nd July 2025.
First Nomination Team Meeting Marks Major Milestone in Sligo’s World Heritage Bid
Nomination Team visit to Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, Sligo (Photo: Donal Hackett)
Chaired by Martin Lydon, Chief Executive of Sligo County Council, the Nomination Team convened to progress Ireland’s bid to inscribe ‘The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo’ on the World Heritage List.
Following a site visit to Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, the first official Nomination Team meeting was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Rosses Point, Sligo. The meeting brought together a cross-sectoral team of national and local stakeholders, including representation from the National Monuments Service, the Office of Public Works, Sligo County Council, Coillte, NPWS, Sligo Leader, Fáilte Ireland, Sligo Neolithic Landscapes group and the Farming Pillar. The Nomination Team will guide the preparation of a nomination dossier and management plan for ‘The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo’. The bid aims to achieve global recognition for one of Europe’s most significant prehistoric landscapes.
Project Coordinator Robert Hensey leading the group at Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery (Photo: Donal Hackett)
The World Heritage bid is led by Sligo County Council in partnership with the National Monuments Service (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage) and the Office of Public Works, and a Memorandum of Understanding to progress the World Heritage bid has been signed by the parties. Sligo County Council will act as Lead Proponent for the World Heritage bid.
In November 2024, Sligo County Council appointed Robert Hensey to the role of Project Coordinator for The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo World Heritage Tentative List Site. The World Heritage Site Nomination process, which will continue until 2030, will be guided by the recently appointed Dr. Carol Westrik, an experienced World Heritage expert from the Netherlands.
The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo was officially placed on Ireland’s World Heritage Tentative List in July 2022, an essential first step towards World Heritage inscription. From this point, work begins to secure local stakeholder engagement and support for the bid as well as preparing a preliminary assessment request, Nomination dossier and management plan for the site.
Listoghil - The central passage tomb at Carrowmore (Photo: Donal Hackett)
Dating back over 5,000 years, the Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo includes renowned sites such as Carrowmore, Carrowkeel, and Knocknarea. It is a landscape of extraordinary international importance, and the Nomination process offers an opportunity not just to secure UNESCO status, but to deepen our understanding and protection of these unique prehistoric sites, in partnership with local communities.
The bid is an opportunity to ensure the protection of Sligo’s remarkable and unique passage tomb landscape for future generations, with the support of landowners, the local community and the wider public. It is also about new opportunities, and heritage-led economic and social regeneration.
UNESCO places great importance on the voice and support of landowners and local communities in shaping the nomination bid. It is, at heart, a community-led, process.
Public engagement will be a cornerstone of the nomination bid, ensuring that key stakeholders and the community are actively involved throughout the nomination journey. Over the next five years, Sligo County Council will engage with the whole community to see how together we can best protect, manage and celebrate this extraordinary Neolithic inheritance.
If successful, the Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo would join Ireland’s existing World Heritage Sites – Brú na Bóinne and Skellig Michael – further highlighting Ireland’s exceptional archaeological and cultural legacy on the world stage.
For more information please contact:
Robert Hensey, Sligo County Council. Project Coordinator for The Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo World Heritage Tentative List Site. rhensey@sligococo.ie
Cairns at Carrowkeel (Photo: Ken Williams)