Kilmallock - Derry - Bradford: Twinning North-South Irish Walled Towns and UK Cities of Culture'

The proposed joint UK-Ireland research in the digital humanities, will utilise novel digital twin technologies funded through the AHRC Capabilities for Collections scheme (PI: Wilson 2022-3) in order to digitally document two medieval walled towns in the South (Kilmallock) and North (Derry) of Ireland and link with historic records to reveal hidden insights into these settlements for wide-ranging use.

The project aims to: 1) bring together cutting-edge digital heritage technologies (incl vehicle- and back-pack mounted mobile mapping and drone-based capture), alongside place-based humanities research to connect historic environment research with geospatially accurate 3D information of buildings and townscape heritage, including specific archaeological context for key buildings through targeted geophysical prospection (e.g. immediate surroundings of the Dominican Priory of Kilmallock that lies outside the historic town walls); and 2) raise the profile of townscape heritage assets for a variety of purposes ranging from conservation and regeneration initiatives in support of designated properties/ sites, through to education, tourism, health and wellbeing.

Cutting edge 3D digital mobile mapping technologies enable accurate and rapid survey that offers a transformative step-change in safeguarding unique heritage assets for the future. The approach will also place community-focused records (maps, deeds, oral histories) and specific building interiors in context and will contribute to heritage understanding for residents and visitors alike. The scale and rapid speed of these mobile capture methods offers new potential use-cases for development of 'discovery' resources for interpretation, education, tourism and orientation of newcomers. Their accuracy serves as valuable baseline data for monitoring future change, as well as offering a lens for direct comparison with original 16th century map records for Kilmallock and Derry.

The meaning and value of heritage assets are understood through their role in placemaking, and contribution to identity and community cohesion, offering benefits to health and wellbeing as well as generating economic value through tourism and regeneration. Beyond unknown/ unrecovered archaeological evidence, issues of access in a variety of forms, are key limitations for realising the value of heritage for society. The work will build from expertise at Bradford developed in previous projects, including via infrastructure investment through CapCo and knowledge exchange via the AHRC Place Programme, and via relationships established through pilot work conducted during the AHRC/IRC Digital humanities network.

The proposed project aligns with aspirations of the Built Heritage Advisory Section of the National Monuments Service and the Irish Walled Towns Network of the Heritage Council to preserve the historic building fabric, with the community and building owners/ occupiers. The utility of digital twin technologies in place-based research will help to monitor and conserve heritage assets and to layer narratives and understanding of each place upon the digital twin, from the Medieval period up to present day and in this project, represents an important initiative that highlights historic, and creates new connections between North and South Ireland and England.

Kilmallock and Derry are connected as members of the Irish Walled Towns Network and Bradford and Derry both have an industrial heritage linked to the textile industry. Derry was the first UK City of Culture and Bradford will be the next UK City of Culture. Transfer of knowledge and expertise between key stakeholders, including community groups and across three local authorities, will realise the potential of digital twinning between Kilmallock - Derry - Bradford in order to forge longstanding connections that offer key benefits past, present and future.