Reimagine Athenry
A community-led vision for one of Ireland’s most intact medieval towns.
Reimagine Athenry is a community led vision for Athenry’s town and its environs commissioned by Athenry Community Council and funded through a LEADER grant. The project sets out a future framework for the town based on the ambitions of the community as documented during public consultations and an online survey.
Athenry is a well known historic Co. Galway town and one of Irelands most intact medieval towns with a fine-grained, human-scale, public realm full of heritage and history. It has an active and vibrant local community who are eager to see the town realise its full potential. Great road and rail infrastructure make it a key town in the wider Galway region, with lots of potential for development in the future.
On a local level, the residents have many concerns based on their everyday experience of the town. This project sets out a vision to address these concerns based on the ideas developed with the community. The key challenge for Athenry is how to maintain its accessibility while simultaneously improving the public realm for its residents and visitors.
This vision creates a framework for future developments to connect with the historic town centre. Our plan learns from and extends the existing townscape to shape a public space framework for the towns future generations. The vision is then divided into a number of key projects, which will, when brought together link neighbourhoods, create green routes to the schools, walks through the town to connect the heritage sites, while simultaneously improving the experience and appearance of the centre. Futureproofing Athenry and making it a better place for all ages and residents and visitors alike.
