Kells woman Lucy O’Reilly has launched a community crowd-funding scheme on Kickstarter, with the aim of raising €3,000 to boost tourism and visitor numbers in Meath. The Crowdfunder ends on 1st July, 2015.

The enterprising local mum is a tour guide who established The Kells Experience to introduce visitors to the heritage and ancient history of Kells and the surrounding Boyne Valley area.

The Kells Experience provides memorable and inspiring walking tours of the ancient monastic sites, and visual recreations of local heritage, as well as interactive courses, including a children’s summer camp.

Aiming to sustain The Kells Experience as a long term tourism venture, and to boost jobs and visitor numbers, Lucy O’Reilly is now asking local people and businesses to make a contribution to the project, starting from as little as €5, via the cultural crowd-funding website, Kickstarter.

As with many community crowd-funded schemes, contributors not only help support community development, but also enjoy benefits including regular newsletters and gifts such as Kells Experience pens, greeting cards, and placemats, as well as free tours, and a credit on the website.

The €3,000 investment target will mainly fund marketing of The Kells Experience, Lucy O’Reilly says, adding that many of the town’s businesses are keen to support The Kells Experience crowd-funding initiative, as a means to boost trade in the local area, as well as showcasing the beautiful monastic town.

“Kells has so much to offer the visitor, not least a fascinating cultural heritage. Government is to invest in promoting tourism on the east coast in the coming years, so it is important that Kells has the resources in place now to welcome visitors, and to help grow the local economy”, Lucy O’Reilly, founder of The Kells Experience says.

Combined with reinvested tours revenue, the crowd-funding will help the tourism enterprise to source staff uniforms, authentic monastic and medieval clothing to add to the Kells visitor experience, wireless audio equipment for visitors with hearing difficulty, and a regular Dublin coach service picking up tour groups from Dublin.

Operating from a renovated building on Market Street in Kells, the unique visitor experience showcases the town’s heritage sites including the stone oratory, Saint Colmcille’s House, Kells Abbey and round tower, and the ancient high crosses, while explaining the town’s fascinating ancient history, from Colmcille and the Book of Kells, to the Tower of Lloyd, and the many striking pre-historic monoliths the Meath countryside boasts.

Longer-term projects include research and production of The Kells Trilogy, a digital recreation of the royal, monastic, and medieval phases of the development of Kells.

Lucy O’Reilly is confident in creating one additional full-time job as well as part-time opportunities in the coming year, and is encouraging local individuals and business interests to access the Kickstarter website now, to help with fund-raising, www.kickstarter.com.

For media information contact; Freeda McHugh, New Image Communications
Tel: 01 8259688 or 086 250 7478
Email: freeda@newimagecommunications.ie

For information on The Kells Experience; Lucy O’Reilly, The Kells Experience – Memorable Tours in Ireland’s Ancient East
Tel: 087 706 4421
Email: info@kellsexperience.ie