A gamified augmented-reality trail that animates Tallaght's public space, turning the everyday junction of the Civic Theatre, County Library, Rua Red and South Dublin County Council into Partholón Place — a living stage for the area's founding myth and its layered local history.
In Irish legend, Partholón led the first people to settle Ireland after the flood — and tradition places that settlement here, in the Tallaght area. EKO proposes an AR-driven heritage trail that uses this origin story as a narrative spine, then branches outward into the real, recorded history of Tallaght.
Visitors follow a self-guided route through four cultural anchors. At each stop, location and image-target AR triggers summon virtual characters, props and environmental effects that deliver story, pose challenges and unlock the next clue — a treasure hunt where the prize is the place itself.
The name Tallaght derives from Tamhlacht — the burial ground of Partholón's people, said to have been lost to plague. The trail leans into this genuine etymological hook: a place named for memory itself, now re-animated for a new generation through digital storytelling.
Reframe Partholón Place through AR and playful storytelling, giving an everyday civic junction a distinct cultural identity and encourage engagement with the space.
Use a low-cost, repeatable technology and gaming approach that draws repeat visits without repeat production budgets — culture that scales.
Digital triggers activate verified information on Tallaght's history, weaving myth, monastic heritage and modern community into one route.
Develop narrative and voice in partnership with artists such as Emmet Kirwan, alongside local historians and the four resident venues.
Run consultation with distinct audience groups — families, teenagers, older residents and new communities — to learn which forms of digital art each wants to engage with, and design the trail's "chapters" around those findings.
The route threads through four neighbouring institutions, each hosting one act of the story with its own AR character, prop set and challenge.
Performance & myth — Partholón's arrival staged with virtual characters and a dramatic soundscape.
Knowledge & record — AR triggers surface archive material and the documented history of Tallaght.
Contemporary art — a creative challenge linking the founding story to today's making and exhibition.
Civic future — the trail closes on community and place, inviting visitors to leave their own mark.
Rather than presenting a finished experience, EKO will build the trail with the public. A competition and call-out invites residents to co-author its content — generating buzz, ownership and a built-in launch audience.
Residents, schools and art students submit drawings of Partholón's people, beasts or guardians. Winning entries are modelled and become real AR characters in the trail — a direct, visible reward.
A short-form myth and storytelling competition, mentored by a guest artist. Winning pieces are performed and voiced into the AR narrative — a natural tie-in with Emmet Kirwan's spoken-word practice.
Older residents and local historians contribute memories, photos and place-lore of the public space. These become AR "memory triggers" — honouring living history alongside ancient myth.
Class teams race to complete the trail, collect every trigger and answer heritage questions. A live leaderboard runs at the Civic Theatre during launch week.
Musicians and sound artists submit fragments — voice, instrument, field recording — that are woven into each stop's soundscape.
A simple, low-barrier hook post-launch: discover a concealed AR figure, capture it, share with a project hashtag. Keeps the trail alive and visible on social channels.
EKO will develop Partholón Place in consultation with cultural practitioners and the four resident venues. Emmet Kirwan — a writer and performer with strong roots in the area — is proposed as a creative consultant on narrative voice and the spoken-word strand. Demographic consultation sessions will run in parallel, ensuring the trail's content, tone and accessibility are shaped by the very communities it invites in. The result: a replicable model for animating public spaces through digital arts, owned by the people of Tallaght.