Hard to believe its time to take the exhibition down already!
Dr Eamon Phoenix and workshops
Dr Eamon Phoenix spoke to us about the context of post-1916 in Ireland and the events leading up to Partition and the violence that occurred in the north, mainly in Belfast in the early 1920s.
During the workshops we were divided up into groups and I facilitated a workshop and with my group, members of the Community Outreach Group (COG) of Lurgan, we discussed what we had learnt from the various events and activities we had hosted to date. We discussed pros and cons of different formats of activities and overall the main message we wanted to communicate was that there are funding opportunities available for community groups to pursue their projects. I emphasised that the Living Legacies Centre can support groups through the application process and with the delivery of their projects.
It was an interesting day that Deirdre McBride from Community Relations Council (CRC) had organised and I look forward to the next event to assist community groups in exploring how local museum services can assist with events and activities and projects.
Reflection and Learning on the Decade of Centenaries: Conversations
After some networking and delicious fresh scones and tea we heard from Paul Mullan, HLF, who provided an introduction to the day. He commented on the various types of community-related grassroots activities occurring all over Northern Ireland. He introduced Paula McFetridge from Kabosh who spoke to us about the emotive power of using drama to retell community stories about this period.
Maria McManus performed an extract from Elizabeth Corr, a piece created as part of the Short Strand community project. As an elderly lady, Elizabeth talks about the evetns of that fateful weekend of Easter 1916, her experiences on returning home and her hopes for Belfast.
The next short drama piece was based on a true story of Mrs Dowell, who lost seven sons at the Battle of the Somme. The short extract shows Mrs Dowell reflecting on the horrors of their experiences.
The Corr Family Exhibition was hosted in the Ulster Museum in the Belfast Room – did you get a chance to see it? It explored the various experiences of one family during the war including sons who fought in the British Army and daughters who were members of Cumann na mBan.
Grassroots Activities
Look what’s in the delegate pack?! Happy to be here to promote the work of Living Legacies and how we can support community groups in their First World War projects!
Figuring out where I have to go tomorrow!
Just figuring out where I am going tomorrow. I’ve not been to the Jethro Centre in Lurgan before. Looking forward to representing Living Legacies 1914-18 and discussing grassroots activities in the years ahead about the Decade of Centenaries. Eamon Phoenix will address the challenges and hopes of the years ahead and give us food for thought in our workshops.
There is still time to book onto these free events here: http://www.community-relations.org.uk/2016/12/reflection-years-ahead-structured-discussions/
Reflection and Years Ahead
Reflection and Years Ahead will be a series of structured discussions around the Decade of Centenaries.
The three events are free to attend and open to all.
January 26th – Grassroots activity at the Jethro Centre, Lurgan
February 24th – Museum Services at PRONI, Belfast
March 23rd – Education and Creativity, Derry.
Living Legacies 1914-18 will be there! – Will you come along?
Revisiting William Hunter
Finally got around to visiting William Hunter to show him the postcards discovered in our collection. Yes these postcards did belong to his father! He had no idea that his father donated postcards to the museum way back in 1966, according to museum records. 1966 was of course the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme and perhaps with the many commemorative events occurring then, he decided to donate his postcards to the museum.
You can view William’s family First World War story here when we filmed him and Margaret Hamilton as part of the development of our Remembering 1916: Your Stories exhibition:
1916 Resource Fair Evaluation
Hundreds of people turned up to the Resource Fair to attend our three sessions. The feedback was really positive and demonstrated the appetite for an understanding of the 1916 period.
Session One had a number of speakers such as Tim Bowman, Richard Grayson and Marie Coleman each provide an account of the 1916 period and it led to a lively discussion afterwards with audience participation.
Some of the feedback from the day:
The second session include a wide range of speakers from the various organisations to inform our audience what all was happening in 2016 about 1916.
Living Legacies own Paul Ell was there to represent Living Legacies to promote the centre and inform what events we were planing on running the following year.
Creative Centenaries 1916 Resource Fair
1916 Resource Fair
This time last year we were crazy busy in the Welcome Zone of the Ulster Museum as people were registering for the 1916 Resource Fair. We were delighted to host the Creative Centenaries 1916 Resource Fair in the Ulster Museum and that the Living Legacies Centre had a key role in the planning and organisation.
The Welcome Zone, Learning Zone and the Belfast Room had stands representing organisations from all over Ireland.
LIVING LEGACIES 1914-18 