Museums Projects

Plantation of Ulster Commemoration

In 2007 Derry City Council’s Heritage and Museum Service held a series of events to commemorate the Flight of the Earls in 1607. This was the beginning of an ambitious 7-year programme to mark the 400th anniversary of the Plantation of Ulster. The major event of 2008 was a conference in the city’s Guildhall to mark the 400th anniversary of the Sir Cathair O’Doherty Rebellion, assessing the role this event had on the subsequent plans for the Plantation of Ulster.

 We will lead on this project, working with other sections within the City Council as well as external partners including the Honourable the Irish Society and the University of Ulster.

Planning for the commemorative programme is now under way.  The main aims are:

• To increase knowledge and understanding of one of the key events in the history of these islands
• To contribute to a greater understanding of and tolerance of the differences between Protestant/British and Catholic/Nationalist traditions in our society
• To celebrate richness in diversity
• To attract visitors to the city for their enjoyment and the city’s economic benefit
• To provide a legacy for future generations

At the heart of the commemoration will be a major exhibition telling the story of the Plantation of Ulster with particular emphasis on the building of the city and the Londonderry Plantation.

Valuing Heritage by Valuing Memories

Derry City Council's Heritage & Museum Service is one of four museum partners in this exciting reminiscence project.  The other partners are:

Craigavon Museum Service, Bagenal’s Castle, Newry and the Ulster American Folk Park.

The project aims to encourage people of all ages to recall and record memories as way of preserving our heritage.   We will achieve this in a number of ways such as:

• Creation of a local reminiscence loan box service
• Provision of training workshops in reminiscence and support for people in reminiscence activity
• Establishment of local networks of interested people to develop further creative reminiscence and heritage activity

We have already organised a number of training events and more recently introduced our Memory Postcard for visitors to the Tower Museum.  Participants can jot down a memory they have of the city and post it in a box in the Museum and then the memories will be collated into a Memory Book that will be displayed in the Tower Museum.

For more information on the project or to find out ways of getting involved you can contact the Project Worker – Deirdre Doherty

Tel:  028 7131 8238
Email: deirdredoherty@rnni.org

The Project is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and managed by the Reminiscence Network Northern Ireland

Suitable for all age groups and we would encourage young participants
 

Connections and Divisions

This project is part of a new Heritage Lottery Fund Initiative, called Collecting Cultures.  Derry City Council’s Heritage & Museum Service in partnership with Fermanagh County Museum, the Inniskillings Museum and the University of Ulster’s Museum Studies Department based at Magee Campus has been successful in getting a grant of £100,000.

The aim of Connections and Divisions is to focus on the Pre and Post Partition era of 1910 –1930.  This new partnership will now work on collecting materials, which reflect this period of history and the impact of the border on the local communities in this region.

This will include the purchase of photographs, paintings, documents, objects, costume and film which will be used to link the people, places and objects to historical events including the move towards Home Rule, World War 1, the Easter Rising, Partition and the Civil War.  Personal stories and experiences of every day life will also be explored and incorporated into the project.

Public involvement and enjoyment of the collections will be increased through a series of learning and outreach activities, which will include an online blog and the production of interactive maps and educational packs.

The project will begin in January 2009 and be completed by 2011.

 

NIMC Specialist Collections - Archaeology Project

Between 1976 and 1980 a series of rescue/salvage archaeological excavations were carried out (almost continuously) in the centre of Derry under license (and principal funding) from the DOENI, mainly on bomb-sites.  The sites pertained (mostly) to the seventeenth-century walled city of Londonderry rather than to the medieval and earlier sites that had preceded it. The excavations were rich in artefacts but perhaps not so informative in terms of the specific archaeological contexts.  Many thousands of shards of post-medieval pottery and associated objects were retrieved.  This is probably the largest collection of its kind in Ireland. 

Various pieces of post-excavation work were in progress when, in 1984, the project was summarily evicted from its long-standing premises.  The collection has remained in a storage room and is inaccessible to researchers, members of the public and to a degree, museum staff. 

The collection is particularly important as the Heritage and Museum Service prepare to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Plantation 2009. 

Funding from the Northern Ireland Museums Council has allowed the Heritage and Museum Service to begin work on the collection.  A researcher has been employed to produce a collection report detailing and listing the collection. 

Download Archaeology of the Plantation of Londonderry Collection Report

This report was researched and written by Brian Mitchell, plans are currently under discussion to publish a complete report of the excavations.
 

North West Digital Film Archive

The North West Digital Film Archive Project is a partnership project with Derry City Council Heritage and Museum Service, Donegal County Museum and Archives, Donegal Arts Centre and the Nerve Centre, Derry. The project had two central aims:

• Development of an interactive learning resource and digital archive of life in Derry and Donegal in the twentieth century.
• Provision of an education program of ‘hands-on’ ICT workshops and creative projects for secondary schools and youth groups in the Derry and Donegal area

The underlying ethos behind the Archive was that it should not be a heritage project alone but also an educational one, concerned with the application and usage of the archive, not just a static resource.

The North West Digital Film Archive is available for viewing in the Harbour Museum, Derry.

For further information contact: bernadette.walsh@derrycity.gov.uk
Tel: 028 7137 7331

 

Historical Events of the 20th Century

‘The Historical Events of the 20th Century’ is a European Peace III funded project which aims to provide a learning programme, which will promote cultural identity and shared heritage with emphasis on the major historical events of the last century and legacy of the following key events: 

• First World War and Easter Rising
• War of Independence, Civil War, Partition
• World War II and Post war – 1950s
• Civil Rights and Troubles

Derry City Council’s Heritage & Museum Service proposes the creation of a Learning programme of learning activities based around these key themes of the 20th century history.  We will work with our partners in our cluster area of Strabane and Omagh to help deliver this project to the following target groups:

• 5 primary schools from each area – Derry, Strabane and Omagh 
• 3 primary schools from Donegal 
• 1 youth group from each area within the cluster
• 3 community groups from each cluster

This programme will look at our shared history as a tool to help people recognise that we have a common history and how this has shaped our cultural identity.  This programme will also use the historical events as a platform from which to encourage debated and challenge existing attitudes to our past. It also aims to draw out themes and issues around the key events and support conflict resolution and mediation.

Historical Events Programme will also explore the following themes:

• The role of women in key historical events
• The role of the media in key historical events
• The role played by trade unions
• The impact of local and global citizenship
• The role of conflict resolution in key historical events
• The role of justice and reconciliation

A series of workshops will be available for Schools, Community and youth groups on any of the four main themes.  To book a workshop or for further information on the project, please contact the Learning Facilitator.

For more information contact:

Fiona Lafferty
Workhouse Museum
Glendermott Road
Waterside
Derry~Londonderry
BT47 6BG

E-mail – Fiona.lafferty@derrycity.gov.uk
Telephone: 028 7131 8328