Donegal and the Revolutionary Period

Culture Division  

• The Museum collaborated with the Donegal Women’s Network to host a seminar celebrating the Representation of the People Act, 1918.   
• The Archives Service digitised the Joseph Murray papers. Murray played a prominent part in the Irish War of Independence and early Civil War in south Donegal.  
• The Library Service organised a commemorative event by Tracey McRoary, entitled, “A Reflection on World War I – A Musical Journey”.  

Culture Division  

• The Archive Service collaborated with other services to organise a special Council event for the Centenary of the First Dáil in the County House in Lifford.   
• The Archives and Museum produced a travelling exhibition and bilingual booklet entitled, Donegal, the 1918 General Election and the First Dáil; Dún na nGall, Olltoghchán 1918 agus an Chéad Dáil. The exhibition travelled widely throughout the county.        

Culture Division  

• Peace IV: The Echoes of the Decade - A joint Archives and Museum Peace IV funded included engagement with young people on the history and legacy of Ireland’s revolutionary years, 1912 – 1923. Alarnagh Barrett McGinley was project coordinator.   
• Creation of digital resources for teachers and students   
• Facebook Group page: Echoes of the Decade, with history themed challenges and stories, essays and photos uploaded relating to the history of townlands, villages, and people in Donegal.   
• A series of workshops, presentations and discussions with Archives and Museum staff, as well as with external history and heritage specialists and artists.   
• A professional oral historian, Regina Fitzpatrick, was contracted to carry out interviews with 13 older people about the legacy of the Decade of Centenaries.    
• The Museum wrote and produced a booklet on the theme of the Decade of Centenaries entitled From Conflict to Division: County Donegal 1919 - 1925. The booklet was supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012 - 2023 initiative.  
• Democracy & Change: The 1920 Local Elections - Donegal County Archives and other local archives collaborated with the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage to produce a commemorative booklet on the historic 1920 local elections. Entitled Democracy & Change: The 1920 Local Elections/Daonlathas & Athrú: Toghcháin Áitiúla 1920 in Éirinn.  

The following projects were supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 Initiative.   

• Artist in Residence - Margaret Hannon created and produced a drama, One People, which tells the story of a grieving woman who has a series of encounters with ghosts from the Decade of Centenaries who challenge her preconceptions of the past.   
• Audit of Memorials - MacConmara Heritage Consulting undertook an audit of publicly accessible memorials relating to the Decade of Centenaries 1919-1923 which identified 81 different memorials.   
• Historian in Residence, Archives Service - Dr Ben Rogers carried out research on two of the County Archives Collections, the Joseph Murray Collection and selected Rural & Urban District Council minute books from 1918 – 1925. The outcome of the research was a publication containing six essays and a series of online talks.   
• Library Service - a series of on-line lectures delivered by both local and national experts exploring a variety of themes connected to the revolutionary period.  Some of the lectures were performed live on-line as follows: Liz Gillis, Children during the War of Independence; Myles Dungan, What did you do in the War of Independence, Grandad?; Sinead McCoole, How to Research and Write an Irish Family History. The following talks were premiered on the Donegal County Council YouTube channel and are available to view at any time:  
• Professor Edward Burke, Closing the Gates: Loyalist Paramilitaries and Resistance in County Donegal, 1920-1923  
• Dr Niamh Hamill, Broken Promises – Nationalism, Gender, and the New Republic  
• Helen Meehan, The History and legacy of Cumann na mBan in Donegal  
• Kieran Kelly, From Nationalism to Republicanism - Letterkenny in the Decade of Change  
• Seosamh Ó Ceallaigh, The War of Independence in Cloughaneely  
• Wainfest Children’s Art and Book Festival - The Library Service organised several events under the theme of the Decade of Centenaries during Wainfest.  These included talks by authors Ann Murtagh and Brian Gallagher and historians Liz Gillis and Ida Milne.  There were educational live online presentations by John D Ruddy, Creator of the YouTube history series Manny Man Does History and by Michael Moylan of Irish History Live.    
• Open Call to Artists - The Museum commissioned artist, Ann Quinn to create two paintings reflecting on aspects of life in Donegal during the period 1919 to 1923. The theme of the paintings is Donegal women and Donegal homes.    
• Virtual tour of the exhibition “From Conflict to Division Donegal 1919-1925” - The Museum worked with Paul Marshall of Visual Arts Media to develop a virtual tour of the exhibition From Conflict to Division, Donegal 1919-1925.   
• Bordering Realities Animation project - led by Monaghan County Council, Rezolve Media were commissioned to deliver 5 animated films, exploring stories during the War of Independence from the border regions of Donegal, Monaghan, Derry, Armagh and Fermanagh as part of the Bordering Realities cross-border project.   

The following projects were supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 Initiative:  

Donegal County Museum

Battle of Pettigo and Belleek commemoration in association with Fermanagh County Museum - a day long programme of events in the Termon Complex, Pettigo, including talks, the premiere of a specially commissioned animation, a History Ireland Hedge School and a walking tour of Pettigo and bus tour around Belleek. The resources created are available as follows:   

• Animation by Rezolve Media -  “The Northern Offensive: The Battle of Pettigo and Belleek”  
• Podcast -  Dr Éamon Phoenix, ‘Raids, Reprisals and the Boundary Question: From the Clones Affray to Craig-Collins Pacts, the Battle of Pettigo and the Civil War, 1922’ 
• Podcast - Dr Edward Burke, ‘Operation Basil: The British Army’s Offensive in Belleek and Pettigo’ 
• Podcast of the Hedge School panel discussion 
• ‘Life in the Workhouse’ Living History tours written and produced by Jonathan Burgess based on stories of those who worked and stayed in County Donegal’s Workhouses during the Revolutionary Period.   
• A virtual reconstruction of Ballyshannon Workhouse by Virtual Teic The Virtual Tour 
• A publication exploring the early years of the workhouse system, its role in the years leading up to the formation of the Free State and what happened to the buildings after their closure.  

Library Programme   

• Rising to the Rising, poetry reading and discussion with internationally renowned poet, Paul Muldoon, In Central Library .  
• Four-day, Hands-on History Summer Camp in Central Library with Kieran Kelly using the mediums of art, drama, and creative writing.   
• A series of podcasts on the revolutionary period were recorded as follows: Dr Seán Beattie, ‘Michael Collins and the Formation of An Garda Síochána’; Dr Niamh Brennan, ‘The Treaty 1921: Records form the Archives’; Caroline Carr, ‘Untold” Donegal Women during the Revolutionary Period’; Seosamh Ó Ceallaigh, ‘Aspects of the War of Independence in Cloughaneely’; Seoirse Ó Dochartaigh, ‘Pearse’s Vision: A New Ireland. Expressed through Music’; Tom Plunkett, ‘Chronicling Mid-West Donegal’. The podcast recordings can be accessed here.
• The Treaty by Gretchen Friemann - book club read and author talk in Bundoran Library.  
• Wainfest Children’s Arts and Book Festival – Presentations by Judi Curtin & Patricia Murphy and talk by Seosamh Ó Ceallaigh, on life in Co. Donegal during the revolutionary years.  

County Archives                                                                                     The following archives were digitised and available online.  

• The Daniel Doherty papers. Daniel Doherty emigrated from Malin Head, Donegal to Boston in the early 1900s.  He became a political lobbyist, an advocate for Irish unity and an important figure in the County Donegal Association of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, including its chairman.  
• Local authority records: 26 bound volumes in total with dates from 1900 to 1922   
• Rural District Councils of Glenties, Letterkenny and Londonderry No. 2, early 20th century  
• Urban District Councils of Letterkenny, Buncrana and Bundoran, early 20th century    

Artist in Residence  

Poet. Annemarie Ni Chuireann was appointed as Artist in Residence in the Museum and County Archives.  Annemarie focused on the period 1922 and re(imagined) the experience of one unmarried mother, drawing from the minute books of the Stranorlar workhouse. As part of her residency Annemarie held a writing workshop in the Workhouse, Dunfanaghy on the 2nd October and produced a pamphlet of poems entitled “Ghostgirl”.    

The following projects were supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 Initiative:  

County Archives  

• Digitisation of records from Ballyshannon, Milford and Stranorlar Rural District Councils covering the first two decades of the 20th century. These records are accessible on-line.   

Donegal County Museum  

• A small touring exhibition was developed telling the story of the 4 men who were executed at Drumboe Castle on the 14th March 1923.    
• A play on the theme of the Drumboe martyrs was written and produced by Kieran Kelly in association with the Balor Theatre.   
• The Museum and Archives Services created a publication highlighting the work undertaken on the Decade of Centenaries since 2012.  
• Working with Highland Radio, the Museum also produced a series of 4 radio documentaries and podcasts exploring Donegal stories from the Decade of Centenaries.   

Library Programme  

• Historical Walks; Lecture Programme; a Junior Summer Camp and a History Roadshow entitled Just for Kids.   
• Wainfest Children’s Arts and Book Festival - workshop with historian Dave Swift focussing on the uniforms and equipment of the Irish War of Independence; storytelling workshops with Dark Daughter productions focussing on the contribution of women; a series of talks by Dr Angela Byrne explaining the establishment of the various institutions of the Irish Free state and interactive sessions with Irish children’s authors Anna Carey, Siobhan Parkinson and Brian Gallagher.