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Donegal Women's Voices From The Past - Revolutionary Times
Donegal County Museum, the Regional Cultural Centre and the Museum and Archive Service of Derry City and Strabane District Council commissioned and produced a series of six short video pieces which highlight the experiences of women during the Revolutionary Period (1919-1923). These videos provide snapshots of the period, exploring the stories of women during the struggle for Irish independence.
The Donegal video pieces highlight the varied experiences of local women.
The first video features Eithne Coyle, an active member of Cumann na mBan. During the War of Independence, she carried out a one-woman campaign holding up trains, seizing goods and burning British newspapers. In September 1922 she was arrested and remained in jail until the end of the Civil War. She was President of Cumann na mBan between 1926 and 1941.
The second video features Mary Ballantine who was married to Head Constable Joseph Ballantine of the Royal Irish Constabulary. In May 1922, Joseph who had just retired from his position was shot and killed at his home in Raphoe.
The third video features Rose Ann Logue, an Instructress with the Congested Districts Board, who was held up by two armed and masked men who threatened her and cut off her hair.
The Derry films feature Lady Lillian Spender on a tour along the newly-established border in June 1923. Lady Spender describes in her diaries events along the Border in places such as Clady and Pettigo.
To view the Derry Films, visit www.facebook.com/towermuseum/
The video pieces were produced by Dark Daughter Productions with videography by Oath Film Studio. Use of the Diaries of Lillian Spender is by courtesy of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
These videos were supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative.
Publication - Ó Choimhlint go Deighil -Dún na nGall 1919 -1925/From Conflict To Division – Donegal 1919 – 1925
Donegal County Museum produced a booklet entitled “From Conflict to Division: Donegal 1919-1925” which explores the story of the War of Independence, Partition, and the Civil War in County Donegal.
This bilingual booklet was supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012 -2023 Initiative and by the Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022.
This free booklet is available to view and download
Ballyshannon Virtual Workhouse
Click here to experience a virtual reconstruction of Ballyshannon Workhouse by Virtual Teic.
The Workhouse is synonymous with the purported social care system that existed in Ireland prior to Independence, but its role in society has often been overlooked or misunderstood. By using the plans for workhouses devised by George Wilkinson in the 19th century and the Conservation report undertaken for Ballyshannon Workhouse, Donegal County Museum and the Archives Service have created the first ever virtual reconstruction of Ballyshannon Workhouse, as it would have appeared in the early twentieth century. With this virtual workhouse we capture a moment in time when the Workhouse system was still in use prior to the changes which resulted in the aftermath of the Revolutionary Period.
Donegal County Archives
Experiencing the Irish Revolution in Donegal, 1919 – 1925, Essays (Ben Rogers)
The County Archives and County Museum (Culture Division of Donegal County Council) appointed Dr Ben Rogers as historian in residence, part of its Decade of Centenaries programme 2021. As Historian in Residence, Dr Rogers researched some of the County Archives major collections - The Joseph Murray Collection, Board of Guardians (workhouse) minutes books and Rural & Urban District Council minute books, from 1918 – 1925. Based on his research Dr Rogers produced a book of six essays in collaboration with the Archives Service, Experiencing the Irish Revolution in Donegal, 1919 – 1925.
Democracy and Change: The 1920 Local Elections in Ireland
2020 marked the centenary of the local elections of 1920 which were pivotal in the history of local government in Ireland. To mark these events, and because of their significance for the struggle for independence, the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage commissioned a publication from the Local Government Archivists and Records Managers to commemorate the 1920 local elections. Edited by archivists Niamh Brennan (Donegal) and Grainne Doran (Wexford) with the title 'Democracy and Change: the 1920 Local Elections in Ireland' this publication is available to download free of charge, in Irish and in English.
Publication - Donegal, the 1918 General Election and the First Dáil