Projects
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Over the years, Donegal County Museum has participated in various local, national and international projects. Some of our most recent projects include:
The Museum is a partner in an EU Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme/Interreg Project entitled DACCHE - Digital Action on Climate Change in Heritage Environments.
The aim of the project is to empower local communities by building their capacity to understand, respond, communicate, and facilitate mitigation of the impacts of climate change and green transition on cultural landscapes and heritage sites.
Partner organisations are in Sweden (Jamtli Foundation – Lead Partner and the Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning & Creativity), Norway (Nord University and Tindved Kulturhage) and Ireland (Donegal County Museum)
In Donegal we are working with three sites and local community groups facilitated by Kate Robb of John Cronin and Associates. These are:
• Inishkeel Island, Portnoo
• McSwyne’s Castle and Dunkineely Community Ltd
• Portbane/Tonduff, Dunree and West Inishowen History and Heritage Group
Ultimately, the project intends to create digital solutions to help promote better climate awareness and advocacy for our heritage sites.
Click DACCHE to discover more.
Donegal County Museum has been undertaking research on all those from Donegal involved in World War I since 2001. The County Donegal Book of Honour, The Great War 1914-1918 contains the names of all those from Donegal who died during World War I and was first published in 2002. The Museum updated the Book of Honour and reprinted the 5th edition in 2019.
Based on the Book of Honour, the Museum created a searchable database containing all the listings. In communities throughout Ireland recognition is finally being given to the thousands of Irish people from all communities who fought and died. It is hoped that, as we move forward in peace, we will continue to have the opportunity to remember.
Click here to view the database.
Between 2017 and 2020 the Museum was involved with the CINE project, a collaborative digital heritage project between partners from Norway, Iceland, Ireland, and Scotland and funded by the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme (ERDF). The partners in Ireland were Donegal County Museum and Ulster University’s School of Computing, Engineering, and Intelligent Systems. The aim of the CINE project was to transform people’s experiences of heritage through technology.
We worked with two communities in Killybegs and on Inch Island.
Using research gathered by the Killybegs History and Heritage group we developed a new website www.virtualstcatherines.net which allows people to visualise the built heritage of St Catherine’s Church and graveyard in Killybegs from a new perspective.
Facilitator Guy Barriscale worked with the community of Inch Island, to gather stories, images and artefacts relating to the history of the island. We then created www.inchheritage.org a virtual exhibition which showcases the history and heritage of Inch Island.
Finally, we developed www.cinecommunities.org which provides a series of ‘getting started’, guides for a range of digital tools to assist communities in creating and presenting their heritage and a Community Coproduction Best Practice manual.
Between 1841-42, the Workhouse at Ballyshannon was constructed at a cost of £5,850 for the building and £1,100 for the fittings. It officially opened on the 6th of May 1843 to accommodate 600 inmates. It closed on the 1st March 1922.
By using the plans for workhouses devised by George Wilkinson the Architect for the Poor Law Commissioners in the 19th Century and the conservation report undertaken for Ballyshannon Workhouse, Donegal County Museum and the Donegal Archives Service commissioned Virtual Teic to create a virtual reconstruction of Ballyshannon Workhouse. The project was funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media as part of the Decade of Centenaries Initiative 2012-2023.
Ballyshannon Workhouse virtual tour
Discover more about Donegal Workhouses Records
Donegal County Archives holds almost 400,000 items relating to the eight Workhouses of County Donegal, dating from 1840 to 1923. The archives can be viewed by appointment at the Donegal County Archives, Three Rivers Centre, Lifford, Co Donegal, email archivist@donegalcoco.ie.
The archives can also be viewed online here.
The County Donegal Book of Honour - The Great War 1914-1918 contains the names of all those from Donegal who died during the First World War. It was first published in 2002 and was the culmination of the hard work and dedication of Paddy Harte (Snr) and the County Donegal Book of Honour Committee. Donegal County Museum has updated and reprinted a 5th Edition of the Book of Honour.
Donegal County Museum has carried out extensive research on those from County Donegal who took part in World War I. We would be happy to assist you with any queries relating to Donegal and World War I.
Have You Any New information?
If you have any additional information on the men and women listed in the County Donegal Book of Honour or have any additional names please send by email to museum@donegalcoco.ie or post to Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, Ireland
During the Covid -19 Pandemic, Donegal County Museum and the Donegal Volunteer Centre invited Donegal people for contributions, such as a short article or photographs, on what they had uncovered or rediscovered about their locality. We received funding to publish a booklet from the ‘KEEP WELL’ campaign, a Healthy Ireland initiative of the Government of Ireland with funding from the Healthy Ireland Fund. The booklet is now available for free from Donegal County Museum,from libraries around the county and from the Donegal Volunteer Centre. You can also access the publication here:
In 2019 and 2020 the Museum collaborated with An Grianan Theatre and the Regional Culture Centre (RCC) in Letterkenny on Reimagine, an Irish Architecture Foundation project, supported by the Creative Ireland Programme’s National Creativity Fund. Reimagine is a community-led architecture and design programme, which brings together local communities, architects, designers, and planners to develop projects which will enhance the local built environment.
As part of Reimagine Letterkenny, the cultural partners worked with Pasparakis Friel Architects, to design and install temporary signage and way finding markers to promote the physical linkage between the Museum, the Theatre and the RCC. Pasparakis Friel also developed the concept of a cultural quarter linking these buildings which now forms part of the Letterkenny 2040 master planning process under Letterkenny Green Connect.
Click here for further information on Reimagine.
Commemorations 2024
In 2024 the Council received funding of €15,000 from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media for the 2024 Commemorative Programme. The Culture Division delivered five engaging and informative Commemorative projects.
Wainfest 2024 Decade of Centenaries Programme
Wainfest 2024 featured a Decade of Centenaries program hosted by the Donegal Library Service. Ten workshops, led by three facilitators, delved into the rich history of this significant period, engaging school children from across Donegal. Historian, author, and lecturer Dr. Angela Byrne hosted a talk on The Partition in Donegal 1921-1925; archaeologist and founder of Claíomh (the Irish Living History Museum) Dave Swift held a series of talks on the pivotal moments in Irish history that sought to establish an independent Irish Republic; author Sheena Wilkinson engaged young readers with a series of workshops based on her historical trilogy, 'Name upon Name,' 'Star by Star,' and 'Hope.'
Donegal Town 550: History and Remembrance, conference 24 August 2024
On 24 August, Donegal Town 550: History and Remembrance, a free one-day history conference, was held in the Central Hotel, Donegal Town. It was organised by historians Helen Meehan MA, of Donegal Historical Society and Dr Matthew Potter, a native of Donegal Town and Curator of Limerick Museum, as part of the Donegal Town 550 programme.
Workhouse Memorial Garden Information Board
Letterkenny Workhouse Memorial Garden is located beside the Donegal County Museum. In 2024 Donegal County Council completed renovations which include new pathways, new seating and new planting. As part of the renovations, 2 information boards were installed which reflect the story of the garden and its connection to the Letterkenny Workhouse complex which has played an important role in the history of the area since the mid 1840’s.
Women 100 Exhibition
This exhibition by Donegal County Museum and Donegal County Archives shines a spotlight on the women’s lives from the 1922 to 1980. Women’s contribution to the history of Ireland has often been overlooked. Through the artefacts, archives and images in this exhibition we explore how women’s lives were impacted following the creation of the Irish Free State. The exhibition includes topics such as Woman and Health; Women and Employment; Women and Politics. We also include the stories of the everyday experiences of women as the new Irish state emerged along with the stories of extraordinary women who were trailblazers in areas such as medicine and science.
Artists Open Call
Following an open call for artists to respond to the brief, artist Marie Barret was chosen for this commission - WOMAN (100). The artist selected (20) key women who are currently engaged in promoting community development and social justice issues in Donegal. The project included collaboration with associate organizations: Inishowen Development Partnership, Changemakers Project, Donegal Intercultural Platform, Donegal Travellers Project, Women's Collective Donegal.