Making Local History, a free local history seminar took place in the Brockagh Resource Centre, Laragh on Saturday, 4th November. The aims of the event were; to highlight the important role of local historical societies in County Wicklow and to explore opportunities to support and strengthen this role. The event provided a welcome networking opportunity for the 80 + registered attendance, all with a common interest in local history to chat and share ideas and experiences.
Professor Raymond Gillespie, from Maynooth University Department of History, was the keynote speaker. Catherine Wright, County Archives Service gave a talk on the resources available in the County Archives and Local Studies in the library service. Heritage officer Deirdre Burns highlighted the role of our online community archives Our Wicklow Heritage in supporting local history and heritage.
Presentations were also given from five local historical societies in County Wicklow; Roundwood, Rathdrum, Arklow, Greystones and Bray– topics included:
- Early Medieval Enclosures at Roundwood
- Glenmalure, the Wild Mountains of Wicklow
- The Kynoch Explosion Arklow 1917- It’s Importance To Wicklow As A Whole
- Know Yor Neighbourhood: using maps, trade guides, census etc
- Wicklow Women and the Ulster Declaration of 1912.
Group Workshop
The event included a group workshop session focussing on the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the local history sector in Wicklow today. This was a particularly fruitful discussion, a summary of which can be accessed in the attached document below.
Three priority areas for action are identified as:
Our Wicklow Heritage: Encouraging more widescale engagement with this among the wider heritage community in Wicklow
Training: This is needed in IT, digital and social media and in oral history practice
Host an Annual Local History Event
A Call to Action
A small steering group has been put in place to advance the above areas. If you would like to participate please drop a line to dburns@wicklowcoco.ie
Share your Stories! If you are actively involved in making local history please share your research with the wider heritage community in county Wicklow and beyond. Register as a user on Our Wicklow Heritage and start contributing today.
This was the second Our Wicklow Heritage event held in 2017 as an action of the County Wicklow Heritage Plan (Community Archaeology was held on 27th May, the proceedings from which may be accessed on this site, click here ). The purpose of these events is to to focus on key heritage themes with a view to supporting local activity and encouraging collaborations.
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