Feedback from our one-day conference ‘In Search of Ireland’ has been very positive, and it would appear that our audience enjoyed it just about as much we did.

Despite some technical hitches, The sessions were got off to a flying start. The speakers were of the highest calibre, and from a spectrum of disciplines, which gave a well rounded feel to the day. From the Archaeologist Angus Stephenson, to the Film Maker Keith Farrell, the talks were lively and interesting and held a lot of facts and pointers for the audience, who may wish to carry on with research of their own into the chosen topics.

 

Angus cleverly overlapped information about prehistoric archaeological sites in Ireland, with his passion for postcards, Irish history and traveling around Ireland. His use of visuals such as maps, postcards, photographs and site plans brought to life the imagery of his excavations and travels around Ireland since the 1960’s.

Angus’ presentation was followed by genealogist Helen Kelly, whose personal ties to Manchester through her own family put a great perspective on her talk. It was both personal and informative and I am aware of at least a few in the audience who were helped on the day with specific information helping them to research their own family histories. She encouraged people not to settle for the nearest town as their place of origin, but to identify the exact townland that they hailed from, to help them bond with the birthplace of their ancestors. Helen emphasised the importance of ‘walking gently’ when returning to Ireland to carry out your family history research.

In contrast Keith Farrell, experienced Film Director, gave us an insight into the last 10 years of documentary films focusing on Irish history and the history of the Irish Diaspora. He whetted our appetites by showing clips from the stunning docu-dramas produced by Keith and his colleagues at Tile films. To put these more recent productions in context, Keith also enabled us to take a look at significantly older Irish documentaries such as Mise Eire and Man of Aran. These are films that are not freely available to the public, so this was a rare treat for our audience. He spoke about his experiences of researching these programmes in Ireland, Britain and America and the different obstacles that were met

Following this insightful session, we looked forward to hearing about the Lawrence Collection which is housed at the National Library of Ireland. Elizabeth Kirwan didn’t disappoint, and took us through the online and physical archive of the 19,272 insightful and historical images taken in Ireland between 1870 and 1914, showing topographical scenes throughout Ireland. The Library has digitised over 33,000 glass plate negatives from the Lawrence Royal and Cabinet collections and they are available to view online. Elizabeth gave us a rare insight into the lives of Lawrence and his chief photographer Robert French, and the processes involved in capturing these magnificent images.

We were delighted with the positive feedback from all those that attended ‘In Search of Ireland’ and it has filled us with enthusiasm for next year’s event, which we have already begun planning!