The Letters of 1916 team was delighted to visit Drimnagh Castle CBS for the opening of their exhibition ‘The Artists Rising’ on the evening of Wednesday 20 April in the atmospheric setting of Drimnagh Castle.
Students of second, transition and fifth years, under the guidance of their teachers Ms Shirley Holland and Ms Mary McDonald, and sculptor Ms Justine Prendergast, created a wonderful collection of work that represents the lives and times of 1916. Works included prints of the various personalities of 1916, sketches of letter writers, stamps, posters and a figure sculpture of Walter Paget’s Birth of the Republic.
Dominic Price, history teacher at Drimnagh Castle, unveiled the project and spoke of the creation process behind many of the pieces, stating that ‘the way in which students from so many backgrounds engaged with the various projects and took proud ownership of a shared history was truly an inspiration… Here tonight we stand in appreciation and wonder at the artistic creations of our students and their interpretation of the people and events of 1916.’
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Dominic attended the 2015 Teachers Workshop held by the Letters of 1916 and the Military Archives of Ireland at An Foras Feasa, Maynooth University. This workshop produced a number of innovative lesson plans that make use of material from both the Letters of 1916 project and the Military Archives’ digitised collections.
Dominic described the experience as having provided ‘an amazing series of resources for Transition Year mainly but also for any year group.’ These lesson plans can be accessed at 1916 in Transition.
The Letters of 1916 wish to thank the staff and students of Drimnagh CBS for their tremendous work: we wish the very best of luck to these budding artists in the future!
We would be delighted to hear from any other teachers who have already used the Letters of 1916 in the classroom. We would be interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions on how the project can be enhanced as a teaching resource for secondary level students. We are also very happy to respond to any queries you may have relating to the project, just email us at letters1916@gmail.com.
by Neale Rooney