Matter of fact: project teaches Kilkenny students to source historic documents
By COLIN BARTLEY
A WORKSHOP for Kilkenny’s Leaving Certificate students, demonstrating how to use primary sources for history projects, is being rolled out around the county.
Kilkenny Library has enlisted the help of Finbar Dwyer, creator of the highly informative and popular “Irish History Podcast” to deliver the workshops.
Being run as part of the county library’s “Decade of Centenaries” schools outreach project, the workshop focuses on historic Kilkenny events that took place between 1919 – 1923, which coincided with the birth of the Irish Free State.
Finbar’s workshop traces one individual through the Military Archives website; the 1901 and 1911 Censuses; the Births, Deaths and Marriages website (Irish Genealogy.ie), and the Irish News Archive.
Keith Murray, history teacher at Coláiste Pobail Osraí, created the bilingual worksheet for the project. The workshops are being held in City Library, Ferrybank, Graiguenmanagh, Loughboy, Thomastown and Urlingford libraries.
PHOTO: Students from Castlecomer Community School, with library staff Annette Purcell (branch librarian), Mary Morrissey (branch manager), Finbar Dwyer (Irish History Podcast) and their History teacher, Pat Tynan.
