PEACE IV Project : The United Irishmen and 1798 Rebellion
Heritage and Community Relations Project for Down County Museum including course design, booklet preparation, and site visits.
As part of its PEACE IV Building Positive Relations programme, Down County Museum, contracted Shirley Lennon , Kenera Consultant, to deliver a cross-community project aimed at increasing awareness of the roots, course and impact of the 1798 rebellion and the foundation and impact of the Society of United Irishmen in County Down, as part of the Shared History and Cultural Programme.
This project was supported by the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
​
1798
Our Shared Heritage
Eight Week Community Relations Course, Site Visits and Published Booklet
Shirley Lennon recruited thirty local people from across the community who took part by attending lectures and workshops which were delivered in Down County Museum by a series of experts in different aspects of this period of our history. Participants visited sites of special interest and enjoyed tours and talks. The participants contributed to a booklet to enable their learning to be shared by the wider community. The participants discovered links to this period of history and learned about incidents, people and places involved that changed their perspective on this turbulent part of our shared past. Seeing the causes, events and outcomes of the period through different eyes via the talks, site visits and discussion enabled them to clarify ideas that had been formed prior to the course. Many people visited some of the sites for the first time and this expanded their thinking on the significance of these locations in their past.
​
Participant feedback
Satisfied clients
I really enjoyed the first session, I literally knew nothing of the 1798 rebellion and was attending the course to learn about local history. I'm thoroughly looking forward to this week’s class.