The Culture Division of Donegal County Council delivers a unique series of projects.
The three unique and varied arts and heritage projects are funded through the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
The projects forms part of Donegal County Council’s €5.5m Local Authority Action Plan.
This Action Plan is funded through the EU’s PEACE IV Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
Matching–funding has been provided by the Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland’.
North West Border Stories: Tales of the Trouble is a Documentary and Media Project featuring Children and Grandparents from both sides of the Border organised by the Regional Cultural Centre (RCC).
We might have had multiple lockdowns and countless restrictions but it hasn’t stopped school kids from across Donegal, Derry and Tyrone doing FUN and EDUCATIONAL online training sessions with Donegal smartphone film-makers Póca Productions.
The workshops involved learning to use smartphones, tablets and iPads as video cameras, storyboarding, interview techniques and plenty of other important skills that might lead to future successful careers in the film industry. These workshops also encouraged participants to film interviews with their grandparents or parents and capture memories of their life growing up in the North West during the troubles.
After the workshops, film director Keith O’Grady conducted professional follow up interviews with a number of participants and will now begin to make a new documentary film featuring all their amazing stories.
Living in Donegal is a virtual exhibition and publication showcasing the diverse community that makes Donegal the ‘coolest place in the world’. The RCC ‘Living in Donegal’ team has been working with 25 people with connections from all over the world but all of whom call Donegal ‘home’.
Overseen by curator Dr. Harriet Purkis, this eclectic group of people have filmed their personal stories and daily experiences with videographer Eugene McGinty and are currently working with our project photographer Declan Devlin to create a beautiful series of doorstep portraits.
We will launch the full online immersive exhibition in February 2021 where you can virtually meet these people and learn more about them. The online exhibition will be followed by the release of a new publication featuring beautiful photographs from the project along with quotations and interviews.
Donegal County Archives and Donegal County Museum are currently involved in the Echoes of the Decade project which focuses on the history of the revolutionary years (1912 – 1924) and its legacy in County Donegal. The project began in January with children and young people participating in a series of workshops which explored the Decade of Centenaries.
During the lockdown, project coordinator Alarnagh Barrett-McGinley, continued work on the project in the virtual world. Children, young people, history groups and the public took part in on-line history challenges, an oral history project and shared stories and photos on the Echoes of the Decade facebook group page.
With the end of the lockdown, the project has resumed delivering remote workshops to about 150 children throughout Donegal, which explore the history of the period through drama, oral history and creative writing.
Oral historian, Regina Fitzpatrick has also undertaken a series of oral history interviews as part of the project. These interviews will form part of the Archives collection of Donegal County Council.
For further information on any of these projects please contact Clodagh Murray at cmurray@donegalcoco.ie
