A discussion paper that included draft principles for remembering in public space was developed and a set of principles were outlined at the conclusion of the 2011 “Remembering The Future” conference. The decade of centenaries from 2011—2023 marks a number of particularly important anniversaries that have shaped the sense of British and Irish identity in Northern Ireland in the 20th century. The first step was to bring interested groups together including the city council, cultural organisations and academics, as we sought to influence and support context setting. This developed into a non-decision-making, non-executive group called the Decade of Centenaries Roundtable. We went on to develop a set of principles for remembering in public space based on acceptance and inclusion, on thinking ethically, on the need to encompass all our stories, based on an understanding of history, wider context and evidence. A discussion paper was drafted and the principles were launched at a March 2011 conference. The Roundtable grew to include departments, agencies, cultural and heritage organisations, libraries, arts organisations, district councils and groups. We meet quarterly to share information and play a part in planning and organising conferences, publications and resources fairs.

35 North Down Museum: Home, Politics and War Exhibition

North Down Museum hosted a number of exhibitions which explored the impact of the First World War on local people including: One Man’s Road to the Somme: The Story of J.S. Davidson; Remember and Reflect in partnership with eight local historical societies which explored some of the men from across the Borough who did not return; and Home, Politics and War: The changing lives of women in the early Twentieth Century.

This exhibition explored the roles of women during this period when they began to break free from the restraints of society and move into the world of politics, work and medicine. The display traced the changing opportunities that became available to local women during this time. It also highlighted both the sacrifices and contributions made by women during the Great War.

This exhibition was part of a larger project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The main objective of the project was to develop a permanent exhibition in the museum which explored the First World War and display the museum’s Victoria Cross which had been in storage for many years. The project successfully did that. It highlights the story of VC winner, Rear Admiral Barry Bingham and his role in the Battle of Jutland. In addition, a digital interactive telling the story of the Battle was developed and a game was produced with students from Bangor Grammar School to bring Bingham’s ship HMS Nestor to life. The exhibition can be viewed during the museum’s opening hours.

Fortunately the Project Officer was able to develop an additional temporary exhibition focusing on women and also deliver a World War I family day which attracted hundreds of local people to engage in a broad range of activities which were based around the time period.

Since 2012 Donegal County Museum has worked in association with individuals, groups and organisations to commemorate the events which impacted the lives of those living in Donegal 100 years ago. In 2012 the Museum worked with the Thiepval Memorial Loyal Orange Lodge to organise an exhibition on the story of the Ulster Covenant in Donegal. In 2014 the Museum developed an exhibition on Donegal and World War I. In 2018 we updated and published the 5^th edition of the County Donegal Book of Honour which lists all those from Donegal who died in the First World War. We are currently creating a publically accessible database which will contain all the listings from the Book of Honour as well as additional data we have uncovered in our research. In 2020 we commissioned a series of short videos which highlighted the experiences of four women during the revolutionary period: Eithne Coyle, Rose Ann Logue, Mary Ballantine and Lady Lillian Spender. In 2021 we developed an exhibition (both actual and virtual) and accompanying publication examining the impact of the events of the War of Independence, the Civil War and Partition on the people of Donegal. Under the Decade of Centenaries Initiative led by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, we, along with our colleagues in the Culture Division of Donegal County Council, have also delivered a series of projects, including: an Artist in Residence; an Audit of Memorials; a Historian in Residence; an Open Call artistic response; a lecture series and a programme of children’s events as part of Wainfest.

Tonagh Ladies Group (TLG) created a book based on their interaction with Easter 1916 history.

The project was rights-based, it evolved as it went. TLG sought answers to questions that were important to them: “Why do we know more about the men than the women? Who were the 1916 women? What was their motivation? What happened to them after the rising? Did they leave a legacy?”

Lisburn Museum invested time and resources in this project that would inevitably change how it engaged with adult learners. TLG took a decisive role but the approach adhered to professional museum standards using a proven format of site visits, expert talks and creative and narrative methods.

The Tower Museum created an exhibition commemorating the centenary of the sinking of the Laurentic. The famous gold ship, which now lies at the bottom of Lough Swilly, was sunk by German mines from a U-boat on the 25 January 1917. The story of its sinking, its survivors, and the hunt for the 43 tonnes of gold on board to pay for munitions during the First World War has since captured the imagination of generations of researchers, historians and divers.

Our project began when the owner of the wreck, Ray Cossum, approached us with his archive and collection of artefacts from the wreck. From there the project gathered pace, with the local community coming forward and regaling us with their personal connections the wreck, family members who survived, who saw the ship while berthed in Lough Swilly before its fateful voyage, who remember the dead washed up on shore.

The diving community also got in touch, offering to loan and donate incredible objects from the ship and wreck itself, including the knocker from the captain’s cabin door, tiles from the pool area, the bell from the bridge (with indentations where it was battered with a wrench as the ship went down). Towel rails, portholes, white star line insignia, all culminated in a fantastic visual exhibition which paid a moving tribute to what was at the time a momentous tragedy.

The exhibition, and the series of the events that followed, proved hugely popular. The hunt for the gold ignited the imagination of the younger generations, while the tragedy of the sinking and the great loss of life proved particularly poignant for those trying to reconnect with the family history during the First World War. The exhibition will be permanently displayed in the new DNA project, set to open in Ebrington Square in 2025.

At the beginning of the Decades of Centenaries commemorations in 2012, there was a recognition among the research staff in the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum that while there was a good understanding of the contribution of Lisburn’s Protestant population to the Great War (1914-18), there was little known about the role the town’s Catholics played in the conflict. To correct this, and to better understand the part played by parishioners of St Patrick’s (the town’s Catholic Church on Chapel Hill), the museum launched a research project in 2015. The project aimed to explore the lives of Catholic men from St Patrick’s who enlisted, examining their backgrounds, the regiments they fought in, and the places they served and died in. The project outcomes would be used to underpin the museum’s exhibition programme, and foster further research into the Great War – across denominations – in Lisburn. The project was supported by St Patrick’s Parish Church, Chapel Hill, and facilitated by Councillor Pat Catney.

The museum held an exploratory meeting in February 2015 at St Patrick’s Parish Centre for those interested in getting involved. The museum was keen to work with parishioners or local researchers with interests in Lisburn Catholics or WWI. Key contributors to the project included local WWI historian Pat Geary, Gavin Bamford (History Hub Ulster), Ted Rooney, senior St Patrick’s parishioner, and Pearse Lawlor, local author. By March 2015 work had begun on a data collection exercise, collating a range of data on the men: names, address, occupations, service records, death, post-war career and so on. This exercise was “crowd researched” using a range of digital tools, including Trello, Google Docs, as well as online databases. The project’s participants worked together, but remotely, to collate as much information together into a shared database. An edited version of the database was completed by summer 2015.

The current Peace Studies project started in 2014, when the museum became involved in an ongoing project between the two schools that started in 1972. Initially, this was to be a four-year project led by Fermanagh County Museum, looking back at the First World War in the context of 2014—2018. Each academic year sees 30 students involved. Moving on from the war we then looked at the post-war period and the suffragette movement. The core element each year is that the students from St Michael’s College and E.R.G.S examine the most important events in that centenary year and draw out local and personal stories. The ultimate objective of this Peace Studies Programme is to see students (working in small groups) from both schools carrying out research on an individual or event from 100 years ago. The person (a soldier, civilian or relative) or event was selected by each group and researched with students producing a presentation based on their research journey. In terms of the research on the Suffragettes, the students delivered their research findings in innovative and exciting ways to local Primary 7 pupils from Holy Trinity PS. Each year (except for those impacted by Covid), the project has visited the Ballyjamesduff Museum. The group also visit the Enniskillen War Memorial, the memorial window in the Enniskillen Presbyterian church and have also attended conferences organised by the Fermanagh Churches Forum, including inviting guest speakers. We have also visited the Walls of Derry.

Mid & East Antrim Borough Council organised an event to commemorate 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. The event included music and poetry readings. A play was commissioned which depicted the events of 1916 and how it impacted on people from all community backgrounds.

This was performed on Sunday 26 June 2016. Good Relations (GR) also supported the event by using their networks and community and schools contacts, elected representatives, MLAs, MPs etc. to ensure that it was inclusive and there was a wide range of representatives participating.

GR was also highly involved in the organisation of the event, sending invitations, preparation meetings, co-ordination on the day.

As a result of COVID-19, Belfast City Council had to quickly adapt to how they delivered the Decade of centenaries Programmes over the last 2 years.

This case study looks at what we have done over the last 18 months to ensure that our events and programmes went ahead and how we made sure that they were accessed by anyone who wanted to participate in them. Funded by The Executive Office and Council, our Decade of Centenaries Programme marks those key historical events between 1912 and 1922 that shaped Northern Ireland and Ireland. Our approach is informed by a series of principles that were adopted by the Council at the onset of the Decade back in 2011. In 2021, we were also awarded funding from the Shared History Fund, which The National Lottery Heritage Fund delivered on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office to develop a number of projects to mark 1921, including:

• A drama and animation programme, including a re-enactment of the King’s speech in the Council Chamber on 22 June 2021, exactly 100 years to the day that the Northern Ireland Parliament was opened by King George V.
• The conservation of two chairs, currently in the Council Chamber at City Hall which were used by King George V and Queen Mary at the inauguration of the Northern Ireland Parliament.
• A digital trail of artefacts and stories relating to 1921.
• Lord Mayor’s time capsule project for younger residents.

All of these projects were delivered virtually, ensuring that our programme withstood the challenges posed by the pandemic. Here are some of the highlights:

The project was initiated by the Trustees of the Churches Trust, who are the leaders in the North West area of the Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church. The aim was to bring young people and schools together for a positive learning and commemoration experience. The project involved 12 schools (four from Donegal and eight from Derry/Londonderry), involving 70 pupils and 18 teaching staff. The project was driven and developed by a steering group of 30 people representative of church leaders, school principals and teachers, Derry and Strabane City Council, The Nerve Centre, Museum services, and other community and voluntary sector organisations.

The programme included:

• January—March 2016: two creative workshop days, facilitated by The Nerve Centre, where pupils and teachers explored the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme using creative media.
• February 2016: an educational study trip to the Somme Museum (Newtownards) to examine Ireland’s role in the 1st World War with specific reference to the cross-community involvement in the three local volunteer divisions: the 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions and the 36th (Ulster) Division.
• March 2016: a study visit to Dublin exploring sites such as World War I Memorial Gardens, a guided walking tour focusing on the Easter Rising, and a visit to Collins Barracks.
• April 2016: a day of reflection, facilitated by Maureen Hetherington and Johnston McMaster (The Junction), examining the concepts of Shared and Ethical Remembering.
• May 2016: a visit to the Tower Museum’s exhibition examining reflections from 1916-2016, and a commemoration event in the Guildhall where the outcomes of the project were showcased and students gave personal reflections about their experience on the Journey Together project. The event as attended by over 150 people.

The project was funded by the Community Relations Council to produce a resource to encourage secondary school students (and others) to address the sensitive history of the 1912-22 decade in ways which help both to better understand the events in their historical context and to engage with their centenary commemoration in the present.

While directed at formal education, the material is also be valuable to educators in the community. The resource was written by HTANI (History Teachers Association Northern Ireland) members, Alan McCully (formerly School of Education, Ulster University) and teacher, Matthew Jess, with Matt responsible for researching and locating the material.

The starting point was the application of the five principles identified by the Community Relations Council at the outset of the decade. These were mapped on to eight pointers which had emerged from research into teaching contested history in Northern Ireland (Barton and McCully 2005; 2010; 2012), thus providing a framework for the resource’s design:

• Challenge entrenched and unsubstantiated positions, “mythbust” and expose the abuse of history
• Recognise complexity, initiate informed individual interpretations and foster debate
• Enable students to engage in meta-cognition whereby they can be aware of how their own backgrounds and allegiances might come to influence the way they interpret the past
• Involve students in a constant dialogue between the events of the past and the situation in the present
• Engage students in an explicit exploration of the relationship between national identity(ies) and history
• Help students understand the recent, violent past, including critically examining personal experiences of those events
• Provide an informed context for contemporary dialogue
• Articulate history’s place in a connected curriculum and its relationship with citizenship education.

Entwined Histories has been delivered with Schools since 2012, comprising eleven projects. A key element of Entwined Histories is enabling young people to build friendships with peers who perhaps have a different understanding of the past. In line with the decade of centenaries, the objective of the Entwined Histories project is to promote a common understanding of past events in our shared history, challenging myths and increasing appreciation for different perspectives, and to explore how past events continue to influence attitudes and behaviours today. The project would not be possible without the valued support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The programme has followed the major events in the Decade of Centenaries. These events 100 years ago contributed significantly to shaping politics and society in Ireland. We have looked at events including the signing of the Ulster Covenant, the Easter Rising, the Battle of the Somme, and key events leading to partition including the Government of Ireland Act and the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Many of these events have contested narratives but rather than being weighed down by the complexities of competing narratives, we see learning about these events as an opportunity for our young people to develop a better understanding of the past and begin to explore the common ground which can help build positive friendships and respect among their peers.

The Ethical and Shared Remembering Programme 1912-1922 has been developed by Johnston McMaster in partnership with The Junction, and is focused around a five strand methodological framework:

In approaching the second half of the Decade the methodology remains. The heart of the methodological framework is remembering ethically adapted from the work of Irish philosopher Richard Kearney. Kearney offered an ethic of hospitality which is at least three dimensional; narrative hospitality, narrative flexibility and narrative plurality. In the historical context of the Decade 1912-1922, this has provided a prism to critically and ethically appraise the game-changing events in Ireland 100 years ago. Narrative hospitality is the generous openness to hear each other’s story. Large themes emerge from the events of 1917-1922 and eight have been identified for critical exploration. The themes are: Historical; Patriarchy; Religious; Political; Militaristic; Cultural; and two themes more specifically related to Remembering the Future – these are the Common Good and Building Pluralist and Deliberative Democracy.

MARRI is a WW1 community drama project which encouraged groups to research, script and perform family and community stories that reveal an infinitely more nuanced and inclusive account of the human experience of a region simultaneously “at war” with itself and with an outside force. It is a project collaboration forged between the Living Legacies 1914-18 WW1 public engagement centre, the Drama department at Queen’s University Belfast and the Creative Learning Department at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

The MARRI team worked with six community-based organisations: the Resurgam Trust, Rathcoole Youth Group, Omagh Live and Learn Group, Tonagh Women’s Group, Bobosh and Hydebank Wood College.

The project developed from a pioneering play called The Medal in the Drawer, written by Dr Brenda Winter-Palmer, which explored the complex interplay of Unionist and Nationalist loyalties embedded in the trenches of the First World War and the streets of Belfast. With this play as inspiration and a starting point, the MARRI community groups, with the help of a drama facilitator, began to explore their own ideas and knowledge of the war as remembered in Northern Ireland.

What worked well and what, if anything, didn’t?

Drama-based research methods developed by MARRI proved to be a “safe space” for community groups to explore complex issues of identity and memory. This was true for young and old alike, for men and women.

This project focused on the First World War and in particular the Battle of Messines. It centres on the relationship between Private John Meeke, a local Orangeman from Benvarden, and Major William Redmond, a famous nationalist MP. It encourages and develops mutual understanding as it offers opportunities for reflection, to identify differences and similarities between communities and the sacrifices made by both traditions during this time in our shared history. This project also brought together pupils from two schools within the area: St Patrick’s PS, Loughguile; and William Pinkerton Memorial PS, Dervock. The project was an opportunity to bring together young people from both communities, with their families and friends. The schools provided a platform for engaging with the pupils from different backgrounds and offered the pupils the same educational experience which was presented in a shared history context. The first production took place in Benvarden Orange Hall; this helped to promote the local Orange Hall as being more accessible and community friendly. The audience represented both Catholic and Protestant communities. Historically the area has always been representative of both traditions, evidenced by the old Derrykeighan graveyard which has graves representing members of the 1798 Rebellion, the two Meeke brothers (John and Samuel), and members of both communities. Further productions have taken place in the Royal British Legion, Ballymoney Branch, and in The Braid Centre, Ballymena. All the cast are local volunteers, many of whom had never performed prior to the project.

What worked well and what, if anything, didn’t?

• Encouraged and developed mutual understanding as it offered opportunities for reflection, space to identify differences and similarities between communities and the sacrifices made by both traditions.
• Encouraged active learning through the medium of music, poetry and drama. It helped to create a better understanding and appreciation of identities and cultural traditions.

Halfway House is a one-act play produced by Contemporary Christianity, a faith based organisation. The author is Philip Orr, a historian of the First World War who has delivered community projects on history and identity. Halfway House, set in 1966, involves two women meeting on a snowy winter’s night, when stuck in the back room of a pub in the Sperrin Mountains. They discover that they have much in common but then they discover more about each other’s families and that becomes disturbing for both women.

“Remembrance” becomes a troubling part of their conversation around stories about the Battle of the Somme and the Easter Uprising. Halfway House poses the question: what could and should have been talked about across our society that might have helped to prevent the conflict that engulfed us all?

The two actors were Antoinette Morelli and Louise Parker. Both are talented performers. A DVD of the performance, a script of the Play and a brochure about 1916 were produced. The January 2016 tour was hosted by community groups, Church groups, Council Good Relations Departments and as part of community Arts Festivals and Centenary programmes. Because of the level of interest a second tour was arranged in September 2016 and a further six performances were arranged over the summer and in November/December.

On the Brink: The Politics of Conflict 1914-1916 was a three year Museum services-led community outreach project (April 2014 – March 2017). The project secured £151,000 in funding from Heritage Lottery Fund. The geography of the project covered three Borough Council areas: Mid and East Antrim; Antrim & Newtownabbey; Causeway Coast and Glens. Mid and East Antrim led in the project’s delivery with Causeway Coast & Glens. On the Brink sought to explain what, why and how we commemorate, in the aftermath of major outbreaks of war and revolution, and question what we have forgotten and why. The project aimed to challenge one-sided interpretations of 1916 events, of the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme, that still cause division in communities today. The project was underpinned by the Decade of Centenaries Principles of Engagement. The project harnessed museum collections and local sites linked to war and revolution in the period, across the three areas. A primary aim was to highlight key events, histories and multiple perspectives, set within a local, national and international context. Two major touring exhibitions were delivered, accompanied by facilitated curriculum-linked schools workshops. A cross-border aspect to the project was delivered partnering with Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin. Through the volunteer strand, 9 volunteers achieved professional tour guide accreditation (OCN level 2). They delivered 22 mini-tours for local community groups, interpreting local sites of remembrance. They also were an important conduit to access privately held collections and develop stories of local people.

A learning resource for adults and school children was produced:

The Fellowship of Messines Association was formed in May 2002 by a diverse range of individuals from Loyalist, Republican and other backgrounds united in their realisation of the necessity to confront sectarianism in our society as a necessary means to realistic peace building.

The Association has networks of co-operation and support across the region and strives to create opportunities for participants, from across all divides, to engage in joint study programmes and dialogues that address the key questions of “History, Identity and Politics.” This has been the main motivating factor and focus of the work of the Messines Fellowship since its foundation.

In the early 2000s, Messines viewed the then impending “Decade of Centenaries” as a unique opportunity to critically examine the events in question through constructive engagements using factual history to challenge some of our indigenous myths and folklores. The series of “Reflections on Centenaries and Anniversaries” programmes set out to create tangible opportunities for individuals, of all ages and backgrounds, to understand the importance of critical historical inquiry in conducting respectful discourses that can, and do, accept different identities as we work together as active citizens.

The Centenaries and Anniversaries events have helped to utilise a shared learning collaboration between community activists and academics, who are opinion formers and influencers, to produce learning programmes and discussion papers that enable individuals to be analytical and self-critical about their own and others’ history, culture, and identity.

A one-man show based on the life of Edward Carson focusing on the Home Rule bill and its aftermath, written by Paddy Scully.

The show premiered on the actual centenary of the signing of the Covenant in Belfast City Hall in the Crescent Art Centre, and played for a week. Later it toured to several venues across Northern Ireland, including the Island Centre, Lisburn and the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2013