Digital Memories Collection to kick-start launch of Cloughjordan museum website

New website for Thomas MacDonagh Museum

Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan will host another special event in the Museum on Friday, October 14, at 7.30pm to launch the Digital Memories Collection and the museum’s new website, www.macdonaghmuseum.ie.

The Digital Memories Collection is a temporary exhibition accessible online on the museum’s new website, and in person in the museum from October 15 to December 31, 2022. The collection marks the conclusion of a significant six-month project undertaken by the museum directors to digitise 140 objects from the museum’s vast collection and create a new website.

This digitisation project was made possible thanks to a significant Community Heritage grant from the Heritage Council, supported by the specialist web design talents of Kola Digital and the photography skills of Ben Hutchinson. You can check out the new website now by visiting www.macdonaghmuseum.ie.

The Digital Memories Collection has its origins in Heritage Week 2022, when the museum hosted a ‘Create Digital Memories’ event. Members of the public were invited to identify a personal object that was meaningful to their life story and bring it to the museum. The 32 objects in the Digital Memories Collection were shared with the museum by members of the Cloughjordan community, and each one tells an interesting or unusual story. The collection contains many major themes including the social and cultural history of Cloughjordan since 1820; 20th century Irish politics on local, national and international issues; technological innovations in the home and in business; and international activism on social justice issues.

The objects within the Digital Memories Collection were brought forward by a cross-section of the community that reflects the diversity of people in Cloughjordan. Many had deep family roots in Cloughjordan while others had moved here in recent years from other parts of Ireland, from the UK, the US, and India. The museum recorded what the object was, why it was meaningful, took a high-quality photograph and created a catalogue entry.

Generous funding from the Heritage Council has enabled the museum to start digitising the permanent collection and organise it on the website under multiple themes: The MacDonagh Family; Cloughjordan; Music; Folklife; Books, Manuscripts & Paper; Gaelic Revival; Rebellion & Commemoration. Some highlights from the Permanent Collection include: Thomas MacDonagh’s magnum opus “Literature in Ireland: Studies in Irish and Anglo-Irish”; A wooden ‘Maid of Eirinn’ Harp Emblem of the Gaelic Revival; A type, capital letter Q from the printing press on which the original Proclamation of the Irish Republic was printed; A beautifully illustrated hardback bound copy of the Official Handbook of the Irish Free State; A William Hodgins Token Penny.

Digitisation of the Thomas MacDonagh Museum Collection will support the curation of online exhibitions, the growth of its online audiences and encourage research and collaboration with individuals and groups from around Ireland and abroad.

FURTHER DETAILS

For queries about upcoming events in Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan email info@macdonaghmuseum.ie. National Heritage Week 2022 Events are posted here: https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects-events-2022.