Create Digital Memories in Thomas MacDonagh Museum’s Unique Heritage Week Event!

Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan invites you to create digital memories in a special, free event in the Museum on 15 & 16 August as part of Heritage Week 2022.

Together, we will create and curate an exclusive digital collection of personal objects that tell interesting or unusual stories resulting in an online exhibition on the Museum’s new website in October. This project is open to everyone, young or old, whether you’re new to the parish or your family goes back generations, so let’s create digital memories together!

To be a part of our Heritage Week event, we ask you to identify a personal object that is meaningful to your life story and bring it to the Museum between 4pm and 7pm on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 August. It could be a family heirloom that has been handed down through generations. Perhaps it’s of historic importance to your family and your community. It could simply be a favourite object that was given to you by someone special.

While you are with us at the Museum, we will record why the object is meaningful to you, take a high-quality photograph of your object and create a catalogue entry. Your object will be included in the special online exhibition to be launched on the Museum’s new website.

This interactive and immersive event will involve you in some of the detailed steps and decisions involved in digitising an object and adding it into an online exhibition. This Heritage Week event will teach us about our past and open our minds to new ideas and technologies — two essential steps in building a better future. It will create and preserve digital memories.

For example, the cornet (pictured) has recently been digitised and will be included in our online exhibition. It was one of the instruments played by the Cloughjordan Brass and Reed Band, founded by Rev. Fr. O’Dea for the people of Cloughjordan in 1914. Media reports on their concerts give us an insight into the social life of the parish.The cornet was kindly donated to the Museum by Mr & Mrs Sean Quinlisk.

The Thomas MacDonagh Museum recently kicked off a significant project to digitise 100+ objects from the Museum’s collection and create a new website, thanks to a Community Heritage grant from the Heritage Council. The Museum’s goal is to create online exhibitions, grow its online audiences and encourage research and collaboration. Museums have become innovative playing-grounds where new technologies can be developed and applied to everyday life. Digital innovation will help make Thomas MacDonagh Museum more accessible and engaging to visitors and collaborators. The new website and online exhibitions will be launched in October.

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