iCAN Irish Community Archive Network Project-Daoine agus Áit, People and Place
What a wonderful way to celebrate National Heritage Week 2021!
Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage are proud members of iCAN and we were so delighted to participate in the iCAN Network Postcard project.
Daoine agus Áit, People and Place, a project where iCAN members get to design and print individual postcards for our own heritage groups, which will be freely available to our own communities to coincide with National Heritage Week.
We attended workshops with Aoife Herriot (Professional Photographer) and Alice Kinsella (Poet & Writer) during the months of May into June on zoom.
Aoife really taught us so much about taking a photograph, like how to use your smart phone to take that perfect shot! Who knew using gridlines could make your photo look so good when going to print? Simple things like adjusting the phone settings can make such a huge difference.
Alice got us using our five senses to describe a place. Making words bring a sound or image to life and how to edit your written piece (lots of editing!) was such an enjoyable part of the process.
Both Aoife and Alice were so patient, kind and supportive of our various attempts at getting our images and text to where we wanted it. They never failed to reply to emails and offer advice and encouragement long after the workshops were finished.
The workshops were also inspiring us as each week each community group had time to discuss their projects and progress. It was the most entertaining “Zoom” for a long time.
Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage asked our community to send us photos of ‘What Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage means to them’ and we were blown away by the volume of submissions. One hundred and ninety-four photos were emailed to us and each one was even more thought provoking than the last. What a talented lot of photographers we have in our community.
What we loved about the images was the reoccurring theme of sunsets and the beaches. We are blessed in Louisburgh to have seven beaches to choose from and of course the sunsets are spectacular at any time of the year.
Deadline was approaching fast, we asked local man Adrian Tiernan (Art Altitudes Droneworks) to take a coastline shot at sunset with his drone. The resulting image is what we have used on our postcard. We think it captures the feelings of Louisburgh-Killeen, a warm, welcoming and lasting memory.
While the photos were being finalised, we were busy working away on our text to accompany it. I tasked myself with finding the right words to convey what people and place could possibly be for Louisburgh-Killeen.
Thinking of all the amazing archaeological sites, all the people who lived and worked the land. How many know of St Patrick and Kilgeever Abbey? What about Gowlaun, in ruins now but once so revered?
I was especially mindful of my own ancestors and their struggles to exist during harsh circumstances and yet, they stayed. Emigration left a big gapping hole in our community and dreams of returning were replayed in the minds of those who had to go but also to those who stayed behind.
I recalled the childhood places where we played outdoors for hours on end. The freedom of it all. So familiar and so unchanged in all these years. How have these places shaped us? How have the people we met in growing up in Louisburgh-Killeen influenced our lives and connection to place?
Our landscape has inspired so many creative talented skilled people who spread their wings and shared their gifts. All throughout there have been poets, writers, artists, basket makers, singers, musicians, weavers, spinners and knitters, tailors and carpenters, and the list can go on and on. As we have learnt over the past ten years with our contributors to this site, many talented people are remembered.
So can we say without ‘people’ we wouldn’t have ‘place’.
We are paying tribute to all who support heritage projects in our area and are also remembering all who have gone before us.
It is such a great complaint to have; there are too many nice places and too many good people in Louisburgh-Killeen to fit into one postcard!
This one-of-a-kind limited-edition postcard is just a teaser of what you will find in Louisburgh-Killeen. We will continue to treasure, share, archive our local heritage on www.louisburgh-killeenheritage.org
We are indebted to Lorna Elms, iCAN Project Manager, who coordinates, oversees and continues to support and encourage our communities on our journey of archiving our local areas. Together with Hassan Dabbagh, Network Administrator, we have the dream team in iCAN.
Special thanks to;
Breege, Deirdre, Brige & Mary (Team Louisburgh-Killeen Heritage)
Adrian Tiernan (Art Altitudes Droneworks)
Geraldine Mitchell (Local Poet & very helpful editor!)
All our iCAN Family all over Ireland
Aoife Herriot (https://aoifeherriottphotography.com/)
Alice Kinsella (http://aliceekinsella.com/)
Deirdre Burns-Wicklow County Council Heritage Officer
Marie Mannion-Galway County Council Heritage Officer
Congella McGuire-Clare County Council Heritage Officer
Creative Ireland, Healthy Ireland Keep Well, National Museum of Ireland, The Heritage Council
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