BY DONAL FALLON
MEN OF THE SOUTH COME TO LIFE
The impact of modern technology on Irish museums is explored in our current Museum Eye (pp 56–7) and in our recent review of the Book of Kells Experience (March/April 2024). Beyond museums, developing technology is now making its presence felt in art galleries. At the Crawford Art Gallery, the recent ‘Sit Stand Smoke’ offered fascinating insight into how virtual reality can meet art. Exploring the motivation and circumstances behind the creation of Seán Keating’s painting Men of the South, this intriguing piece brought the work to life in new ways but also drew on the expertise of art historian Dr Éimear O’Connor. For many, a VR headset may be the last thing you want to encounter in a gallery; for others, however, this was a welcome and innovative way to explore a familiar work. See www.crawfordartgallery.ie.
A HEADSTONE FOR MAYO’S MEG CONNERY
Meg Connery belonged to the more radical wing of the movement for women’s voting rights. Imprisoned for her activism with the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL), the Westport native was one of the women who broke windows across the capital to bring attention to the suffrage cause. In 1912 she was photographed attempting to hand IWFL leaflets to Bonar Law and Edward Carson while wearing an advertising board for the Irish Citizen newspaper. Now a headstone has been erected on her grave in Dublin’s Mount Jerome cemetery, thanks to the work of the Meg Connery Memorial Committee.
MAPPING THE LAYERS OF DUBLIN PORT
The Dublin Port Company continues to do excellent work in exploring the rich heritage of Dublin’s port and docklands, in a way that spotlights everything from architectural heritage to the rich oral history of those who worked there. Now comes a new Conservation Strategy, launched by Minister of State Malcolm Noonan, which maps the layers of Dublin Port, the first time its heritage has been mapped on this scale in its 300-year history. Lar Joy, Dublin Port’s Heritage Officer (and a regular contributor to History Ireland), notes that ‘this comprehensive document (see Bookworm, p. 59) highlights the diversity of the port’s built environment and the responsibility of our stewardship. At Dublin Port Company, we’ve already begun putting Port–City Integration into practice with the establishment of the Diving Bell Museum in 2015, the restoration of the Substation into an exhibition space in 2023 and the development of active travel routes along the Tolka Estuary for the first time, set to open this summer to pedestrians and cyclists.’ See www.dublinport.ie/.
COVENTRY OGHAM STONE
It’s not every day that a 1,600-year-old ogham stone is discovered, but it is even more remarkable when it pops up in a garden in Coventry. Graham Senior, a geography teacher, made the surprising discovery in his garden during lockdown, and thankfully had some sense that it could well be an item of historical importance. It is now on display at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry. Archaeologist Teresa Gilmore noted in the Guardian that ‘this particular find has given us a new insight into early medieval activity in Coventry, which we still need to make sense of. Each find like this helps in filling in our jigsaw puzzle and gives us a bit more information.’ There may be more mainstream interest in ogham at present than there has been for some time, given its use as messaging in the Eurovision make-up of Irish entry Bambie Thug. Linking these stories, one commentator noted that ‘In two very different situations, the obscure early medieval Ogham text has been brought to light’.
CORK UNITARIANS REMEMBER DOUGLASS
A visitor to Cork will encounter several murals honouring the history of the city, with the latest in the grounds of the Unitarian Church on Prince’s Street. The work of artist Zabou and funded by Creative Ireland, the mural commemorates the visit of Frederick Douglass to the city in 1845. Members of the Unitarian Church in Cork were involved in arranging the visit of the famed abolitionist to the city. Minister Revd Mike O’Sullivan told the Irish Examiner that ‘we are a very inclusive church, and Douglass’s message rhymes with our message, it fits our ethos as an inclusive, welcoming church’.
Donal Fallon is a historian and the presenter of the ‘Three Castles Burning’ podcast.