» HISTORY OF IRELAND Objects in time
AND A MULTIPLATFORM APP AND E-BOOK, A History of Ireland in 100 Objects started out as a two-year series of articles in The Irish Times written by the newspaper’s literary editor Fintan O’Toole, which he developed together with the National Museum of Ireland. The aim of the project was to make
P
the key artefacts of Irish heritage more accessible to people both in Ireland and overseas. Throughout the project, there has
been an emphasis on interactivity. For example, 99 objects were chosen and then, with input from the public, 10 objects were selected for display at the National Museum of Ireland to represent modern Ireland. These included the outfi t worn by Jean Butler in the original production of Riverdance, a pair of gloves worn by Ireland’s gold medal-winning Olympic boxer Katie Taylor, as well as a decommissioned IRA rifl e, a hospital trolley, a Holy Communion dress, a Certifi cate of Citizenship, the euro and a smartphone. A public vote followed, with the decommissioned AK-47 winning its place in the fi nal list. In addition to the book and the app,
the project has given rise to a tourist trail, a number of exhibitions and, most recently, a primary school educational resource. The latter is a series of history lesson plans, focusing on 14 of the 100 objects, including the Tara Brooch, King
William’s Gauntlets, Daniel O’Connell’s ‘chariot’, an Emigrant’s Teapot and an Eileen Gray chair. The full list is available online at
www.100objects.ie/education, which includes curriculum links, teaching ideas and activities for primary school children. The lesson plans are supported by a wide range of audio and visual material. The app, meanwhile, in partnership
with the EU presidency, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Adobe, and the RIA, was released for two weeks as a free gift to the world for St Patrick’s Day in 2013. It is now available to purchase at the subvented price of €2.99. So far, it has received over 35,000 downloads. The book was named the Best Irish- published Book of the Year at the recent Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. In his introduction to the book, O’Toole
notes that the history of human beings on the island of Ireland is very short,
72 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW Issue 7 Autumn/Winter 2013
with the earliest evidence of people living here going back to only around 8000 BC. Those who settled in Ireland had to adapt to diffi cult conditions that were not typical of southern or western Europe. He quotes archaeologist JP Mallory, who said “the earliest occupants of Ireland were not merely an extension of their ancestral population, but one that was required to adapt to a very different environment and develop uniquely Irish strategies to survive”. He stresses that the changes and
developments introduced from external sources over the years – farming, most likely brought in from Britain; metalworking from Britain and continental Europe; Christianity; the urban settlements of the Vikings; feudalism from Anglo Normans; cities, a language and printing from the English; rapid urbanisation and modernity from the EU; and then the globalisation and
UBLISHED IN MARCH 2013 BY THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY (RIA) AS A FULLY- I L L U S T R A T E D HARDBACK BOOK
Published in print and digital formats earlier this year, A History of Ireland in 100 Objects traces the progress of 7,000 years of Irish civilisation through a series of commonplace and extraordinary items
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80