Connecting Peoples, Places and Heritage

Connecting Peoples, Places and Heritage, funded under the Peace III Programme, is a cross border project delivered by Cavan County Museum with the aim of exploring the shared and diverse cultural heritage of Cavan and the Border Region.

The heritage Development Officer is responsible for running The Connecting Peoples, Places and Heritage project through Cavan County Museum. The project is funded under Priority 1.1 of the EU PEACE III Programme. Under the County Cavan Peace and Reconciliation Action Plan Strategic priority 2, the project is working to ‘Build Good Relations among our Young people’. 

It aims to achieve this by establishing partnerships and facilitating meetings between schools and adult groups in Cavan and Fermanagh. The goal of these meetings is that participants will be able to encounter and explore some of the culture and heritage of their partner.

SCHOOLS PROJECT SPRING 2010

Over the period the schools element of the project has delivered 33 meetings between partners. Over these meetings the schools worked on a wide variety of projects. All schools took part in a cultural diversity workshop at their first meeting and further meetings explored local heritage issues with an emphasis on themes relevant to peace issues. Workshops and site visits were undertaken to explore Religion and Christianity as well as the issue of Plantation. In June 2010 the schools all came together to create a peace forest decorated with leaves on which they had written peace messages. 

Some of the 300 children who came together to create the peace forest	A bodhrán duet at the launch of the peace forest

Over the 2010/11 school year school partnerships again took part in cultural diversity workshop. They also attended training in sound recording and digital photography.

A workshop on flags and symbols

 All of the schools shared their research and it was highlighted how similar life was from one community to another.

The schools also took part in the creation of a series of sculptural art projects around the theme of peace as well as creating their own peace banner and cd of songs they composed on friendship.

Vikings back on Devenish? Children from Kildallan NS and St Ninnidh’s PS

ADULT PROJECT

Over the period the project has delivered 24 meetings between the adult partnerships involved. All of the groups have taken part in workshops and site visits on a wide range of topics including some of the following; Cultural Diversity, Customs and Traditions, Christianity, Plantation, The Establishment of the Border, and Prejudice.

The adults have all undertaken different pieces of work arising out of these workshops. This ranges from quilted portraits on the theme of how others see us to the production of a digital sound archive on the theme of negative racial, mental health, and sectarian prejudice. The groups have also taken part in the creation of a series of sculptural art projects around the theme of peace as well as creating their own peace banner.
 

Some ladies from Bruskey and Belleek exploring the topic of ‘how others see us’.

ADULT PROGRAMME:

Groups 6
Partnerships 4
Cross border 3
Adults (including teachers): 130

EXHIBITION

All of the work undertaken by the participants is being placed on exhibition in Cavan County Museum where a gallery has been given over to the display of project work.

It is intended to use the launch of this gallery to recruit future groups and schools to take part in the project. The gallery will be an important teaching resource for future work.