Heritage Week 2017

Family album photographs give a fascinating insight into our private and public histories – revealing details about how people lived and worked that official histories often overlook. For Heritage Week our programme of free talks, workshops and digital scanning sessions celebrated the treasure trove of memories held in our family photo albums and collections.

Exhibition: Our Photo Album of Ireland archive project records the rich social history held in family archives. This online archive project explores the role photography plays in documenting our lives and recording our memories – preserving them for future generations. Spanning the history of photography in Ireland, this emerging digital archive includes some of the earliest photographs taken in the 1850’s up to the advent of digital photography in the early 1990’s. Collectively they give an insight into ordinary and extraordinary histories of people across the island of Ireland. The exhibition features photographs from the current phase of research – Reframing the Border – recording diverse experiences of families from the border counties.

Supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Monaghan County Council Creative Ireland Programme.