Onsite Guided Tour: 1913 - 1923, A Decade of Military Conflict | Decorative Arts & History

Tour at a glance

Level: Junior and Senior Cycle, Transition Year
Group Size: 30
Location: Soldiers & Chiefs exhibition, 20th century gallery
Duration: 45 minutes
Available: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Booking: Please contact bookings@museum.ie to book this session

Students are introduced to the experiences of ordinary Irishmen and women involved in World War I, the 1916 Rebellion, the War of Independence and Irish Civil War, and how all these events affected combatants and civilians alike.

Curriculum links

Junior Cycle History
Strand 1: Developing historical consciousness, working with evidence, acquiring the 'bigger picture'
Strand 2: Recognising key change, Exploring people, culture and ideas, Applying historical thinking.

Senior Cycle History
Working with evidence:
- History and the Historian.
Later Modern field of study: Irish History, 1815-1993
- Movements for political and social reform, 1870 - 1914.
- The pursuit of sovereignty and the impact of partition: 1912-1949.
Later Modern field of study: History of Europe and the Wider World, 1815-1992
- Nation States and International tension, 1871-1920.

Learning outcomes

Gain a greater knowledge of military conflicts Irishmen and women were involved in at the beginning of the 20th century
Develop an understanding of why Irishmen and women enlisted to go to the First World War as soldiers and nurses, and why some chose to fight at home instead
Key battles the Irish were involved in abroad (leper, the Somme), and at home (1916 Easter Rising, War of Independence, Civil War)
Life for everyday soldiers in the First World War
Life for civilians during the Irish Revolution

Teacher feedback

Brings to life things they read about in textbook and makes history more real.

[We learned about] the lives of ordinary people not really covered in text books...

Resources and suggestions

Online
The Historical Collections Online. This is a sample of 10,000 artefacts from the National Museum of Ireland’s Historical, Military and Easter Week Collections, published as part of the Decade of Commemorations.

At the Museum
Also visit the following related galleries in the Museum: Recovered Voices: the Stories of the Irish at War 1914-1915 and Asgard

Before your visit

We recommend teachers try to visit the exhibition in advance, if possible, to get familiar with the layout, key objects and key narratives within the exhibition
Read literature and poetry depicting events from and around the period
Use these resources and the exhibition visit to imagine and discuss the feelings and motives of people in the past and to discuss how an event in the past may have been perceived by those who participated in it
Consider choices made by individuals and organisations and the contexts these choices were made in
Plan a project around your visit. Students could research key personalities and organisations

After your visit
Ideas for post-visit activities include:

Plan a project on a key personalities/conflicts
Hold a classroom debate on a contentious issue or event
Consider contemporary contexts such as equality, migration, globalisation
Consider the value of Museums as places to display objects that connect us with our history
Create a museum in your classroom