Tour at a glance
Level: Junior and Senior Cycle, Transition Year
Group size: 15
Location: Recovered Voices: The Stories of the Irish at War 1914-15
Duration: 40 minutes
Available: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Booking: Please contact bookings@museum.ie to book this session
This tour focuses on the people involved in World War One and how the War impacted their lives.
It seeks to demonstrate the all-encompassing nature of the First World War and includes stories of nurses, doctors, prisoners of war and ordinary soldiers.
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.
Transition Year: Historical Inheritance and Historical Citizenship
Senior Cycle Politics and Society: Human rights and responsibilities, Globalisation and localisation
Junior and Senior Cycle Visual Art: Propaganda & Recruitment Posters
Learning outcomes
- Exploring experiences of people involved in the War based on original objects from the Museum’s collections and on replica objects for handling
- Raising awareness of the local, national and global dimensions of World War One
- Learning about the changing role of women
- Understanding the impact of the War, on people from Ireland in particular
Teacher feedback
The tour guide was excellent with the students from my class. We had engaged in self-guided tours before but the children benefitted much more today under their guidance.
The guide provided anecdotes and information that went above what was in the displays and made it come to life. Our visit will give us a chance to base lessons around what we've learned today
Resources and Suggestions
At the Museum
If you would like to further explore the changing role of women, you may wish to visit the exhibitions Soldiers and Chiefs, Asgard and Studio & State
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 key personalities
- Hold a classroom debate on Irish involvement in the First World War
- 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
Recommended reading and useful links
Books
Recovered Voices. Stories of the Irish at War, 1914 – 1916 by Lar Joye and Brenda Malone
Ireland and The Great War by Keith Jeffrey
Towards Commemoration: Ireland in war and revolution 1912 – 1923 by John Horne and Edward Madigan
Links
- World War One Exhibition at the National Library of Ireland
- Europeana 1914-1918
- Gallipoli Association
- Gallipoli and Anzacs (Information on resources for students and teachers)
- Imperial War Museum, UK
- IWM Lives of the First World War
Researching individuals who took part in the First World War:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association
World War One Veterans Ireland