Tour at a glance
Level: Junior and Senior Cycle, Transition Year
Group Size: 15
Location: Changing Ireland
Duration: 45 minutes
Available: This tour will be available for booking from Tuesday 4th November. For information on this tour and all available resources, you can subscribe to our Schools Newsletter.
Booking: Please contact bookings@museum.ie to book this session
This tour takes students through the new Changing Ireland galleries, focusing on objects which demonstrate to us how Ireland has changed in the past 120 years. We will explore objects from the political and social backdrop of Ireland at the beginning of the century, which led towards rebellion and revolution, the partitioning of Ireland and Irish independence. We will follow the establishment of the new Irish state through the 20th century. We will explore the beginning of ‘The Troubles’ – the violent conflict that engulfed Northern Ireland in the late 20th century. Finally, we encounter Ireland at the beginning of the 21st century, and social movements towards a more open and accepting society.
Curriculum links
History
Junior Cycle- Political developments in Ireland in the late 19th century and the 20th century
- Social change in the 20th century
- International relations in the 20th century
- Working with Evidence
- Movements for political and social reform, 1870-1914
- The pursuit of sovereignty and the impact of partition, 1912-1914
- The Irish diaspora, 1840-1966
- Politics and society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993
- Government, economy and society in the Republic of Ireland, 1949-1989
Learning outcomes
- Gain a greater knowledge of Ireland's relationship with the wider world in the 20th century
- Hear stories about both some of the most influential revolutionary and political figures in Ireland, and also some more lesser-known figures
- Explore artefacts directly connected to the Revolutionary period in Ireland
- Explore continuity and change over time and understand how political and social reform impacted Irish people.
Resources and suggestions
Online
To learn more about Revolutionary-era Ireland and provide context, you can watch our virtual tours:
At the Museum
Also visit the following related galleries in the Museum: Irish Wars 1919 to 1923, 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 discussed during the tour
- Consider the value of Museums as places to display objects that connect us with our history
- Create a museum in your classroom.