15 October 2015 I Irish Independent Irish Independent I 15 October 2015 Irish Independent 1916 Youth and Imagination Programme | 2322 | Irish Independent 1916 Youth and Imagination Programme

WE hope that this magazine has brought the events of 1916 alive for you but, remember, there is so

much more to explore about this most momentous of years in Irish history. Here’s a guide to the resources and initiatives, supported by the Department of Education and Skills that have been announced by the ‘Ireland 2016’ Youth and Imagination Programme.

1 TRANSITION YEAR MODULE Ireland 2016, the National Military

Archives and NUI Maynooth are developing a Transition Year Unit and resource for post-primary schools, based on primary source material held in the Military Archives and in the Letters of 1916 project. Material can be accessed at http://dh.tcd.ie/letters1916 and at http://www.militaryarchives.ie.

2 A NEW LEAVING CERTIFICATE SUBJECT

‘Politics and Society’, a new Leaving Certificate subject, will be phased in from September 2016.

3 1916 DIGITAL RESOURCE FOR SCHOOLS

A website that shows the history of the Rising using a number of cultural objects through a partnership with the National Gallery of Ireland, National Library of Ireland, National Archives, National Museum and the Abbey Theatre to produce lesson plans for schools. The project is also supported by PDST Technology in Education and Century Ireland. Century Ireland will have a dedicated 1916 website, www.rte.ie/centuryireland, giving day-by-day accounts of events of 1916 as they happened in real time.

4 AN CLAIDHEAMH SOLUIS Conradh na Gaeilge will be

digitising An Claidheamh Soluis, the newspaper founded by Eoin Mac Neill in 1899 and operated by Conradh na Gaeilge

from 1900 to 1932. It played a prominent role in the Irish Literary Revival, publishing original literary works in both Irish and English and devoting considerable space to commentary on cultural matters. The digital copies will be categorised according to county so schools will have the opportunity to research articles from their area. The copies will be available on www.cnag.ie

5 SEÓ BÓTHAIR 1916 Conradh na Gaeilge will provide a

dedicated Seó Bóthair/Road Show in 2015-16 aimed at Transition Year students including games, discussions, debates and role-play showcasing Gaeilge as a living community language; focused workshops with questions based on 1916; and a presentation on the development of the language 1916-2016. More information is available at www.cnag.ie or by emailing scoil@cnag.ie.

6 1916 PORTRAITS AND LIVES Through a selection of 40

biographies from the Dictionary of Irish Biography, this tells the story of the Rising and its impact. Each biography is illustrated with an original drawing by David Rooney. The Royal Irish Academy is being supported to make it available free of charge as an ebook to schools during the Easter period in 2016 (17 March-30 March). The Dictionary of Irish Biography online, comprising over 10,000 lives, is available to all pupils and teachers, via the ‘Dictionary of Irish Biography’ icon on Scoilnet.

7 RTÉ YOUNG PEOPLE’S PROGRAMMES

Thirty short films made specifically for RTÉjr and 7-11 year-olds will look at life in the early 1900s from the audience’s perspective. A reality documentary will be produced where a group of children forego facets of modern life to live as the offspring of poor families struggling to survive in 1916 tenement conditions. This will air around Children’s Day, April 2 2016. A documentary will record reactions to Proclamation Day, March 15 2016.

8 EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Education for Sustainable Development is about the future sustainability of Ireland’s environment and society. It involves a focus on human rights, citizenship, equality and social justice. In line with the National Strategy on Education for Sustianable Development, the Department of Education and Skills is developing a new portal on the Scoilnet website. Full details of all of these activities will be found on www.scoilnet.ie/ireland2016.

Full details of all of these activities will be found on www.scoilnet.ie/ireland2016. More events, projects and resources which are relevant to schools can be explored at the Ireland 2016 site, www.ireland.ie

John Meagher

MORE WAYS TO LEARN ABOUT THE RISING...

NEXT year’s centenary will ensure that screens large and small will be

filled with drama capturing the human stories of the Rising.

The simply-named The Rising is currently in the pre-production stage; it is planned to feature the Cork-reared actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Patrick Pearse. It will certainly make a change from his most recent role, that of Dracula in the acclaimed Sky One series.

Rhys Meyers has a history of acting in films centred on Ireland’s push for independence: he had a small role as the man who assassinated Michael Collins in the Neil Jordan film of the same name and he also appeared in the War of Independence movie, The Wind That Shakes the Barley.

The Michael Collins role in The Rising will be played by Michael Neeson, the

20-year-old actor son of Liam, who himself played ‘The Big Fellow’ in the Neil Jordan film from 1996.

A TV drama series that has already been made, and set to hit our screens in January, is Rebellion, an RTÉ production written by Colin Teevan, who was responsible for the recent biopic series on controversial Taoiseach Charlie Haughey. It will star several Love/Hate actors including Brian Gleeson, Charlie Murphy and Ruth Bradley.

For a 1916 drama with a difference, look no further than the forthcoming TG4 six-part series Eipic. The Irish language musical will move the events of the Rising to the present day and its style of drama is said to be modelled on such popular teen shows as Skins and Misfits. Its writer Mike O’Leary was a scriptwriter on Misfits.

DISCOVER SEÁN MAC DIARMADA’S HOME AND NATIONAL SCHOOL IN COUNTY LEITRIM

LEARN MORELEARN MORE

CHILDREN at Scoil Náisiúnta Mhic Dhiarmada in Kiltyclogher, County

Leitrim will literally follow in the footsteps of Seán Mac Diarmada, a local man who became one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation. Mac Diarmada, who was executed after the Rising, grew up in a cottage at Corranmore near the village of Kiltyclogher, and went to a school at Corracloone.

Geraldine Cullen, principal of the national school in Kiltyclogher, said: “A pathway is being created between Sean Mac Diarmada’s home and his school. The children will follow that pathway on a walk.”

In a series of events to mark the Easter Rising

centenary, pupils at the two-teacher national school will trace their ancestry back to 1916. They will study archival material to draw up a family tree.

Ms Cullen added: “This will give the children an opportunity to find out about how people lived in 1916.”

Seán Mac Diarmada helped to plan the Rising and was stationed in the GPO during the Rebellion.

Pupils at the national school have been visiting his former home near Kiltyclogher. The cottage has been turned into a visitor centre where children go to learn about his life.

Kim Bielenberg

Movies and TV shows about the rebellion

Jamie O’Regan and Katie Kearney, Causeway

Comprehensive School, Tralee, Co Kerry, and other Transition Year students, in rehearsals with actor Margaret O’Sullivan for the school’s upcoming production of Sean O’Casey’s ‘The Plough and the Stars’, to mark the 1916 centenary.

The school engaged Ms O’Sullivan for workshops with the students thanks to a grant received from Kerry County Council under the 1916/2016 Commemoration Programme.

Margaret will help students with the costumes and props for the play which they have been rehearsing in the classroom.

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Left: The Irish flag flies in the Kilmainham Gaol Stone-breaker’s Yard, where the leaders of the 1916 Rising faced the firing squad.

Above: The letter written by Pearse from Kilmainham on the eve of his execution to General Sir John Maxwell, British Commander-in-Chief.

REPRODUCED BY KIND PERMISSION OF UCD-OFM PARTNERSHIP

Sixth-class pupil Shantel Cullen, Kiltyclogher National School, visiting the the birth place of Sean Mac Diarmada in Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim. Below: Tour guide Paul Gibson with pupils from the school. PHOTOGRAPHS: JAMES CONNOLLY

Above: Jonathan Rhys Meyers is due to play Padraig Pearse in ‘The Rising’. Right: Director Louise Ní Fhiannachta on the set of TG4’s ‘Eipic’.