Ending a very busy week here at the Jackie Clarke Education Programme we were delighted to welcome the 3rd class from Foxford NS who came to take part in our Junior Discovery Tour. See you next week when we will be welcoming more students to discover Jackie's amazing collection!

Great piece by Brendan Farrell about Eamonn Ceannt in Treoir, Comhaltas magazine for the Wexford 2024 Fleadh. In his fascinating article Brendan explains his own Granduncle's unwitting part in the execution of Irish patriot and 1916 Proclamation signatory Eamonn Ceannt.

A pleasure to welcome for the 2nd time this week more students from Gaelscoil to the JCC Education Programme. This time it was the 5th & 6th classes who took part in our Discovery Tour They did an amazing job as history detectives they were just brilliant a credit to their school

Students from the 3rd class, Gaelscoil na gCeithre Maol joined us today at the Jackie Clarke Education Programme to take part in our Junior Discovery Tour. Such a bright & engaging group of children, interested, curious & impeccably behaved! They were a credit to their school!

108 years ago today rebels in the Easter Rising offered unconditional surrender following 6 days of fighting. Jackie Clarke amassed an extensive collection of material related to the 1916 uprising including letters & personal items belonging to the leaders of the Easter Rising.

The 4th class students from Culleens NS took part in our new Historical Treasure Hunt. They went round the town with clues to sites of historical importance. They learnt a lot about our amazing town and its important place in Irish History whilst having great fun at the same time

Great day we had with the 4th class student's from Culleens NS. They took part in our Spring Planting Workshop with the very talented Anthony Ruane of Foxford Nurseries. The children had great fun learning all about the different fruits and vegetables that we grow in the garden.

The 4th class from Behy NS joined us for our ever popular Famine Workshop, learning all about An Górta Mór. They watched a presentation, listened to a fictional story of what life was like in Famine times & learnt all about the Irish Famine girls. We hope they enjoyed their visit

Poetry Day Ireland takes place tomorrow and to celebrate our artist in residence, Martin Dyar is speaking to Tommy Marren on Midwest radio tomorrow morning. Martin has been working with a group of Ballina poets, writing poems about the town. Tune in tomorrow to hear more!

Today we welcomed the 1st & 2nd class from Gaelscoil na gCeithre Maol. The children were given a tour of the garden, they then watched a film about Jackie Clarke & then toured the house, exploring, examining and answering questions in relation to the primary source material.

To celebrate Poetry Day Ireland our very own Artist in Residence Martin Dyar will be joining Tommy Marren on his morning show on 25th April 2024, discussing his interest in the theme 'Good Sports' and his current Decade of Centenaries residency at the Jackie Clarke Collection.

To end the week we welcomed the students and staff from Bonniconlon NS to the collection today. The 3rd & 4th classes came to learn all about the Irish Famine. They watched a presentation, learnt how the famine affected local people and learnt all about the Irish Famine girls.

Yesterday we welcomed 4 classes from Corballa NS, the 5th & 6th classes visiting in the morning and the 3rd & 4th class in the afternoon. All of the students took part in our brand new Mapping Workshop. They were amazing and we just loved sharing Jackie's love of maps with them.

Trailer for 'Ireland's Hidden Treasures' which will be featuring the Jackie Clarke Collection on the 5th May at 6:30pm on RTÉ One. Super excited to be included in such a great series
drive.google.com/file/d/1QA5DKq…

At the JCC we are incredibly proud to be featured in a new TV Series, Ireland’s Hidden Treasures. Episode one airs on 21st April at 6:30 PM on RTÉ One, with episode two 6:30 PM on the 28th April and the last episode which features the Jackie Clarke Collection at 6:30 on 5th May.

112 years ago over 100 Irish people lost their lives on the RMS Titanic. The ship hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on its maiden voyage to New York. The iceberg hit around midnight but took another 2 ½ hrs to sink. During this time some passengers were rescued, 54 were Irish.

After visiting the JCC, the students and teachers of Grange PP were taken to the JCC Archive which is housed in our repository. There they were shown how Jackie’s collection is preserved and stored. They were also shown items currently being examined by a researcher for a book.

It was a delight to welcome a group of 2nd year students from Grange Post Primary School to the JCC today. They went around the house to complete their Discovery Trail workbooks answering questions before going on to The Jackie Clarke Collection Archive.

Today we welcomed the students from one of the oldest secondary schools in Ireland, St Nathy’s College. The TY students came to take part in our Discovery Trail Workshop, they were engaging, polite and a credit to their families, their teachers & school.

Today we welcomed a group of visitors from Castlebar Active Retirement group to the collection, They watched the film about Jackie's life then went on to tour the house viewing key items in the collection. They were a pleasure to host and we really hope they enjoyed their visit.