Friday 15 June 2012

For a rainy weekend...

Since there's nothing but squalls, rain and flooding ahead (in Ireland and the UK, at least), here are a few reasons for stopping in, getting the kettle on and settling into your favourite chair.

Enjoy a good row:
The History Ireland Hedge School at the National Library last month turned into quite a debate! When the topic's Irish Army Deserters and the morality of neutrality, it's always on the cards. Get stuck into the video of the ding-dong at http://vimeo.com/43969430.

Listen up to find Merchant seamen:
A recent lecture by Janet Dempsey of the UK National Archives dealt with the period between 1857 and 1918 when there are no records for individual British merchant seamen. This lecture is now available to listen online or to download as a podcast. You can do both, here. It examines what records exist for this period, how to access them and what work is currently being done to make this period more accessible to both family and academic researchers.

Watch an award winning short film:
Irish Film Director Shaun O'Connor, who's based in co Cork, has drawn my attention to a short film he made to mark the Titanic Centenary. It has recently won a prize at the Ford '8 Minutes' Short Film Competition.
"Called Uisce Beatha, Irish for 'Whiskey' or 'Water Of Life', the film tells a tale that's based on a true but little-known story, that we discovered while researching Irish passengers who had bought tickets for, but missed, the sailing of the Titanic."

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the film has since been restricted to private access.