The Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) has announced the addition of another collection to its care. Called the Ports, Past and Present Project, the collection holds a series of documentary films exploring the landscape, history and memories of poeple who live and worked in five very different Celtic port towns in Wales and Ireland that are connected by the ferry routes that serve them.
The Ports, Past and Present project was carried out between 2020 and 2023, and worked to enhance engagement among port town communities with their own rich heritage and to use it to promote tourism and deepen a sense of shared identity.
This was completed through the co-production, with communities, of over 200 online heritage stories, high-quality documentary films, 12 creative commissions, community-focused events, and the creation of tourism networks and a heritage tourism app.
The collection consists of 353 items and sub-collections.
If you have any family connections to people who may have worked or lived near the ports of Dublin, Rosslare, Holyhead, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock, you'll enjoy a dive into the Ports, Past and Present website. The archive material can also be viewed via the DRI here.
The Project was funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme and is a collaboration between University College Cork (UCC), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth University and Wexford County Council. .