THE Tower Museum continues its focus on both the decade of centenaries and the city’s maritime history next week with a double helping of historical highlights as revealed by acclaimed local historians Trevor Temple and Liam Campbell.
The talks at the Tower have been drawing a regular audience of history lovers during the series in a year that marks the anniversary of one of the most significant eras in modern history, remembering key events such as the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme.
On Wednesday 28th June at 1pm as part of the Creative Centenaries programme, Trevor Temple will examine ‘How the people of the North-West memorialised the First World War’.
In a compelling talk he will look at the grief and suffering experienced by many during and in the years following the war, frequently expressed in often poignant and extremely moving ‘in memoriam’ verses, which initially made their appearance in the Derry Journal, Derry Standard and Londonderry Sentinel 100 years ago. Speaking ahead of the event Trevor recalled the impact of the campaign on ordinary people living locally.
“The First World War produced suffering on a scale that was unheard of across all of Europe at the time during its four year reign of horror,” he explained.
“This talk will show how it affected those closer to home, and how grief was expressed, often as a form of tribute in local media.”
Also on Wednesday, at 7.30pm, Liam Campbell’s talk – ‘Where have they gone? The Salmon and Oak of the Foyle River Valley – Laboratory for Change and Empire’ – will look at the maritime landscape of Derry and the North West from a historical perspective using the Foyle Landscape as a natural resource.
“One of the main ‘selling points’ of the Plantation of this area to the London Companies was the proliferation of oak forests and the ‘rich and fruity’ salmon rivers,” Liam explained.
“These have largely now gone. The lecture will look at the lessons of history and resource exploitation with some of the folklore of these wonders of creation on our doorstep.
“This will in a sense be an unnatural history of the salmon and oak, so central to local identity and heritage and the new “colonization” of our natural resources today.”
All the talks are free, for more information contact the Tower Museum on 028 7137 2411 or[email protected]
For more information on the decade of centenaries events go to www.derrystrabane.com/centenaries
Tags: