Category Archives: Education

At School in Newcastle in 1816.

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Four-year old Catherine Irwin sat in a school room in a slab hut in Newcastle in May 1816. Nearby sat her seven-year-old brother, William and 15 other girls and boys aged from 3 to 13 years. The Irwin children were in Newcastle with their father Ormsby Irwin, a life-term Irish convict, who had been convicted in Sydney for the manslaughter of Sergeant Robert Morrow of the 73rd Regiment. Catherine and William’s mother, Eleanor Irwin who had been convicted of the … Continue reading

Celebrations of Space: the Irish History and Society series

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By Jennifer Harrison. Following the wonderfully successful Irish seminar GSQ conducted in October 2020, it occurred to me that members might benefit from knowledge of a series of books currently in production in Dublin which provide wonderful contextual material for those researching individual counties.  Since 1985 Geography Publications have produced substantial volumes under the collective title of History and Society.  Each book ranging between 500 and 1000 pages examines an individual county.  By the end of 2020 with the issue … Continue reading

Browse, Buy or Borrow?

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By Jill Ball © 2021. Does the excitement you feel when you find a promising reference to a book suddenly disappear when you are unable to locate a copy?   On rare occasions we can simply beg, buy or borrow a copy of that book but often it takes some sleuthing to track a tome down. In this post I will discuss some of the places where you may be able to find that elusive title. In many cases we … Continue reading

Lifelong learning

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‘Lifelong learning’ has been defined as the “ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated” pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also self-sustainability, rather than competitiveness and employability.” In the spirit of this definition of lifelong learning, I’ve been reflecting on some of the things I’ve learnt this year and what lies ahead for 2016. 2015 has been a fairly busy year in terms of conference attendance: AFFHO Congress in … Continue reading

Looking back. And forward.

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Despite it being only half way through November, it feels like the end of the year to me. As a result, I feel like I should be reviewing this year and planning for next. Reviewing this year is a bit of a mixed bag for me. On first thoughts, I feel like I haven’t done much research at all, and I don’t need to think much to know how little writing I’ve done. But when I reflect a bit, and … Continue reading