Leaving Certificate Resources - National Library of Ireland

THE PAST FROM THE PRESS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE PACK Leaving Certificate Resources

THE PAST FROM THE PRESS Leaving Certificate Resources (History)

Newspapers as a historical resource

As the exhibition shows, newspapers are a valuable primary source in historical research. The National Library of Ireland collects all newspaper titles published on the island of Ireland as well as many newspapers of Irish interest that are printed abroad. Students completing a Research Study are encouraged to visit the Library and make use of this collection. This exercise has been designed to introduce students to the collection and to help them to make the most of their visit to the Library.* This activity requires each student to have a copy of the supplied information/ activity sheet and internet access, to allow the student consult the Library’s online newspaper database. This activity should be completed independently and is therefore suited to a homework assignment. * Secondary school students do not require a reader’s ticket to consult the NLI’s newspapers although they will need to apply for one if they want to use the printed collection. Before visiting the Library, students should look at www.nli.ie/en/readers-tickets.aspx to see if they will require a reader’s ticket and, if so, what they will need to bring with them to apply for one.

Teachers’ Notes



As you have seen from the exhibition, newspapers are a valuable primary source as they provide contemporary commentary on the events you are researching. The National Library collects all newspaper titles published on the island of Ireland as well as many newspapers of Irish interest that are printed abroad. If you are exploring an Irish topic for your Research Study, this collection may prove invaluable to you! Before you visit the National Library* to consult its newspaper collection, the best place to begin your research is at home. This will allow you to make the most of your time at the Library. You will find a list of the newspapers held by the Library on its online catalogue. Log on to http://catalogue.nli.ie and click on the ‘newspaper database’ link on the homepage. 1. You will see this database:

Activity Sheet


Activity Sheet


2. This database allows you to search for newspapers by title and by county. The image below shows you the list of titles that appear when you search for ‘Kerry’ in the ‘County’ field:

3. When you select an individual title, the next screen will show you the period for which the National Library holds that particular title and the medium in which it can be accessed – hardcopy or microfilm.

At the bottom of the screen you will see a link to the Newsplan project. If you click ‘show/hide’, you will see a list of other libraries which also hold copies of that title. This will let you know if your county library also holds the newspaper you are looking for – it may be more convenient for you to consult it there.


Microfilm

As the exhibition explained, microfilming is the process of photographing newspapers on to reels of film, which are then read using special machines. Microfilming allows the original newspaper to be preserved and makes its content accessible to future generations.

Get searching! The best way to familiarise yourself with the newspaper catalogue is through trial and error. Log onto the database and run few searches yourself. Use the questions below to get you started: 1) How many titles can you find for your own county? (Remember, there may be more than one page of results.)

2) For what period does the NLI hold the Clonmel Chronicle?

3) Does the NLI hold a copy of the Irish Daily Independent for 17 March 1920?

4) What other libraries hold copies of The Irish Times?

5) List four other countries in which Irish newspapers are published.

6) Now that you are familiar with the newspaper database, make a note of the NLI’s holdings for the period you are examining in your Research Study.

* Secondary school students are very welcome to visit and use the National Library. On arrival, you can get a day ticket to use the newspaper collection. To consult other collections, you may need to bring a letter from your school with you. See www.nli.ie/en/readers-tickets.aspx for more information.

Activity Sheet


Press photographs as historical sources

As the exhibition shows, the photograph is a powerful news medium. Newspaper photographs not only record the political events that have shaped our history, but they also open a window on the everyday events going on in the background. This activity introduces students to the Library’s online catalogue and encourages them to engage with the photographs they find there. Students are prompted to think about photographs as primary sources, not only in terms of the ‘event’ in the foreground but also for what they tell us about everyday life in the past. This activity can be done individually or in small groups. Students will require a copy of the information/activity sheet and internet access, to allow them consult the Library’s online photographic database. It may be valuable for the class to share their findings at the end of this activity.

Activity Sheet


Photographs as a historical resource

As you saw in the exhibition, photographs are a valuable primary source as they provide an eye-witness, visual record of historic events in motion. Sometimes what is going on in the background of a photograph can be of as much interest as the event in the foreground and photographs are very important sources for social, as well as political, history. The National Library has a huge collection of over half a million photographs which document life in Ireland from the late 19th century up to the present day. Several thousand of these images can be searched – and viewed – using the Library’s online catalogue. You can access this catalogue via the NLI homepage, http://catalogue.nli.ie

Activity Sheet



Type the name or topic you are researching into the bar at the top. The results page will show you the Library’s holdings relating to your search across several collections. Click on ‘Photo’ to narrow your search down to photographs only. Look through the search results and choose one photograph. Answer the following questions. 1. Describe the photograph. What is happening in the foreground? In the background?

2. How does the photograph add to what you already know about the event it depicts?

Activity Sheet

GALLANT SONS Junior Certificate Resources (English)


3. As well as recording political events, remember that photographs are also important sources for social history. What does the photograph tell you about life in Ireland at the time it was taken? If you are familiar with the photograph’s location, describe if and how it has changed.

4. Evaluate your photograph as an historical source. Consider the following questions: a. Does the photograph look posed or natural?

b. Does the photograph show its subject in a positive, neutral or negative light?

Activity Activity SheetSheet Two


Reading newspaper cartoons

Newspapers are vehicles for comment and opinion as well as for news stories and, as the exhibition shows, few Irish newspapers have been founded without a political agenda. Cartoons are a very obvious manifestation of a newspaper’s agenda and can be a revealing – and rewarding – historical source. The cartoons of Ernest Forbes – known to readers as Shemus – ran in The Freeman’s Journal between 1920 and 1924. Frank and hard-hitting, such was the effect of these cartoons that they were described in the Dáil as ‘artistic bombs’. Today, the Shemus cartoons are an insightful – and often amusing – source on the events of the early 1920s, as well as on contemporary reactions to those events. Reproductions of three Shemus cartoons are included on these evidence sheets which encourage students to ‘read’ the pictures and to treat them as sources of historical evidence. A book on the National Library’s collection of Shemus cartoons is also included in the excursion discovery box – teachers may wish to use other cartoons with the class. The book’s introduction is also a useful supplementary resource. Students can work individually or in groups to complete this activity.

Teacher’s Notes


‘The Hold-Up’

This cartoon was published in The Freeman’s Journal on 28 April 1922. It echoed the paper’s main editorial that day, which stated: ‘The Irish Treaty represents gain, not loss; a victory, not defeat. But the people are to be denied freedom and peace without consultation because it does not contain something more which may be readily come by the process of political evolution.’ Examine the picture and, in light of the information above, answer the following questions: 1. Describe the cartoon briefly. What is happening in the foreground? In the background?

2. What is the cartoon trying to say? Write its core message in fewer than 15 words.

3. Which side does each of the characters in the cartoon support? What about the artist?

Evidence Sheet 1


Evidence Sheet 1 continued

‘The Hold-Up’

4. The artist originally suggested the caption ‘The Wreckers’. Briefly discuss the difference between this caption and ‘The Hold-Up’. Which do you think is the more effective caption? Why?


‘Ireland’s Via Dolorossa’

This cartoon was published in The Freeman’s Journal on 24 August 1922, two days after the shooting of Michael Collins. In art, the broken column is often used as a symbol for a life cut short. The broken columns in this cartoon signpost Ireland’s ‘Via Dolorossa’ – or ‘Way of Sorrows’. Examine the picture and, in light of the information above, answer the following questions: 1. Describe the cartoon briefly. List the names written on each of the columns.

2. Who – or what – do you think the female figure in the foreground represents?

Evidence Sheet 2





4. This cartoon was published again four days later, on the day of Collins’ funeral, with the caption ‘Ireland’s Tribute’. Which caption do you think is the more effective? Why? Suggest an alternative caption.



This cartoon was published in The Freeman’s Journal on 22 April 1922 and celebrated the re-launch of the newspaper, three weeks after its presses had been destroyed by an antiTreaty gang. Examine the picture and, in light of the information above, answer the following questions: 1. Describe the cartoon briefly.

2. What is the significance of the phoenix?


Evidence Sheet 3




4. What does this cartoon tell you about The Freeman’s Journal’s position on the Treaty – perceived, or otherwise?

5. The artist did not supply any text for this cartoon and it was published without a title or caption. Suggest an appropriate title and caption.