This article is from page 12 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A PRIMARY school in Ennis is participating in a major research project aimed at compiling a new database of information for historians.
The Junior Genealogist Initiative has been underway at the Ennis National School for the past month. Under the initiative, students are asked to collect memorial cards of people who were born or died in Clare, and bring them in to school. Cards are then copied and returned safely to their owners.
Over 1,000 cards have been copied so far at Ennis National where students have really embraced the spirit of the initiative.
The purpose of this project is to compile a repository of historical detail and family information for future genealogists and historians.
It is also an objective of this project to use genealogy as a practical learning tool for children to deepen their awareness and appreciation of the origins of their own families, their communities and their broader society.
It is also hoped that the project could be used in the classroom as an interesting, enjoyable and practical addition to the existing curriculum, in which the children themselves would play a leading role.
Clare Education Centre will collect the copies from all Clare schools for presentation to Clare County Library, genealogy section. This will ensure that the memory of all these deceased people will be preserved, and accessible to descendents of Clare families into the future. The Junior Genealogist Initiative will close on January 17.
The project is sponsored by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport, and is designed to give children an appreciation of the importance of preserving knowledge of their own community.
The project is also supported by the Clare Roots Society. The Clare Roots Society, brainchild of Ennis man Larry Brennan, was formed in April 2006 as an amateur family history group in Clare.
The society meets once a month in Ennis, and now has over 100 members. The society aims to provide a forum for family history and genealogical research with emphasis on County Clare.