Leitrim welcomes first pop-up women’s museum

Lurganboy native and archaeologist, Donna Gilligan, who was the curator for phase one of the first-class and groundbreaking “Leitrim Women Through Time” project in association with the North Leitrim Women's Centre, has spearheaded phase two of this great work on Leitrim women whose major contributions to life in the county was largely ignored in recorded history.

The museum, which includes the display of the “Leitrim Women Through Time” exhibition, will be accompanied by a display of objects from rural women’s history, with examples of items from women’s work inside and outside the home, women’s craft, and women’s personal lives. 

This project concentrates on the experiences of the everyday woman – highlighting the value of remembering and recording what domestic, working, and personal life was like for local women. 

For the exhibition, the project worked with community participants across the region to gather information and suggestions for themes which would best tell the story of Leitrim women in the period of 1850 to 1950.

Speaking on phase two of this research enterprise, Donna said: “The Leitrim Women Through Time project are delighted to have received support from the Creative Ireland Creative Communities Fund for a unique project in the county in May and June.

“The 'Pop-up Leitrim Women’s Museum' will introduce a first for Leitrim by creating a temporary museum of Leitrim women’s history in four public venues across the county.

“On display will be a collection of vintage and antique items which tell stories of women’s lives in the near and distant past. This will include a wide variety of objects from rural women’s lives including an antique Singer sewing machine, a butter churn, a washboard, Clones lace, Irish linen, and vintage household books and women’s magazines..

“The project would love for people to bring along their own photographs, documents, and objects linked to local women’s history to the events to be recorded by the project, and they will scan, copy, and photograph all shared information and objects to add to the project archive for preservation for the future.

“The museum project would like to give people the opportunity to temporarily display their own objects linked to rural women in the pop-up museum. Have you a piece of hand-knitting with a history, or a patchwork quilt that has been passed down through the family?

“Do you have a dress that was worn to dance to showbands in the Rainbow or Mayflower Ballrooms? Maybe you have an everyday object like a housecoat or a cooking pot which has a story behind it about the women who used it?

“LWTT is open to all submissions for display, and asks that people get in touch with them via scealheritage@gmail.com on 071-9856220, or through Facebook.com/leitrimwomenthroughtime/.”

Leitrim Women Through Time is a collaborative community heritage project preserving and celebrating the stories of Leitrim women. Funded by Creative Ireland through the Leitrim Arts Office and is part of WCI North Leitrim’s larger Leitrim Women through Time Project funded under the Community Heritage Scheme under The Heritage Council.