History and Heritage

Colin Breen, University of Ulster, Coleraine, County Londonderry

Wes Forsythe, University of Ulster, Coleraine, County Londonderry

Rosemary McConkey, University of Ulster, Coleraine, County Londonderry

With its long rugged coastline and numerous lakes, rivers, and estuaries, Ireland presents many opportunities for underwater researchers. Archaeologists Breen, Forsyth, and McConkey are on the faculty of the University of Ulster’s Centre for Marine Archaeology at Coleraine. In addition to teaching, the staff undertakes excavations along the Irish coast and does extensive fieldwork throughout the United Kingdom, East Africa, Australia, and the Faroe Islands. www.campusone.ulster.ac.uk/potential/postgraduate.php

Mabeline Gormley, Belfast

Declan Hurl, Belfast,

Kenneth Shilliday, Craigavon, County Armagh

The built heritage and archaeology staff of Northern Ireland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Service is responsible for identifying, documenting, and protecting the “built, buried, and underwater remains of human activity from prehistoric times to the present.” In addition to approximately 18,000 known pre-eighteenth-century sites, archaeologists Hurl and Gormley, mason/restorer Shilliday, and their colleagues manage sites such as prehistoric megaliths, humble dwellings, large industrial sites, historic gardens, and designed landscapes. www.ehsni.gov.uk

Valerie Adams, Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), Belfast

Philip McDermott, University of Ulster/Magee Campus, Londonderry

Christine McIvor, Centre for Migration Studies/Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh, County Tyrone

Fintan Mullan, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast

Several of Northern Ireland’s most prominent historical organizations have joined forces and databases to introduce visitors to Irish genealogy and family history at the 2007 Folklife Festival:

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), a division of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, collects and preserves records of historical interest to Northern Ireland and makes them available to the public for consultation and research.  www.proni.gov.uk

The Ulster American Folk Park is dedicated to the study of immigration from Ulster to America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Located on the grounds of the Folk Park in County Tyrone, the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) was established in 1988 to examine Irish immigration and assist scholars and researchers.  www.qub.ac.uk/cms/

The Ulster Historical Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 1956, preserves Irish history and genealogy with particular emphasis on the province of Ulster. Through online databases, a membership association, and publications, it provides information to people throughout the world who wish to explore their Irish ancestry. www.ancestryireland.com/index.php

Oral historian Philip McDermott is a graduate student at the University of Ulster’s Magee Campus in Londonderry.

Billy Stirling, Ballybogey, County Antrim

The North Antrim coast features some of the world’s most spectacular scenery, including the Giant’s Causeway. Established in 1936, The National Trust protects sixty-three important sites and 200 kilometers of Northern Ireland’s coastline. National Trust warden Stirling grew up in this beautiful area. He is familiar with the history and culture of North Antrim and responsible for the famous rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede.  www.nationaltrust.org.uk

David Hume, Larne, County Antrim

Jonathan Mattison, Hillsborough, County Down

The Grand Orange Lodge, a Protestant fraternal organization, was founded in Loughgall in 1795. The group grew rapidly as autonomous Grand Lodges were established in Scotland, England, North America, and Australia. Strong supporters of their faith and Northern Ireland’s United Kingdom membership, the group’s politics and parade traditions have often been seen as controversial, overshadowing its charitable and educational work. Historians Hume and Mattison discuss Ulster-Scots culture as well as the organization’s history and its future in a changing Northern Ireland.