Fadó Fadó - Sparking Memories
Kilkenny Young Researchers Primary School Competition
Kilkenny Archaeological Society, Kilkenny County Council Library Service and Rothe House Trust are running a competition for schools to promote local history and heritage. This offers primary school pupils (3rd-6th class) an opportunity to work as historians and personally engage with the local studies strand of the history curriculum. We invite and encourage students to become young researchers and historians as they dig deep into history to learn about their local heritage. The choice is endless, from the history of an old building or ruin to local folk tales and stories.
Entries can be submitted under two categories:
- Junior Competition: 3rd & 4th class pupils
- Senior Competition: 5th & 6th class pupils
PRIZES
Winners will each receive a €100 Voucher and a trophy. Winning entries will also be on display in their local library and will be digitised and available for online viewing on the Kilkenny Library Digital Archive. https://digital-archive.kilkenny.ie/
The classes of the winning entrants will enjoy an educational visitor experience at Rothe House and Gardens.
Winners will be announced on 7th March 2025.
The prize-giving ceremony will take place in Rothe House in March 2025.
Junior Project Brief: 3rd & 4th Class
Submit an image – either a photograph or a drawing of something or someone in your local area relating to any of these topics:
- My family and relatives from my past
- My home
- My school
- Local historical games and hobbies
- Buildings, historical sites or ruins in my locality
- My locality through the ages
- Stories from the lives of people in the past
Answer the following questions relating to your image (entries should be a maximum 500 words in total):
- What/Who is your image of?
- Where was the photo taken? If it is a drawing, what sort of materials did you use?
- How old is the object or building? If you are doing a project on a person, could you tell us how old they are?
- What was the building or object used for? If your topic is a person, could you tell us a little about him/her?
- Please add any additional information you would like to share about this image.
- How does this image help you to understand the history of the object/person/place?
- What does this building/object/person mean to you?
Senior Project Brief: 5th & 6th Class
Entries (maximum 1000 words) must be based on the local history of Kilkenny or your local area under any of the following topics:
- 1) Homes
- 2) Buildings, sites or ruins in my locality (e.g. farm buildings, graveyards, churches, schools)
- 3) Games and pastimes in the past
- 4) My locality through the ages
- 5) Feasts and festivals in the past
- 6) Stories from the lives of people in the past
Competition Rules:
Essay Format (1000 words maximum)
Handwritten entries are most welcome, but Word documents are also acceptable.
Drawings and images are also welcome to accompany the essay.
Research process: We encourage entrants to contact and/or visit local museums, local libraries and archives as part of their research. Entrants are also encouraged to orally engage with people of interest from their own locality. We have a dedicated Local Studies Department in Kilkenny and library staff in this department, and in your local library will be available throughout the project duration to help with your research, provide support, answer questions and for general guidance. There are eight library branches across County Kilkenny: Callan, Castlecomer, Ferrybank, Graiguenamanagh, Thomastown, Urlingford, as well as two branches in Kilkenny City – Loughboy Library and the new Mayfair Library.
Referencing: Entrants are requested to acknowledge their sources, including online sources.
Use of images: Entrants are encouraged to include images in their submissions. Please say where the images came from.
SUBMISSION (Junior and Senior)
Please fill in the submission form and send it with your project.
Please click here for a submission form.
Please include the following details on the title page:
- Pupil’s Name
- School name and Class name
Entries may be submitted to Kilkenny County Council Library Services, Local Studies Department, John’s Green House, John’s Green Kilkenny, R95 YH61 in person or by email to lstudies@kilkennylibrary.ie on or prior to the competition deadline of 4pm on 14th February 2025. For more information see www.kilkennylibrary.ie
