Women in Heritage wraps up

Just wrapped three incredible weeks in South Armagh making a feature documentary about the inspiring Úna Walsh and her unique way of engaging people - young and old - with local heritage.

What began as a short film quickly grew into a feature documentary because the story is simply too good to fit into 10 minutes!

We’re making this film with an amazing group of women who learned to film using their smartphones and captured some beautiful footage of Úna’s bus tour of South Armagh. Their footage will be combined with films from Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive to beautifully blend past and present.

Alongside the film, we recorded an oral history interview with Úna, where she shared many stories about her important work. This will be preserved in full at PRONI, making South Armagh’s rich social history and heritage accessible to future generations.

This project is part of my research into creative and participatory ways of engaging with archives—both bringing stories forward and bringing new stories in—while testing different models of engagement.

And there’s no better way to develop one of my case studies than alongside the dream team: Lynsey Gillespie (PRONI), Bronagh McAtasney (Northern Ireland Screen), Emma McAleer (Rural Community Network), and Tara McKevitt (freelance filmmaker).

The film premieres later this year. Watch this space!