Bringing worlds together

Between organising a new heritage group, mobility programmes, directing and editing movies and having a managerial role with Teach Solais, Clare Willis reported she is busy but not stressed.

The Ballyjamesduff native had just returned from Northern Spain, when the Celt brought her home from her travels with a bang, speaking about her work in the town.

The community activist is heavily involved in Ballyjamesduff, and informed of projects past and present.

Something “exciting and quite rewarding” happening there is that they have started a heritage society, which began last August and was launched during heritage week.

“It had a really really strong turnout,” Clare beamed, adding that forty people attended the event.

“By this summer, it has picked up even more momentum.”

Switching her heritage hat for her director one, Clare also manages Teach Solais, a community development organisation based in Ballyjamessuff promoting lifelong learning and informal education.

The organisation focuses on inclusion and creative expression, working mainly with different cultures. She was delighted that both groups overlapped, which she noticed in one of the former heritage society meetings which she facilitated. The group spoke in general about “what is important about heritage.”

“Obviously the town has changed so much over the last several decades and people wondered if we were capturing that heritage, if we were really documenting those huge social shifts as social history."

She said that Ballyjamesduff has become “a hugely diverse population” and wondered aloud if migrant stories are being captured.

“Have we ever captured those stories?” she asked.

“Have we ever done some kind of case studies on what it’s been like for families to come here and grow?”

She said the conversations were “really refreshing.”

“It’s not often the kind of discourse that you hear around these issues currently.

“I find it very sad a lot of what’s going on at the minute," she said, referring to "anti-migrant and refugee statements.”

“I just thought it was really nice that you had a group of much older people that were very attached to the town from a heritage perspective and look back at the old times as the good old days, but still feel that they’re proud of where their community is headed as well.”

She said it has been a “nice thing” to “make those two worlds meet.”

“It doesn’t have to be one or the other, we’re all in it together.”

Although nothing is set in stone yet, she said podcasting and a "human library" have been among the ideas for documentation.

The latter of which could involve bringing people from the society into schools to speak and answer questions about the past.

The group have organised a heritage event in Cavan County Museum for this August centred around connections, roots and networks.

Guest speakers will talk on the night and the society have lots of photos they gathered from the paste, which they will compile and display consisting of local people, houses and memories of the town which “haven’t been shared.”

“We’re going to re-colourise a few of them, fix them up and print out a few,” she said.

She is currently in the process of planning their third culture night event on September 20.

They will host a “throwback” showband revival in St Joseph’s hall with music and dancing.

“We’re going to make it as vintage as possible, there’ll be some prizes for best vintage dress and best-dressed couple.

Within Teach Solais projects on the horizon include building digital capacity in young people and helping youth workers to educate young people on voting in European elections

“Which I think is really good because I do think there is an awful lot of confusion surrounding that,” Clare said of the latter, remembering the long list of candidates in this year’s EU elections.

These projects will be rolled out among young people in Ballyjamesduff.

Speaking of the youth in the area, Clare created a movie at the start of July with sixth class pupils from local schools who are moving into their first year of secondary school. The movie was made with Bounce Back Youth Service and pupils from other classes.

“We scripted a movie and shot a movie about those transitions,” she said, which explored students’ hopes and worries about the transition.

“I have to say they were amazing,” she said of the pupils.

They also did photography workshops to capture the town through the eyes of young people.

Clare reported the she enjoys her work in the town, and among all the projects, she never feels stressed.

“I’m busy I suppose but definitely not stressed,” she laughed.

The heritage week exhibition will take place on August 17 from 2-5pm in Cavan County Museum.