Historical ‘treasures’ sought for roadshow

Hoarders of historical artifacts are asked to share their loot at an historic roadshow in Killarney this weekend.

The roadshow previously unearthed the last known photographs of Michael Collins, taken minutes before his death in 1922.

Collectors of private letters, diaries, photographs, poems, stories — hidden in attics and stored in outhouses — may be harbouring similar treasures.

Anyone with documents used in official correspondence and artifacts from the “revolutionary decade” 1912-1923 is invited to bring in their items for evaluation by expert historians and archivists.

“The event is not just for the public, it’s by the public. For it is they — their memories, their artifacts, their documents, their interests — who are the stars of the show,” Gabriel Doherty of University College Cork’s School of History said.

The event is aimed at anyone who has a personal or familial interest in the “revolutionary decade” in modern Irish history which includes such events as the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence, and the great causes of the time, such as the labour movement and female suffrage.

“In many ways Kerry was one of the epicentres of the ‘revolutionary decade’ in modern Irish history, and it is no accident that many of the key individuals from that period hailed from the county, or had connections to it,” Mr Doherty said.

A photograph of Michael Collins’ “murder scene”, taken the day after he was shot, was unearthed from an attic collection at a previous history roadshow.

Tomorrow’s event, at The School of Muckross House in Killarney, will be opened by Minister Jimmy Deenihan and runs from 10.30am until 3pm.