Unveiling Grangegorman’s Histories: Five public call awardees announced

Following a competitive open call and selection process, these five recipients have been awarded funding to develop a varied selection of research and creative projects:

• Damon Berry, Lecturer and Researcher
• Brian Cregan, Artist Photographer
• Sylvia Cullen, Writer
• Lianne O’Hara, Poet
• Dianne Snowden & Joan Kavanagh, Researchers and Writers.

Chair of Grangegorman Histories Expert Working Group Philip Cohen welcomed the announcement, stating:

"I am delighted to announce the five awardees from our competitive public call. Each of the projects addresses creatively different aspects of the Grangegorman area and each will contribute towards uncovering and commemorating its multi-faceted histories. They all have the potential to engage people locally, nationally and internationally, enabling a deeper awareness and understanding of Grangegorman’s past. I look forward to following these projects as they unfold over the coming months".

Chief Executive Officer of the GDA, Ger Casey said;

“Grangegorman Histories play a vital role in ensuring that the significant and sometimes challenging histories associated with the Grangegorman site are sensitively explored and remembered. In developing this site, we are aware that many people have their own connections, experiences and stories of its past. The public call offers a way to meaningfully engage with some of these beyond our own links and I am delighted to see these five projects commencing."

Lecturer and Researcher Damon Berry will design and install smart posts around the Grangegorman campus using QR codes, which will be a multimedia resource telling the story of Grangegorman. Artist Photographer Brian Cregan will explore Grangegorman’s social history and architectural heritage through an archive of photographs that capture transformational moments of the Grangegorman area. Writer Sylvia Cullen will write and produce a new trilogy of short stories for podcast entitled ‘Flighty Creatures’, inspired by women who dwelt within the buildings of Grangegorman. Poet Lianne O'Hara will write a series of new poems documenting the lives and experiences of patients and staff of Grangegorman Mental Health Hospital using archival material and interviews. Researchers and Writers Dianne Snowden and Joan Kavanagh are exploring a database of the 3,200 convict women and their children who were housed in Grangegorman Female Convict Depot from 1840-1853, and will create a detailed written study on these women.

Further details on these engaging projects will be regularly updated on the Grangegorman Histories website and shared on social media as they progress over the next 12 months.

Grangegorman Histories is a public history programme of Dublin City Council, Grangegorman Development Agency, HSE, Local Communities, National Archives, Royal Irish Academy and TU Dublin. Established in 2019, the programme provides opportunities to contribute to the important work of uncovering, cataloguing and commemorating the history of the Grangegorman area.

Image: An aerial view (from east to west) of the Grangegorman site in the 1950s.