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creative
Communities

Dates
1st May 2022
to 10th Oct 2022

Age Range
All ages

Community Led Decade of Centenaries

An exhibition with historical presentations to showcase and remember the Galway hooker, Truelight, built in the 1922, the year when the Anglo-Irish Treaty was adopted by Dáil Éireann. In highlighting the vessel’s early history. Local impact of the events surrounding the establishment of Saorstát Éireann. Dr Micheál Ó Fathartaigh, author of Birth of a State: The Anglo-Irish Treaty (Irish Academic Press, 2021), will give a presentation on the policy of the early Dáil administrations in relation to the fishing industry and the Irish language, both of which very directly impacted upon the Claddagh community, and other seafaring communities in the vicinity.

The Truelight itself is steeped in the history of the period. Built near the Spanish Arch by Reaneys, the legendary Galway boatbuilders, it was owned by Máirtín Oliver, a ‘king’ of the Claddagh and it survived the Cleggan disaster of 1927. The exhibition and presentations will be held in our workshop in the Port of Galway. Visitors will discover the history of the Truelight and learn about the impact of the creation of the new state on the people who sailed Galway Hookers. Information panels and infographics will tell the story of the Truelight and its times.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.

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