File - Rathcroghan Visitor Centre

Rathcroghan Visitor Centre
Education Programme 2013/2014
Experience time-out and renewal, exploring a complex of ancient
features and monuments which date back over 8000 years, and have
been in continuous ceremonial use through the ages.
Open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, all year round.
We can open by appointment on Sundays,
please ring or email to confirm Public Holiday
opening hours.
www.rathcroghan.ie
R
athcroghan Visitor Centre in Tulsk, Co Roscommon, provides a
wide range of educational programmes designed to meet the
needs of all, from those starting out to mature students. Our
Education Packs for schools, covering 1st Class to 6th yr
students, comprise a number of modules, both in general and in
depth, allowing students to research their own local and national
history from the Mesolithic to the Late Medieval Period.
This includes materials and information as well as guided tours
of the centre’s interactive exhibition, audio visual display, and
the mounds and earthworks which comprise this fascinating and
important historical site.
Rathcroghan Visitor Centre
Table of Contents
Primary School Workshops
Ancient Tales - Storytelling Workshop
Medieval Life - Cooking Workshop
Medieval Life - Learn to be a Warrior
‘Visit the Otherworld’ - Day Trip
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 6
Price List 2014
page 7
Other Attractions of Note in the Roscommon Area
page 8
Map of the Attractions
page 9
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The Primary School Educational Programmes at Rathcroghan Heritage Centre engender a
fusion of knowledge with fun activities, in order to allow the child to fully experience
concepts of our past. The curricular links that can be established & strengthened by a school
visit to Rathcroghan are manifold, thus giving your students a more rounded, wholesome, &
locally-based understanding of our past.
Primary school workshops
Ancient Tales - Storytelling Workshop
Queen Medb was the ruler of Connacht whose central palace was
located at Rathcroghan. Many of the early stories in Ireland are told
about this great queen who lead her armies on great battles across the
county.
You will be transported
back in time to meet
Queen Medb as she
brings you on one of
these epic tales of great
warriors and mythical
beasts.
The
Centre
is
transformed into a map
of Ireland where you can
re-enact the battle with Cú Chulainn or are transported to the other
world to fight mythical armies and protect Rathcroghan from destruction. Full costumes are provided for these re-enactments and you are
fully involved in the tales as you follow Medb around.
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Rathcroghan Visitor Centre
Medieval Life - Cooking Workshop
This activity teaches you
how people cooked in
medieval Ireland. As you watch
our medieval kitchen staff
prepare their stew you will learn
about the different ingredients
which go into making this traditional meal.
You will also learn about the
different fruits which once grew
in Ireland many of which may
surprise, of course you will be
able to sample some of these lovely sweet treats as you learn how to
make a delicious oatcake with your hands. All of this takes place in our
portable medieval kitchen made in the traditional style.
For those who want to return home and impress their friends we will
provide a full list of ingredients so can practice making this medieval
dish at home.
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Medieval Life - Learn to Be a Warrior
Suitable for children 8 years and older
This activity engages you with the past through archaeology. On Arrival you
will visit a mock dig sites and learn how to excavate historical items. Once
the item is fully excavated and correctly recorded you will then have to decide
what it might have been used for in the past. Later on you will train with a
warrior in order to prepare for battle
the same way the Celts may have done
in the past.
Irish gallowglasses & kern, Albrecht Dürer 1521. The men portrayed
on the left are descendants of a martial class that was first introduced
to Ireland from Scotland by an O’Conor King of Connacht in 1259.
‘Visit to the Otherworld’ Day Trip
The ‘Otherworld’ Day Trip comprises a tour of our interactive exhibition and
audio-visual presentation here at Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, in order to
provide the students with an understanding of the ritual and spiritual landscape that they are about to experience.
This is then followed by site tour of the main mound at Rathcroghan, where
the ceremonial importance of the complex will be shown to them, rounded
off by a trip down into the Otherworld, tracing the
footsteps of Celtic Irish warriors as they embarked
upon their rite of passage to be tested by the Morrigan.
Left: Oweynagat: “Cave of the Cats”. Described as being one of the gates to Hell
by Christian scribes, this is the home of Halloween—the Celtic festival of Samhain
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Rathcroghan Visitor Centre
Price List 2014
Exhibition Tour
Adult
Senior
Student
Child Age10+
Groups 10+
Groups 20+
€7.00
€6.00
€6.00
€5.00
€5.00 pp
€4.00 pp
Site Tour
Adult
Senior
Student
Child Age10+
Groups 10+
Groups 20+
Min. of 4 people or €20
€5.00
€4.00
€5.00
€3.00
€4.00 pp
€4.00 pp
Combined Tours (Exhibition and Sites)
Adult
Senior
Student
Child Age 10+
Groups 10+
Groups 20+
€10.00
€8.00
€9.00
€6.00
€8.00 pp
€7.00 pp
Schools Workshops are priced at €10.00 per child,
owing to equipment and supply costs. However,
workshops can be catered, with notice, to any
curricular requirements.
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Other attractions of note in the
Roscommon area
Strokestown Park & House (11km from Rathcroghan)
Strokestown Park and House is home to the Irish National Famine
Museum, housed inside a Georgian Palladian mansion. This is an
excellent resource for strengthening curricular links.
For more information see: http://www.strokestownpark.ie/
Dr. Douglas Hyde Interpretative Centre (15km from Rathcroghan)
Located in Frenchpark, the Douglas Hyde Interpretative exhibition and
information centre is dedicated to this remarkable man and is housed in
the church where his father was rector. Although born and reared in the
Anglo Irish tradition, Douglas Hyde was a scholar who was profoundly
interested in the Irish language and traditions.
For more information see: http://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-CultureHeritage/doctor-douglas-hyde-interpretative-centre/462
In the surrounding area, we also have a number of magnificent national
monuments that provide an excellent understanding of our history,
particularly the medieval period. These include Roscommon Castle,
Roscommon Abbey, Boyle Abbey & the restored 18th century Elphin
Windmill.
For information on these monuments and many more see: http://
visitroscommon.com/CultureandHeritage/HeritageGems.aspx
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Rathcroghan Visitor Centre
Map of the sites and attractions mentioned
on the previous page, with national roads
also evident.
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Rathcroghan Visitor Centre,
Cruachan Aí,
Tulsk, (Castlerea)
Co. Roscommon.
Ireland
Phone: (00 353 0) 71 9639268
Email: cruachanai@gmail.com
Online Diary: cruachanai.blogspot.com
Web: www.rathcroghan.ie
© Cruachan Ai Heritage Centre