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Language offers an important lens both on the history of this place and who we are today. Through the Languages of Ulster project, we will use our museums and our unique language archives to explore the rich and diverse language traditions associated with Irish-English, Irish and Ulster Scots.

Language trails at the Ulster Folk Museum

 

Cúl-Trá-il

A new educational trail - deriving its name from the Irish place name for Cultra (Baile Chúl Trá) - is a self-guided tour exploring the story of the Irish language through the places and people of the Ulster Folk Museum. Tours are available in English and Irish. Pick up the trail in booklet format on arrival at the Ulster Folk Museum or enjoy a digital version of the trail by downloading the free Smartify App.

Ulster-Scots Virtual Visit

Enjoy a 360-degree virtual tour experience of the Ulster Folk Museum and explore the heritage, culture and history of places in Ulster with an Ulster-Scots connection. The project was developed by local company Virtual Visit Tours with the support of Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund and in partnership with the Ulster-Scots Agency.

Smartify Digital Trail Ulster-Scots Virtual Visit

Explore our collections and archives

The project will provide new levels of access to important collections, archives and manuscripts through preservation and digitisation. Some of the resources undergoing digitisation through the project are:

  • The Concise Ulster Dictionary presents a guide to the diverse and colourful language used in Ulster past and present. Much of the material in the Dialect Archive has been electronically captured on a dictionary database.
  • Previously unseen archival manuscripts that tell the story of the life and cultures of local people including: Robert Huddleston (1814 – 1887), ‘the Bard of Moneyrea’; Sir John Byers, (1853 – 1920), an academic and professor and; Brendan Adams, (1917-1981), an early curator at the Ulster Folk Museum and pioneer of the Language Archive.

Upcoming activity

We are working closely with partners, including our local universities, language bodies and local groups to develop new ways to bring languages to life.

Upcoming activity will include the digitisation of several significant heritage assets including the Ulster Dialect Archive manuscripts and new resources based on the Tape Recorded Survey of Hiberno-English which contains 539 tapes of people in every county of Ireland recorded between 1972 and 1981.