I was very lucky to have been able to work with the Central Remedial Clinic in Clontarf, Dublin, who contacted me in early summer 2018 to arrange a family history workshop for some of their students.The workshop would contribute to credits required for the Gaisce Award.

As quoted from the Gaisce website,

‘Gaisce or ‘great achievement’ is a self-development programme for young people between the ages of 15-25 and has been in existence since 1985. The Awards initially flourished under the patronage of former President Patrick. J Hillary and to date and have been carried by incoming Presidents. To date over 300,000 young people have participated in the Gaisce programme. At Gaisce our main aim is to ensure we have a programme which fits the needs of every young person who wishes to participate in the Gaisce programme and to give each participant the best possible opportunity to do so. We believe in the ability and resilience of young people and through the Gaisce programme we want them to nurture that ability and to realise their full potential.’

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Congratulations to all our wonderful adults @centralremedial celebrating their Gaisce Award tonight.@AlisonMcCallion @noelcarroll72 @ziplock25 @GaisceAward @PresidentIRL  @Irishlife @IrishFamHistCen pic.twitter.com/Nrsr9LMF1p

— Catherine Stuart (@Catheri76952028) December 13, 2018

Photo reproduced with permission from the Central Remedial Clinic

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The clinic itself provides a range of services and supports to individuals with disabilities, from babies and toddlers right through to school children and adults. It also ensures parents, carers and families of these individuals are sufficiently supported. For more information on the brilliant work the clinic do, please visit their website here.

For the workshop we created family trees on canvas, using fingerprinting techniques and paintbrush patterns. It was wonderful to see such different trees from each member of the group, and you could really feel the excitement and creativity buzzing in the session! We all got our creative juices flowing and it resulted in some beautiful art works. It was great fun: the enthusiasm from the participants was fantastic. It was a huge testament to the compassion and positivity of the lovely staff there! The artists were thrilled with their family tree masterpieces and I was delighted to have been involved with such a great project. Congratulations to all the students and staff of the Central Remedial Clinic for their hard work in achieving the Gaisce Award!

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If you would be interested in arranging a similar workshop for your group or class, please contact Claire Murray at [email protected]

Photo reproduced with permission from the Central Remedial Clinic

By Claire Murray, 

Head of Education at the Irish Family History Centre