Teachers' Resources

Things To do
1.    Download the Famous Buildings worksheet below and ask the children to name the buildings in the pictures.
2.    If possible, take pictures of local landmarks and do a mini 'show-and-tell' about the buildings.
3.    Ask the children to draw a picture of a local landmark and do a mini 'show-and-tell'.

This website documents a project in which six County Sligo schools explored and documented the heritage sites of the county. It has lots of resources that can be used by other schools in Sligo.

This project was developed in partnership with the Kilkenny County Childcare Committee, Kilkenny Education Centre, Dig-it-Kids, and with co-funding from the Heritage Council.

Skills and concepts development:
Children should be able to:

1. Time and Chronology:

• Describe events as before/after/, later/earlier
• Use a simple timeline
• Use dates such as 1681

2. Change and continuity:

• Recognise how the castle has changed at different periods
• Identify features that have remained the same

3. Cause and effect:

• Recognise the link between the site of the castle and the need for the lord and soldiers to defend themselves in the early centuries of the castle.
• The importance of displaying a coat of arms for a family.
• Recognising how people’s needs change and the impact that has on a building, for example the moat being filled in and the change in the design of the windows.

4. Using evidence:

• Visiting and examining the building

5. Empathy:

• Imagine and discuss the feelings of the servants working in the castle.

Methodologies:
Among the methods which may be used are:

• Story lesson about the Butler family
• Comparing a modern photo of the entrance to Kilkenny Castle with an 18th century
• painting
• Exploring the environment, using the trail
• Integration with other subjects: geography (limestone), art (designing coats of arms), maths (shape)

Sources Used:

• John Bradley, Kilkenny, historic town atlas no. 10 (Dublin, 2000)
• John Bradley, Discover Kilkenny (Dublin, 2000)
• Katherine Lanigan and Gerald Taylor (eds) Kilkenny, its architecture and history (Kilkenny, 1977)
• William Neely, Kilkenny, an urban history, 1391-1843 (Belfast, 1989)
• William Carrigan The History and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory (Dublin, 1905)
• David Edwards, The Ormond lordship in County Kilkenny 1515-1642 (Dublin, 2003)
• Oral testimony of Castle Park constable, Liam Burke (3/08/2007)

Things to do
1.    Create a mini-dig 1 - Find the treasure!
2.    Find a big box and fill it with loose soil or sand and place loose coins and artefacts (brooches, pins, and arrow heads) for the children to dig or find in the box. Discuss where and where the items came from.
3.    Create a mini-dig 2 - What’s the person’s job?
4.    Fill a big box with loose soil or sand and place articles that relate to a person's job in it for the children to find.