In Wexford town library a woman sits at a table taking copious notes from a bound volume of 150-year-old editions of the Wexford Independent. Others are delving into the library's huge reference collection of local historical material.
The local radio station, South East Radio, is preparing to broadcast readings from the daily diary of a Wexford housewife in 1798. It also plans a weekly "what it said in the papers" review based on documents and reports of 200 years ago. There will be contemporary "news bulletins" drawing on eye-witness accounts of critical events in the '98 Rising.
The "Banner County" has always had a strong sense of its heritage, but this year's bicentennial commemoration of 1798 has generated an unprecedented upsurge of interest in local history.
The challenge of servicing this interest has fallen to the county council's public library service. In a novel development, the library service is in the process of recruiting a professional "historian-in-residence" for a 10-week period to guide and facilitate local people with their historical projects.
"The aim is to raise the standard of local research. We've got a very good local history collection and we want to popularise it and make it accessible," says the county librarian, Fionnuala Hanrahan.
In a further contribution to local research efforts, the library staff have organised a number of workshops to introduce people to the sources of local history and inform them on how to get the maximum value from the reference library.
Librarian Jarlath Glynn will lead these workshops in the Wexford library tonight at 8 p.m., and at the New Ross Library on February 3rd and Enniscorthy Library on February 10th, both at 11 a.m. Places are limited and booking is essential.
In another series of workshops, librarian Celestine Rafferty will offer a review of contemporary and later accounts of 1798, explain recent research on the period and examine books and other sources from the reference collection.
During the summer, the library service will focus on the local histories that have already been produced in various parts of the county. The best of these will form the subject matter of an exhibition that will travel to the library network and local festivals.
Another library staff member, Rita O'Brien, is working on a schools pack for children on the theme of 1798. This will be distributed to the more than 100 primary schools and almost 30 secondary schools in the county, and will incorporate social history, ballad and song, and work sheets for the pupils. "There has been huge interest from the teachers already," she says.
For the entire community, the key events of the '98 Rising will be brought to life on South East Radio. The library staff are also engaged in research for these programmes, which will offer a popular introduction to the story of the rebellion.
The weekly "what it said in the papers" will include excerpts from government and other documents of the time, reportage on the commemorations of 1898 and 1948, information on the price of grain and potatoes at the time, the shipping news, the weather reports and society sketches.
From May 27th to June 22nd there will be readings from the diary of Elizabeth Richards, of Rathaspeck, the wife of a Wexford landlord, who wrote daily entries on the course of the rebellion, as well as references to aspects of everyday life.
Ms Rafferty, who will be involved in the radio presentations, is also carrying out a personal research project on the iconography of '98, the Wexford story told through the banners, pikes and other items.
For example, she explains that the "croppy" part of The Croppy Boy related to the shortened hairstyle which became a symbol of the French Revolution and was adopted by many young Irish rebels.
Wexford's historical review will have many other aspects, and the library service is open to ideas and material from members of the public. For bookings and information, the Wexford Library can be contacted on (053) 42211, ext 355. The libraries at New Ross and Enniscorthy can also be contacted.