Historians investigate the past using historical sources. There are two types of sources: primary and secondary.
Primary sources contain first hand information by people who lived at the time of the event. They can include written documents
, pictures
, objects
or film.
Extracts from Constance Markievicz's letters.
Constance Markievicz wrote letters to her sister which was also her closest friend, Eva Gore-Booth. These letters are written documents that historians found that let us know exactly what she was thinking and feeling when she was imprisoned for Republican activities.
Constance as a Debutante, 1886
In 1887, at the age of nineteen, Constance was presented at the court of Queen Victoria in London and was named the new Irish beauty. This event is referred to as her debut.
Copyright Sligo County Library
Signature page from the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
This is an object that historians found. It shows the signature page from the Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921. Although it was not preserved very well, one can see some signatures of politicians and authorities that have signed it.
Image courtesy of www.wikipedia.org
Secondary sources contain second-hand information by somebody who wasn't alive at the time. A history book
is a secondary source.
The Book of Armagh
An illustration of the Book of Armagh which is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
Courtesy of 'A social history of ancient Ireland'.
Where to go to find out about a famous person?
Some people would love to find out about famous people. For example, their idol's or people they look up to and also maybe their favourite music band. With this information, there is nothing stopping you from finding out all about that famous person.
You can search your local library for books, articles, biographies or articles written about this person.
You can search these websites and read their biographies and about their work and achievements.
http://www.facts-about.org.uk/index-famous-people.htm
http://www.famouspeople.co.uk/
You can also go to a museum. Perhaps the National Wax Museum, which has life size moulds and information about lots of famous people that are still alive and some that have passed away. Also, the National Museum of Ireland have great amounts of information about famous people, mainly ones that have made a difference to the state of Ireland today, notably Constance Markievicz.
Take the challenge!
It would be a great idea if you gathered together a group of your friends and discussed what famous person you would like to investigate.
You could find out lots about famous people from the guidelines above. Maybe when you gathered all of the information about that particular famous person, you could type it out in the computer and print it.
Each week a member of the group can pick a different person. It won't be long until your group of friends have gathered lots of information about different famous people that are young or old, alive or deceased.
Investigation Sheet
Investigation Sheet