The document proposes three smaller public collecting days at the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin in 2018 to collect stories and materials relating to Irish emigration and diaspora. The museum opened in 2016 and tells the stories of Irish emigration from the 5th century to present through interactive exhibits. The proposed collecting days in March, August, and December will focus on return emigrants, new Irish communities, and women's stories respectively and will leverage key events to promote awareness and participation. The museum will work with the Irish diplomatic network to publicize the events and secure volunteer assistance from foreign embassies in Dublin.

1. EVERY PERSON IS CONNECTED:
COLLECTING OUR SHARED
HERITAGE & ENGAGING WITH
NEW IRISH COMMUNITIES
EUROPEANA MIGRATION PROJECT PUBLIC COLLECTING DAYS PROPOSAL
Nathan Mannion
Museum Curator

2. LETS GET TO KNOW EPIC:
• EPIC The Irish
Emigration Museum
is located in the
CHQ Building in the
heart of the Dublin
Docklands.
• The museum first
opened in May
2016.
• It tells the stories of
Irish emigration and
the Irish diaspora
from the 5th century
to the present day.

3. Motivation
Influence
Connections
Overview of the Permanent Exhibition
Migration
• The EPIC exhibition
is divided into four
themes.
• There are 20 state-
of-the-art
interactive vaults,
each of which
focuses on a
different aspect of
Irish emigration.
• A visit to the
museum is a
journey, you travel
equipped with your
very own EPIC
passport.

4. SMALL & PERFECTLY FORMED: PROPOSED PUBLIC
COLLECTING DAYS MODEL
Original emigrant letter lent to the
museum by a visitor. It dates from
1775 and has been photographed and
added to our digital collection.
• The museum is planning to run three smaller public
collecting days across 2018 in place of one larger
event. Provisionally scheduled for March, August &
December to coincide with key events or anniversaries.
• This approach will mean fewer volunteers are required,
less equipment is needed and will give stakeholders
more opportunities to visit and participate.
• It also presents far more opportunities to promote the
event and build awareness across the year.
• A loan of additional equipment has been secured from
Archives Ireland.
Examples of migrant material cultural held
by EPIC.
Examples of migrant material
cultural held by EPIC.

5. TIMING IS EVERYTHING: GENERATING PUBLIC
AWARENESS
March: (St. Patrick’s Week)
• Staging a collecting day after St. Patrick’s Day will allow us to leverage the heightened sense of affinity expressed by those
around the world leading up to, and during the festival. Will focus on return emigrants in particular.
August: (Heritage Week)
• The theme for Heritage Week in Ireland in 2018 is ‘Make a Connection’ which aims to deepen the connection between
people and heritage, and build a legacy of increased public engagement. As part of European Heritage Days, Heritage Week is
uniquely placed to celebrate connections with our European neighbours and each other.
• Heritage Week is exploring this theme through ‘Sharing Stories’. Staging a collecting day during the festival will help to
maximise exposure, particularly given the selected theme. We plan to specifically target new Irish communities for this
event.
December: (Centenary of Women’s Suffrage)
• This collecting day will focus on women’s stories and will use news coverage generated leading up to the anniversary to
create greater awareness. Migrant women will be the target audience.

6. THE DIPLOMATIC APPROACH:
LINKING WITH THE EMBASSY NETWORK
Japanese Ambassador to Ireland Mari
Miyoshi speaking at a collaborative
lecture at the museum.
Ireland’s Ambassador to the United
States Daniel Mulhall with EPIC’s
Director of Sales & Marketing.
• Our museum works closely with the Irish Department of Foreign
Affairs & Trade and the embassy network based in Dublin.
• In particular the EU Diplomatic Corps (a council made up of the 27
EU ambassadors based in Ireland and the EU Commission’s Head of
Representation) is a key partner.
• We have asked each Mission to promote our collecting days through
their contact networks targeting key community groups and to
provide volunteers to assist with interviews and act as translators
when necessary. So far the proposal has been warmly received.
• We have also asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to circulate
information to the Irish Ambassadors based in the EU. We hope this
will ensure Irish diasporic participation in other collecting days being
held overseas. We will also be promoting the idea during a ‘Heads of
Mission’ briefing taking place in the museum in January.

7. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION