Thinking about Friends in Clonmel

I walk past the Quaker Graveyard in Clonmel several times a week and wonder if I could embellish the generosity and industriousness of those deceased Friends of Clonmel.

I would try to do three things.

Enhance Their Headstone Transcriptions

Tipperary Studies currently hosts a digital survey, “Clonmel Society of Friends Quakers Inscriptions”, detailing 130+ headstones and memorial markers across the ground. I would like to match the inscriptions to high-resolution photos of the gravestones and republish the collection for inclusion in the Tipperary Studies collection. The revised collection will show responsive fly-outs of headstones with handwritten transcriptions. There will be a tap-to-play audio for each headstone. This will give genealogists and visitors a verifiable, visual record of a fragile site while ensuring high accessibility.

Oral records of merchants and millers

I would collate historical records of the daily work by well-known Quaker merchant and milling families of South Tipperary and Waterford, including Grubb, Malcomson, Clibborn, Beale, Murphy, and Shannon. Then work with creative media interns from the Clonmel Digital Campus to create imaginary bills of lading for the prominent businesses, showing the types of flour, dairy products, and merhantile goods shipped from Clonmel throughout the 19th century. My idea: to read these documents as part of podcasts delivered in a series of 10 minute Merchant Reports. Once historical accuracy is vetted and audio quality is suitable for public consumption, the podcasts will be served through the Tipperary Studies podcast subscription and offered on Spotify. I would need feedback from the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History and from field historian John Tierney to help ensure accuracy.

Short videos

Once historical accuracy is vetted, short segments (approximately 90 seconds in length) will be recorded in portrait format for release on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Using advice from experts, the presenter will be dressed in clothing suitable for the time period. Video production services from the Technological University of the Shannon would assist in this project.