Over the past year, the people of Drum village, County Monaghan have engaged with artists, curators and heritage specialists to record, create and share authentic representations of Drum past and present. This project is developed as part of Monaghan County Creative Ireland programme. 

‘Drum: Portrait of a Village’ Exhibition in the Protestant Hall, Drum – 7.00pm – 8.00pm
Welcome by Ruth Stewart, Chair, Drum Development Association and project leaders Trish Lambe & Shirley Clerkin. Exhibition installation of ‘Portrait of Drum’ photographs by Kevin Fox and a selection of Drum archival family album photographs will be launched.

Krass Clement’s ‘Drum’ Projection event in Anderson’s Pub – 7.15pm – 8.00pm
Projection installation of Krass Clement’s DRUM in Anderson’s Pub, Drum. In keeping with the shadowy nature of the work this will be viewable through the doorway and windows of the former pub. Krass Clement will be in attendance.

Refreshments & Music in Stewart’s Shop – 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Tea, coffee and refreshments provided by Drum Protestant Heritage Group – admission is free and all are welcome. Country music courtesy of Nigel Livingstone.

Saturday 18 November
Venue: Protestant Hall, Drum, County Monaghan
Welcome & Introduction – 1.30pm – 1.45pm Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD

Photo Album of Ireland: Drum portrait – 1.45pm – 2.30pm
Introduction to the project by Trish Lambe, Shirley Clerkin and family album contributors from Drum. This emerging family photo archive gives a unique insight into the rich social and cultural life of the village and its environs. Discussion will include an overview of the wider ‘Drum Portrait of a Village’ project developed as part of Monaghan County Creative Ireland programme. Trish Lambe is project curator and co-curator at Gallery of Photography, Ireland. Shirley Clerkin is Monaghan County Heritage Officer and Chairperson of EU Work Plan for Culture, OMC for Sustainable Cultural Heritage Tourism.

Protestant History in Monaghan 1600 –present day – 2.30 – 3.30pm
Lecture by Prof. Terence Dooley, Maynooth University. Professor Dooley specialises in Irish social and political history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly the history of Irish country houses and the landed class; land and politics in independent Ireland; and the revolutionary period 1916-23, with particular reference to his native Monaghan. His most recent publication is: The Irish Revolution 1912-23: Monaghan (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2017).

Historic Walking Tour of Drum – 3.30pm – 4.30pm
Kevin V. Mulligan, Architectural Historian and author, will lead a walking tour and discussion of the architectural heritage of Drum village. Kevin’s recent publications include: An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of County Monaghan, and Buildings of South Ulster, the counties of Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan (2013) Yale University Press.

After the Tour, tea and refreshments will be provided by Drum Protestant Heritage Group in Stewart’s Shop

DRUM: PORTRAIT OF A VILLAGE – Key elements

Photo Album of Ireland: Drum
The Gallery of Photography’s Photo Album team is working with the people of Drum to record the social history of the village held in family photo albums and collections. This emerging digital archive includes photographs of people working the land, family occasions, social and religious events and travels overseas. Photographs dating from the 1870s to the 1960s reveal strong community ties, changing farming methods and effects of modernization – giving a unique insight into life in rural County Monaghan.

Krass Clement’s Photobook DRUM
In 1991, while staying at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in nearby Annamakerrig, Danish photographer Krass Clement made a series of black and white photographs over the course of one evening in Anderson’s pub. Published in 1996, Krass Clement’s DRUM is considered to be one of the world’s finest photographic books. Now, more than 25 years later, Krass will revisit Drum for a special screening of his photographs in Anderson’s pub on Friday 17 November at 7pm.

Portrait of Drum – Kevin Fox
Irish photographer Kevin Fox is working collaboratively with the people of Drum to make a series of portraits taken in homes and other locations in and around the village. Streetscapes and landscape photographs capture the beauty of the built heritage and countryside across the seasons. A series of filmed interviews with a cross section of people record experiences of life in the village. Collectively, the photography and film elements create a unique contemporary portrait of the village of Drum.

‘Drum: Portrait of a Village’ is an initiative of Gallery of Photography Ireland and Monaghan County Council Heritage Office. Kindly supported by: Monaghan County Creative Ireland Programme; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Reconciliation Fund; The Heritage Council of Ireland; Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; Tyrone Guthrie Centre; Danish Arts Foundation; and the Embassy Of Denmark. G

For information on the project contact: Trish Lambe, Gallery of Photography, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. E. trish@galleryofphotography.ie M. 086 6034232 T. 01 6714654

Shirley Clerkin Heritage Office, Monaghan County Council, The Glen, Monaghan
E. heritage@monaghancoco.ie T 047 73722