Donegal County Museum to host conference exploring boundary commission impact

Donegal County Museum will host a one-day conference on Saturday, November 8, at the Old Courthouse, Lifford, exploring the impact of the Border on the centenary of the Border Commission and marking the 100th anniversary of the Morning Post’s newspaper article.

Funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, the Donegal County Museum, Culture Division, and Donegal County Council, the event is free to attend but pre-booking is essential due to limited places.

Speakers include Dr Cormac Moore, Patrick Duffy, Dr Kieran Rankin, Dr Niamh Brennan, Dr Liam Campbell, Dr Lynsey Black, and Jim McBride. 

READ NEXT: Victorian-era Letterkenny hospital entrance ‘ready to fall off’ to be demolished

The conference is scheduled in alignment with the 100th anniversary of an article published on November 7, 1925, with a proposed map of the new border which the Boundary Commission were going to recommend in its final report to the Irish, British, and Northern Irish governments. 

One of their recommendations included the transfer of majority Protestant areas in County Donegal, including St Johnston, Killea, Carrigans, Bridgend, and Muff, to Northern Ireland.

Consequently the Commission’s recommendations were dismissed by all the governments and this report remained unpublished until 1969. However, it set in place the Irish boundary line, with this border shaping the political, social, cultural and economic history of the island of Ireland. 

To prebook your attendance, contact 074 912 4613 or email museum@donegalcoco.ie