KERRY DEAF RESOURCE CENTRE UPDATE 12.04.10

www.kerrydeaf.com

UPDATING E-MAIL DATABASE FOR NEWSLETTER
Our main computer crashed this week and has been sent for repairs.
Thankfully, we backed-up most of our files. However, we are not sure if our
e-mail address database is up-to-date. If you do not wish to receive our
newsletter or if our details for you are incorrect, please let us know and
we will make any necessary changes. Our apologies for any inconvenience
caused.

DRCC TRAINING FOR INTERPRETERS
Evelyn Nolan from CSL Studies in Galway has informed us that the Dublin Rape
Crisis Centre will have training for interpreters in June. The training will
be held in the DRCC in Dublin.

The training will be part funded by the European Refugee Fund.  In 2009, the
DRCC developed a 2 day training programme ‘Working Sensitively with Refugees
and Asylum Seekers who had experienced Sexual Violence and other Trauma’ for
staff working in a variety of roles to support asylum seekers and
refugees.  They have now received funding from the ERF to provide a similar
3-day training course specifically for interpreters, which will see them
bring together the content of that training with the content of a 2-day
training event, which took place in Galway.

For more information, contact Leonie O’Dowd, Head of Education and Training,
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, 70 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2.
E-mail: [email protected] or go to the DRCC website at www.drcc.ie

SPIRIT OF SIGN BBQ
Spirit of Sign- the Deaf Drama group based in Cork will hold a mid-summer
BBQ on the 26th of June. It will be held in the White Horse Inn in
Ballincollig. It will be on from 8pm till late. Hot food along with a DJ and
a sign language karaoke will be provided. Cost 15 euro and this is
non-refundable. Payment can be made by bank draft, cheque or postal order.
Send to Catherine Landers or Mary Daly, c/o Cork Deaf Assoc, 5 Mac Curtain
St. Cork. For more information, you can contact Catherine by text at 087 611
2287 or by e-mail to [email protected] or Mary Daly (text) 087 627
1646 or at [email protected]

SIGNALL II DOCUMENTARY “EXPERIENCING DEAFHOOD”
Experiencing Deafhood, directed by Haaris Sheikh – as part of the SIGNALL II
project, explores the concept of Deafhood, a term coined by Dr Paddy Ladd at
the University of Bristol. This documentary showcases footage in Irish Sign
Language and British Sign Language with English voiceovers. It trace the
educational, cultural identity and employment journeys of people from the
Deaf community

“Experiencing Deafhood” is 55 minute in duration and looks at aspects of
being Deaf, with contributions from Deaf people from the UK and Ireland.
Irish contributors include Con Lynch, Elaine Grehan, Julianne Gillen and
Elaine Grehan. If you would like to view the video- check it out at:
http://www.vimeo.com/10638529

LAUNCH OF IRISHHISTORY.COM
Rachel Pollard, researcher and author of the book, “The Avenue: A History of
the Claremont Institution”, wishes to announce the launch of the website:
www.irishdeafhistory.com.  It briefly outlines the history of the Claremont
Institution, Dublin, founded in 1816 by a young Cork-born doctor, Charles
Orpen, who realised that there was no such school in Ireland for deaf
children whereas there were six schools in the United Kingdom.   The book
refers not only to the history of deaf education but also to the social
history of Dublin.  In addition, the book contains pen-pictures composed by
pupils describing daily life during the 19th century.  It also refers to
some of the former pupils who went down the ‘avenue’ from the school for the
last time into the unknown world, some of whom had to emigrate to America,
Australia, Canada and Britain.  Moreover, the book tells the story of yet
another forgotten Dublin institution – The Dublin Working Boys’ Home and
Harding Technical School (usually known as ‘The Harding’), of which some
former Claremont pupils were resident.

Academics of all levels in the discipline of Deaf Studies – encompassing
Irish Sign Language, pedagogy, sociology and history – have found the book
as a valuable resource.  Mentioned are reports of court cases involving Deaf
people, one of them as a juror, and another of a former pupil assaulting two
priests in a Dublin church.  Contained in the book is a chapter on the
‘forgotten’ social group – Deaf women, which profiled a former pupil who
emigrated to Australia and became the first deaf female teacher in
Melbourne, Australia.    While visiting the website, take a look at the
“Gallery” page with portraits and photographs of former pupils and teachers
of Claremont.  On the “Overseas” page, was a story of a former pupil from
Cavan who, having joined the army in the First World War, was mistaken as a
German spy – twice – and sadly met his end when the ship, on which he
travelled from Dun Laoghaire to England, was torpedoed by a German submarine
in 1918.

The book contains a chapter covering Deaf artists and entrepreneurs, one of
whom became the first deaf pilot in Ireland in the 1930s.  Records of over
2,500 pupils from 1816 onwards have been taken note of, and as some of the
pupils had emigrated from Ireland to various locations all over the world,
this would prove a boon to genealogists.  For further information and for
queries regarding the book “The Avenue”, contact:  [email protected]

NDCS UK CAMPAIGN
To all our UK readers, the National Deaf Children’s Society have announced a
new campaign with the run up to the UK elections. With your support, the
NDCS are hoping to create a powerful voice for change and demand a fair deal
for every deaf child by engaging with politicians and other decision-makers
in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

NDCS want to see deaf children get the education, health and family support
services they deserve. In the coming months, you will have the power to help
decide who forms the next Government. Help the NDCS to make deaf children
matter in the upcoming UK general election. For more information on their
campaign, go to http://www.ndcs.org.uk/about_us/campaigns/election_2010/

To our Irish readers, could a similar campaign be effective here when our
own elections are being held??

TRAGEDY FOR POLAND.
Over the weekend, we heard of the terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of
many Poland’s leaders & supporters including the President and his wife. We
would like to extend our sympathies to the Polish people and to the hearing
and Deaf Polish population in Ireland.

OUR CONTACT DETAILS:
Kerry Deaf Resource Centre
4 Gas Tce, Tralee

Mobile (text): 087 633 4687
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.kerrydeaf.com
Fax: 066 712 0386
Tel: 066 712 0399