AN exhibition researched and curated by pupils from St Dominic’s Grammar School on the Falls Road has gone on display at the Ulster Museum.
The exhibition of children’s toys from over the past century-and-a-half can be seen at the Discover History Centre at the museum and runs until the end of June.
On Monday, pupils from the school were busy setting up the display. The exhibition is the culmination of their work from the school’s History Club, which meets every Monday after school.
Elaine McPeake, who teaches History at St Dominic's, said many of the toys on view are from her own collection.
“I take the History Club at St Dominic’s every Monday after school and each year we try to pick a project that the girls can work on," she said. "I have quite a big collection of pieces from childhood – toys, clothing and books from the late 19th century through to the early 20th century.
“I asked the girls if they'd like to use that as a basis for a school exhibition and they actually said that they would love to. So they came up with the idea of a Museum of Childhood which was the title they chose and we had a display which ran from the 1860s right through to the 2000s. It was held in the school library in December, just before the girls broke off for Christmas.”
Ms McPeake said the exhibition proved a huge success with school pupils and staff alike.
“Every year group had a chance to come in and walk around the collection and what is in the Ulster Museum today is a small selection of what we had in the library, which we kept for the school Open Day. We were really surprised to hear from the museum that they wanted to display a section of it here in the Discover History Centre.”
Éabha Crowhen and Emily Tomaszko
Ms McPeake said some of the toys on show have been in her family and were passed down to her, while other pieces she has bought on holidays or auctions.
“I’ve always had a fascination with what it was like for kids growing up and how things have changed over the years, so it was a great opportunity for the girls to explore all of that.
“We would use a lot of artefacts in the classroom as well, not just for this particular one-off event but we would use artefacts when teaching the Year 8s and especially the Year 9s about the Suffragettes and especially Nazi Germany because we have a number of items from that period and era and it brings history to life.”
St Dominic's Head of History, Aine Frazer, said the girls worked together to research the toys and it helped them understand the period they were from and brought history to life for the pupils.
“I think they were quite surprised by the level of detail within the dolls in particular and the care that was taken over toys in years gone by because toys today are so expendable and so they had the opportunity to learn that toys were more scarce for previous generations and children took better care of them. And even the materials that they were made with, they were made to last because they were relatively expensive, so children didn’t have a huge number of toys.
“It's good for the girls to see history out of the classroom and see it come to life and have their efforts rewarded in this way. They have enjoyed their experience here today, setting the exhibition up, and they can’t wait for their families to come along to see it.”
Ms McPeake said there is one item on display in particular which illustrates the power of the exhibition.
“We have one lady who lent us her grandfather’s letter to Santa in 1945. She had it framed and her family members are coming from different parts of Ireland to see it in the museum and that’s really special. To me, out of all the items that’s very, very important and I know it means an awful lot to her family.”
Roise Doherty and Molly McFadden
Looking back at the original school toy exhibition, pupil Molly McFadden said: “We all dressed up for different decades and I dressed up as one of the T-Birds from the movie Grease to represent the 1950s. I was really surprised when I learned we were coming to the museum. A lot of people really enjoyed the exhibition at the school and I’ve really enjoyed today.”
Another pupil, Roise Doherty, said a lot of research went into the exhibition before it was launched. The period she covered was children’s toys from the 1960s.
“A lot of things are different now and there didn’t seem to be many health and safety rules back then,” she said. “The thing I researched in particular was the children’s sewing kit and I remember thinking to myself, you could really hurt yourself with that. I would much prefer being a child today than the back in the sixties,” she laughed.
Looking forward to the opening of the exhibition, Jacqueline Barker, Discovery Centre Coordinator at the Ulster Museum, said: “We are delighted to be working with St Dominic’s to display historical toys in the museum’s Discover History Centre. This collaborative project offers students a unique opportunity to interpret and present historical objects in a public museum setting, fostering creativity, curiosity and a deeper connection with the past.
“Projects like this highlight the value of co-creation, enabling students to develop key skills while helping us present history through fresh and imaginative perspectives and reflects our commitment to creative, inclusive learning.”
The exhibition runs until June 27.
