The County Kildare Federation of Local History Groups is a voluntary body formed in 1999 in order to exchange ideas, share information and raise awareness of local history groups and their activities within the county, as well as improve accessibility and representation on relevant county committees concerned with heritage. To these ends the federation has two core initiatives; an annual seminar and this website with its resources.
Seminar
Each year the federation holds a seminar to coincide with its AGM, which includes ‘society speak’, where members of the various groups give an outline of their activities throughout the year. The AGM is followed by an illustrated talk by a notable speaker on aspects of local or national history. The proceedings finish off with lunch. Information on past seminars is available on the Seminars page.
Website
The federation website has three core resources for the local history community, the list of Available Speakers, News, and Local History Diary sections.
The federation maintains a list of speakers available to local history groups for talks on a wide range of historical subjects. The list can be accessed on the website’s Available Speakers page.
As part of our objective to improve communication and raise awareness of our member groups’ activities, we provide a Local History Diary which lists upcoming talks and events organised by our member groups.
The News section contains items of relevance to the local history community, including call outs for grants or funding opportunities, workshops, lectures, book launches, and other events concerning the history, heritage, or archaeology of County Kildare.
Collaboration
The federation has also worked in collaboration with the Local Studies, Genealogy & Archives Department of Kildare County Library on a number of projects including the organisation of school seminars for students doing local history projects.