Cross-community group delve into ‘forgotten’ woman’s life
Twelve Belfast women are taking part in a cross-community cultural project exploring the life of Agnes Galt, the sister of famous Scottish bard Rabbie Burns.
Voices Matter – Even Mine received £3,690 from the Housing Executive’s Community Cohesion Fund.
Six women from Glenbank Women’s Group in the north of the city have joined with six from Falls Women’s Centre in west Belfast.
Together they are learning about the life of Agnes from her birth in Alloway, Scotland, to her final resting place in Dundalk.
Her brother Rabbie, or Robert, born in 1759, is known across the world and is considered to be Scotland’s national poet. Each year Burns’ Night celebrations honour his life and work.
One of the guest speakers was Brian Cassidy, President of the Belfast Burns Society, who came along to the first meeting.
Lydia Miskimmin, community development worker from Glenbank, said:
“We are delighted to have received this funding from the Housing Executive, which will help strengthen cross-community relationships.
“We are looking at Rabbie’s influence on Agnes’ life, at how she embarked on a new life in Ireland independently of her family, and how, alongside her husband, she set up charitable organisations, some of which remain today, and integrated into community life.”
She continued:
“I only heard of Agnes recently and discovered that she worked as a dairymaid in Co Louth and is buried in Dundalk. We will be visiting Agnes’s home where she helped build a vibrant community.
“Near her grave is an obelisk in Rabbie’s memory, almost as though Agnes wasn’t acknowledged in her own right.
“Not having a voice strikes a chord with many women today. Women’s voices are often unheard – many don’t feel important and feel they have nothing significant to say, so I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at Agnes and what she has achieved.”
Nancy Graham, Good Relations Training and Education Officer, Falls Women’s Centre, said:
“Voices Matter – Even Mine is helping to sustain the good relations we have built up from previous peacebuilding programmes and is also developing the participants’ speaking and communication skills.
“The group will record their experiences of using the poets Seámus Heaney and Rabbie Burns to promote ‘the common voice’.
“We will hear what they think of life a hundred years ago when women had no voice at all, which will hopefully encourage them to find their own voices.”
A short video will be presented at an end of project celebration at the Seamus Heaney Homeplace in Bellaghy in December.
Gerard Flynn, the Housing Executive’s North Belfast Area Manager, said:
“Our community cohesion fund is there to help develop strong, positive relationships between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and within neighbourhoods.
“Helping our tenants to feel safe, connected and involved is vital to building vibrant communities.
“We know a difference can be made when local people are supported to work with others in a spirit of neighbourliness, through projects that are relevant and meet real needs.
“This good relations project will build confidence among all the women taking part, improve their skills and strengthen cross-community links for future programmes and events, with the aim of making our neighbourhoods better places to live for everyone.”