ARMA Calligraphy programme

Welcome to the Art of Reading in the Middle Ages (ARMA) curriculum linked teaching and learning resources for schools. These harness medieval digital collections from the Hunt Museum and Limerick Museum and manuscripts available through Europeana Foundation

The ARMA programme aims to explore how reading culture evolved in the Middle Ages and became a fundamental aspect of European culture. The main objectives of this programme is to digitise up to 20,000 medieval manuscripts (c. 500 and c. 1500) and make them accessible online for anyone to use copyright free.  Critically the programme will also unlock the educational potential of these digital collections by producing an online exhibition, blogs and other editorials and teaching and learning resources.

ARMA curriculum linked teaching and learning resources for primary and post primary will be gradually added to this section of the Hunt Museum’s website.

Primary School ARMA Educational Resources

Resource 1: Calligraphy in the Middle Ages

Suitability: 4th to 6th classes

Manuscript leaf from a Book of Pericopes/Animal,Skin,Mammal skin,Parchment,Vellum/12th century AD/The Hunt Collection/PD

Manuscript leaf from a Book of Pericopes/Animal,Skin,Mammal skin,Parchment,Vellum/12th century AD/The Hunt Collection/PD

Visual Art

  • Strand – Drawing
  • Strand Unit- Making Drawings

 

History

  • Strand: Life, Society, Work & Culture
  • Strand Unit: Life in Medieval town & countryside

Teaching Materials

Today it is easy and quick to record and disseminate information, but in the Middle Ages this process was slow and laborious. All books known as manuscripts were copied by hand using a decorative style of script known as calligraphy.

These teaching materials will enable primary school children to learn about the process and history of calligraphy by comparing and contrasting manuscript examples from Europeana’s collections and historical objects from Limerick Museum and the Hunt Museum associated with the practice of calligraphy. The children will then fashion a calligraphy pen and use it to create their own piece of calligraphy.

With thanks to:

Virtual Museums Workshop

Discover art and objects in our new Virtual Museum Workshops for schools. Participants explore and interact with virtual galleries filled with 3D objects and images from three Limerick museum collections. Participants practise analytic, creative and digital skills while they work together to create their own museum galleries and discover the role of the museum to educate and inspire.

This workshop takes place on the free online platform Mozilla Hubs and requires no software downloads or sign up. To participate you’ll need a device (mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop PC) and a strong WIFI connection.

Not sure what this is all about? Read our Frequently Asked Questions here:

For further information, and to book a free Virtual Museum Workshop for your school or group, please contact: educationoffice@huntmuseum.com

This workshop is brought to you by The Three Muses, a joint education initiative between The Hunt Museum, Limerick Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art. The Three Muses is supported by Limerick City and County Council and Friends of the Hunt Museum.

Reading 20th Century Art

Relevant to Senior Cycle
Duration: 60mins
€3.50 per student, teachers go free!

These tours will aid Senior Cycle students in their completion of Section 1 and 2 of the Art History and Appreciation written paper.

Choose from:

  • 20th Century Art in Ireland or Bronze Age artworks
  • European Art
  • Art in Ireland and Europe in the 20th Century

Viking Post Primary Online Programme

This digital programme will teach Post Primary Junior Cycle students all about the Vikings. 

Through short animations, a virtual handling session, and a printable workbook (featuring art activities and research topics) students will gain a greater understanding of Viking culture and their impact on Ireland. Students will use both replica and authentic Viking artefacts from the Hunt Museum Permanent Collection as a means to learn more about their lives.

Visual Art:

  • Strand – Art (Element: Critical and visual language, 1.1, 1.2 ; Element: Visual Culture and Appreciation, 1.8)

History

  • Strand – Developing Historical Consciousness – History of Ireland

Geography:

  • Strand – Exploring People, Places, and Change

The Vikings Post Primary School Handling Session

Suitable for Junior Certificate and Transition Year Students
Duration: 60mins
Cost €3.50 per student, teachers go free!

This workshop draws on replica objects to help students learn more about Viking history in Ireland. Activities are tailored for a curriculum-linked learning experience for every age group.

Students will also take a tour of the Viking objects in the Hunt Museum’s Permanent Collection.

Loan Box

This is also available as a loan box.

The Hunt Museum offers a range of different loan boxes containing an array of handling material, and activity resources, that can bring the past to life in the classroom.

Contains artifacts relating to Ireland’s Viking age, and the role of the Norsemen in Limerick.

 

Cost: 30 euro plus VAT for 10 days.

History

  • Strand: Developing historical consciousness
  • Strand: History of Ireland

800 Years of Fashion Workshop

Duration: 60mins
€3.50 euro per student. Teachers go free!

In this workshop, students will learn about clothing from eight different periods (between 1200 and 1920), and these societies. These resources, and objects in the permanent collection, will be used as historical evidence to better understand the evolution of fashion over time, and how these shifts in style relate to changes in society.

 

History

  • Strand 1: The Nature of History
  • Strand 2: The history of Ireland
  • Strand 3: The history of Europe and the wider world

Exhibition Layout and Design Online

This programme will introduce students to the philosophy behind the layout and design of the Hunt Museum’s Permanent Collection. On this page, you will find a series of video-based tours, aimed at Senior Cycle Visual Art students, and PDF revision notes.

Download all revision notes

Virtual Museum Workshop

Looking to enhance your students’ experience? Upgrade with our Layout and Design package.

  • Virtual museum workshop for €35 per class
    Students will:
    Interact with virtual galleries & 3D objects from the Hunt Museum
    Use analytic, creative, and digital skills
  • Q&A with a museum professional €25 per class
    Students will:
    Have their questions about the Hunt Museum Layout & Design answered by professionals

Visual Art: Section III: General Appreciation of Art “Visiting a Museum or Gallery” written question.

 

Image Bank for Teachers

We have four series of images available for download: The Captains Room; Early Christian Ireland; Prehistoric Ireland; and Treasury.

Costume Design for Junior Cycle

With this resource, Junior Cycle students can learn about the techniques and processes used to create realistic costumes for film and TV. Students will be taken on a virtual tour of the Best Costume Goes To… exhibition. Students will research clothing from the Viking, Tudor, and Georgian periods using Hunt Museum resources, and design an accessory for a costume from a historical production.

The video below will get you started in the process of researching and designing an accessory for a costume inspired by the Best Costume Goes To… exhibition.

Visual Art:

  • Design Strand

History

  • Strand 1: Working with evidence
  • Strand 2: Exploring people, cultures, and ideas

Ancient Ireland Handling Session

Relevant to the Junior cycle
Duration: 60 mins
€3.50 per student, teachers go free!

During this workshop, students will use their senses to analyse and evaluate various replica objects. This will enable them to construct historical narratives, and interpret what life was like in the Stone Age and Bronze Age.

They will also take a tour of the prehistoric objects in the Hunt Museum’s Permanent Collection.

Loan Box

This is also available as a loan box.

The Hunt Museum offers a range of different loan boxes containing an array of handling material, and activity resources, that can bring the past to life in the classroom.

This can be used to learn about Ireland in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Cost: 30 euro plus VAT for 10 days.

History

  • Strand 1: The Nature of History
  • Strand 2: The History of Ireland

Visual Art

  • Element: Visual Culture and Appreciation, Craft Strand
  • Element: Media, Craft Strand

English

  • Strand 1: Oral Language

Science

  • Strand 1: The Nature of Science

Environmental Social Studies

  • Section 1: Settlement / Resources
  • Topics: Food, Shelter, Energy, Water, Clothing
  • Option 2: Pre-Christian Ireland

Life in the Bronze Age

For 3rd and 4th Classes
Cost: 3.50 per pupil, teachers go free!
Duration: 60 mins

Created by American illustrator Ingrid Hess, this exhibition is an exciting opportunity for students to thematically explore the objects, and practices, of the Bronze Age in Ireland.

A Primary School workshop is also available. In this workshop, students can investigate the Bronze Age collections on display in the Hunt Museum.

When students handle replica artefacts, inquiry led learning is supported alongside trying out some simple prehistoric technologies.

History

  • Working as a historian
  • Early People and Ancient Societies
  • Community and change over time
  • Local studies

Visual Arts

  • Drawing & constructing

Science

  • Materials

Geography

  • Human Environments