Memories of the Emergency: Waterford People and the Second World War

This year, with the support of Creative Waterford, we will be carrying out an oral history project in the museums. 2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War or the period known as ‘The Emergency’ in Ireland. This country remained neutral during the conflict but many Irish people did serve abroad and the country endured rationing, food shortages, downed aircrafts, anxiety for friends and family abroad and profound changes to ordinary life.

We are interested in collecting all sorts of memories from this period – did you have a family member who served abroad? Did your family pass down a story from this period which you’ve always wanted to share and have preserved into the future? We are interested in memories of food, children’s games, weather and life in general during the Second World War, popularly known to the people of Ireland as ‘The Emergency’ – no story is too small to be unimportant!

These memories will be recorded and made available to researchers through our friends at Diverse Waterford. These recordings will also form the foundation of an exhibition planned for the summer and autumn at the Medieval Museum.

We are also looking for artefacts from this period – objects, photographs and letters all welcome either for loan or as a donation to the museum collection.

If you would like to participate in this project, join us for our Open Day:

Date: Sunday, 27th April
Time: 2pm – 4.30pm
Location: The Medieval Museum

And of course, if you have a memory to share, an object you think would be of interest or any other information, please contact Donnchadh at [email protected]