History at Your Fingertips: Discover Kenmare’s New QR History Trail
If you're taking a stroll around Kenmare, keep your eyes open. You may notice something new appearing on benches and at points around the town: small QR codes with some very big stories to tell.
A wonderful new QR History Trail is bringing the history of Kenmare directly to the streets, paths and public spaces where much of that history actually happened.
The project features historical research and stories from the Kenmare chronicle, with the QR trail created and designed by Dennison Design. Simply scan one of the QR codes with your phone and you are transported into another chapter of Kenmare’s past.
Turning Kenmare into an Open Air Museum
The idea behind the project is beautifully simple.
Rather than keeping local history solely within books, archives and museums, the QR trail allows people to encounter it while exploring Kenmare itself.
As Simon described the concept while developing the project, it has the potential to make 'the whole town a museum in itself.'
Information gathered through years of research, including material from the Kenmare Chronicle and the developing digital Kenmare Archive, can be connected to the very places around the town where those stories belong.
Eventually, the project is also intended to incorporate audio, making Kenmare's history even more accessible to people as they explore.
History Where It Happened
We spotted one of the QR codes recently while walking around the peninsula near Kenmare Pier.
It is a lovely place to stop for a moment, take in the extraordinary landscape around Kenmare Bay and then discover a little more about the town and community behind it.
The codes are already being enjoyed by locals and visitors alike and are a fantastic example of how technology can be used to preserve and share local heritage without taking away from the landscape around us.
There is something particularly special about discovering history this way. You do not necessarily set out to visit a museum or read a history book. You simply come across a code while walking, scan it out of curiosity and suddenly find yourself learning about the place in which you are standing.
Preserving Kenmare's Stories
The QR History Trail forms part of a much wider effort to collect, digitise and preserve Kenmare's social history for future generations.
The Kenmare Archive, has been steadily developing, adding photographs, articles, publications, videos and other historical material, creating an increasingly valuable digital record of the area.
The QR trail provides a wonderful bridge between that archive and the physical town.
It means that stories preserved digitally can come back out onto Kenmare's streets and into the hands of residents and visitors.
Look Out for the Codes
More QR codes are being added around Kenmare, so next time you are out walking, particularly around the peninsula and pier, keep an eye out for them.
Take out your phone, scan the code and see where the story takes you.
Huge congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic initiative and another wonderful way of celebrating, preserving and sharing the extraordinary history of Kenmare.
Sometimes the best way to discover Kenmare's past is simply to go for a walk.
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