Last Friday, our 1st-year students swapped their pens for printing presses as they headed to Beggars Bush Barracks for a hands-on history lesson at the National Print Museum.
Having recently studied the invention of the printing press in their History classes, the students had the opportunity to see these massive, intricate machines up close. The trip offered a fascinating look at how the written word transformed from hand-copied manuscripts to the mass-produced media we know today.
Bringing History to Life
The highlight for many was learning about the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The students stood in the presence of one of the rare original copies and heard the dramatic story of how it was printed in secret under immense pressure during the 1916 Rising.
Hands-On at the Press
It wasn’t just a "look but don’t touch" excursion! Our students got to step into the shoes of traditional printers. They learned that there was no "delete" key in the old days—they had to:
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Select individual metal letters (typeset) from heavy cases.
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Arrange them meticulously in reverse to form words and sentences.
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Operate the press to ink and print their very own posters.
It was a brilliant day of learning that proved history is much more interesting when you have a bit of ink on your hands!