ABOUT
Unveiling Hidden Histories
Welcome to Donegal LGBTQ+ Heritage, a project committed to bringing the untold stories of Donegal's LGBTQ+ community and allies to light.
Our mission is to capture, preserve, and share these narratives, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of our community’s rich LGBTQ+ history.
Our Story
Journey of Discovery
Until recent years the LGBTQ+ community has been largely invisible in Donegal. As a result a sense of belonging, pride and social connectivity has been lacking for the LGBTQ+ community in Donegal for generations. Heritage Ireland 2030 outlines the power that our heritage has to contribute to our individual and collective well-being.
“Heritage has positive effects on community well-being, including on social relationships, sense of belonging, pride of place and ownership. Heritage also has positive impacts on individual well- being, enabling increased social connectivity, confidence and life satisfaction.”
This project will aim to seek out previously untold and/or hidden histories and personal stories within the community which will promote an increased sense of social connectivity and will impact the community of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies positively.
Who's Involved
Meet The Team
Jen McCarron
Jen McCarron is a qualified social worker with a social care HND and Psychology BSc. Jen has been involved with LGBT+ organisations on a voluntary basis since 2001 when she facilitated groups at Outhouse Gay Community centre Dublin and was a member of Irish LGBT Amnesty. Jen has a background of fundraising, event management and service planning within charitable organisations. She is former chairperson of Heart Children Ireland and was founding director of Child Focus Uganda. Jen is a volunteer with National organisation ShoutOut which is a charity aimed at promoting inclusion through education and is co-founder of Inishowen Pride, Donegal’s first pride parade which launched in 2022. Jen has a keen interest in history and restorative justice. She has been involved in public consultations relating to the proposed Disregard scheme pertaining to people impacted by anti-homosexuality laws formerly in place in Ireland and is currently a part of the Radical Archives Network of Ireland.
Ruth Lennon
Ruth Lennon is a lecturer with over 20 years of experience in the Department of Computing in Atlantic Technological University Donegal, Ireland. Ruth has been a member of the ACM for 20 years and is the Global Chair of the ACM-W and a member of the DEI committee. Ruth joined the AnitaB community to help connect women in Ireland. She is a member of the IEEE UK & Ireland DEI committee and WIE executive committee member to promote inclusive strategies for computing. She has worked on projects to support and encourage women in computing and engineering career pathways for as long as she has been involved in computing. Highlighting the vital role that women can play in any technical team is core to her voluntary work. Ruth has worked as the ATU Donegal Senior Lecturer in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working with the EDI team to bring the Rainbow Walkway to ATU Donegal in December of 2022. Ruth is also an ally member of the ATU Rainbow Alliance (AURA) which is an LGBTQ+ staff network.
Dr. Bronagh Heverin
Brónagh is currently the Head of the Department of Law, Public Service and Education in Atlantic Technological University Donegal. Initially qualifying as a physical education teacher, Brónagh changed direction to study law, qualifying and working as a solicitor in private practice before becoming a law lecturer over 20 years ago. This experience led to her research interests in legal education focusing on the development of transferable skills and the use of experiential learning and reflection in academic learning. Brónagh has a particular interest in sharing expertise through public legal education projects and has led the ATU Street Law Project (third level student providing legal education to the public using an interactive methodology), and continues to develop opportunities in these areas, most recently through the LBGTQI+ Public Legal Information Project in collaboration with Donegal Women’s Centre.
Pol Penrose
Pól is a community activist, creative practitioner and native Irish speaker from Cloich Cheann Fhaola, Co. Donegal. Founder of the bilingual queer arts fetival BRÓD na Gaeltachta (Most Innovative Community Initiative DLDC nominee 2022) and co founder of Forbairt Físe Gaoth Dobhair. Pól has worked in the media industry for over 20 years and has worked nationally and internationally on content for all major Irish & UK broadcasters as a producer and researcher. He is also an actor and is currently a regular actor on the TG4 flagship series, Ros na Rún.
Dr. Brian Lacey
Brian is a qualified Heritage Practitioner having spent 49 years as a professional archaeologist and medieval historian. He is the author of over 15 books including Terrible Queer Creatures: homosexuality in Irish history (Dublin 2008, and 2015), as well as many research papers and popular publications. He has a vast range of experience in many aspects of heritage research (fieldwork and documentation), teaching/lecturing, and publication/broadcasting – including in areas dealing specifically with LGBTQ+ history and heritage (in both the English and Irish languages). He has contributed personal material to LGBTQ+ archives: (i) at the National Museum of Ireland (video interviews) and (ii) at the Museum of Free Derry (papers etc) and, for the latter museum’s Civil Rights education programmes, He occasionally give talks on LGBTQ+ history to senior pupils at schools in Northern Ireland. He has also been financed by the Dept of Foreign Affairs to give talks on Irish LGBTQ+ history in the USA. For about 5 years he was a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the UK- and Ireland- wide ‘Outing the Past’ LGBTQ+ history festival and contributed several times to its conferences in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. Brian was a gay activist in Derry (and to a lesser extent in Donegal) in the 1970’s, ‘80s and 90s, and for the past 12 months has been a member of the founding and organising committee of Bród na Gaeltachta.
GET INVOLVED
Building Our LGBTQ+ Archive Together
By donating personal stories or historical artifacts, you can help us create a richer, more inclusive picture of Donegal’s LGBTQ+ past.
