My Weekend: We've all been blown away by what our little country has to offer

Sorcha O’Brien, Education and Outreach Officer Nano Nagle Place.
I went to UCC and studied English and Art History and the third year of that degree was spent studying abroad in Montreal, Canada. This allowed me to gain an international perspective on my studies… I also learned what minus 30 degrees felt like! After UCC, I went on to get a Masters in Arts and Heritage from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
During my Masters I became very interested in how people learn in museums and also how museums use the digital space to engage and reach out to new audiences. When I returned to Cork, I decided to pursue my interest in the digital aspect of heritage and received a certificate in Digital Marketing from CIT. This has served me well in my current job as Education and Outreach Officer in Nano Nagle Place.
I wasn’t aware of Nano’s story before I began working here, however as a Cork woman and one who had such an impact on women’s educational rights in Cork city, I find her story so inspirational. It is a privilege to share her story with anyone who visits Nano Nagle Place.
My day-to-day job is quite varied. I conduct school tours and create new ways for students to engage with the story of Nano Nagle onsite. Like many museums and heritage sites, we have had to adapt to Covid-19 and deliver Nano’s story to virtual visitors. We have been working hard to produce a new app which can deliver audio tours and a virtual 360 tour of the site, which is available to download now.
I work closely with the Programme Manager Dr Danielle O’Donovan to deliver different events and projects. Our latest exhibition Small Lives: At Home in Cork in 1920, which will be on outdoor display throughout December, was a hugely rewarding project. Researching and creating an exhibition is amazing and seeing it all come together at the last minute is so exciting.
Among other things I manage the Facebook and Instagram pages for Nano Nagle Place and look after their digital marketing which fulfils that part of me that loves the digital space and allows me to keep track of online trends.
I also created Nano Nagle Place Design Shop’s new website in collaboration with our Retail Manager Paul Lehane and Ambassador Nuala Dinneen. Another hugely rewarding project, especially since this Christmas it is so important to shop local.

I get my coffee fix from Filter on George’s Quay, it’s a great place to sit and watch the world go by. And they’ve adapted to Covid so well.
See our full Winter Programme at nanonagleplace.ie/nanoevents/
See our app for both Apple and Android on their respective app stores.
Check out our new online shop at nanonagleplacedesignshop.com