All-Island School History Competition 2025

The Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McEntee TD has launched the All-Island School History Competition. This competition invites students to explore how important events, people and stories from the past are commemorated in the present. The aim of this competition is: to connect historical events to contemporary themes, highlight underrepresented histories and encourage participation from communities across the island of Ireland. These objectives are consistent with the objectives of the Government’s Shared Island Initiative.

The All-Island Schools’ History Competition is open to both primary and post-primary schools. It is organised by the Department of Education and Youth in partnership with Frances Moss, Director, Drumcondra Education Support Centre and Dr Caitríona Ní Cassaithe, Assistant Professor in History Education in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. It is supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, The Heritage Council and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta.

Competition opening date: 2 October 2025

Closing date: 5 December 2025

Commemoration is how we remember important people, events, or movements from the past—often through ceremonies, monuments, or cultural activities. But different people and communities remember the past in different ways, and over time, memories can change, with some stories highlighted and others forgotten.

Through exploring the connections between commemoration and memory, students can develop a deeper understanding of how and why events are remembered in different ways, reflect on whose stories are told and whose are missing, see how our understanding of the past changes over time and appreciate the role of evidence in creating a fair and inclusive view of history.

Commemoration through Innovation

This competition challenges students to move beyond traditional essays to find creative, dynamic formats that bring the past to life. Innovation here is not about changing historical facts but about rethinking how history is shared. Through formats such as films, digital artwork, podcasts or interactive writing, the competition asks students to think like historians but also convey their work in a way that connects with their audiences.

The competition is open to all students in primary and post-primary students (including young people who attend other educational settings), in the 2025/2026 school year. Entries are invited from the following year groups:

Students can submit an entry individually or as part of a group or as a class project. Students can choose one of the themes below. These descriptions are just starting points to help students explore any topic from local, regional, or national history, and how it is remembered today through commemoration. More details are provided in the section below.

• Video Project – invites students to create a short video (not exceeding 10 mins).
• Audio Project – invites students to create a piece of audio (not exceeding 20 minutes).
• Artwork project- invites students to create an artwork in either (A) 2D art form (maximum size A1 or 23.4 x 33.1 inches) or (B) 3D model form (maximum size 30 x 30 x 30 inches).
• Written project/essay – invites students to create a written entry. The maximum word count is 2,000 words for primary level and 4,000 words for post-primary level.

Projects may be submitted in either English or Irish.

The project must be original and must be the work of the individual student, group or class. It is important that the projects are clearly written and created by the students and that any assistance given by parents/guardians, teachers and other adults is acknowledged.

We encourage entries that demonstrate original research, use primary and secondary sources and present findings in an engaging and accessible manner.

Any secondary materials (books, journals, websites, etc.) must be referenced. To include such material without properly referencing the source will be considered plagiarism. In addition, the copying from, or reproduction of, material from such sources may also be considered plagiarism.

By entering, participants certify that the entry does not infringe the rights of any third party. Material generated using artificial intelligence (AI) software or applications is not permitted.

Stage 1: Submission

Students must email their project and a completed submission form to all-islandhistory@ecdrumcondra.ie by 5pm on Friday 05 December 2025. Submission details are provided below

Stage 2: Shortlisting

The entries will be judged by a panel to be established by Drumcondra Education Support Centre. Three entries from each age range will be shortlisted. Photos of artwork must be submitted to Drumcondra Education Support Centre in hardcopy/physical form. Please note that the cost of submitting any artworks will be borne by the applicant/school. For further information contact all-islandhistory@ecdrumcondra.ie

Stage 3: Judging

The shortlisted entries will undergo a final round of judging and the overall winners for each category will be selected. The decision of the judging panel will be final. Please note that no feedback will be provided.

A prize will be awarded for each age category as outlined above. An additional prize will be awarded for a winning entry submitted in the Irish language.

Each winning entry will receive a podcast audio recording pack for use in their classroom plus a visit from a Heritage in Schools specialist.

• The podcast recording pack contains an audio interface, condenser microphones, high-quality cables and monitoring headphones.

• The Heritage Council's Heritage in Schools programme offers visits from heritage specialists on a range of exciting topics, from archaeology and Vikings to the Irish War of Independence, and from story-telling and traditional folklore to family, local and oral history, to mention just a few. Please note that requests from winners to avail of the visit through the medium of Irish will be facilitated to the greatest degree possible, however this will be subject to the availability of a suitable specialist.

The entrant’s class teachers must submit applications, the completed submission forms along with signed Consent/Assent Forms from all participants to all-islandhistory@ecdrumcondra.ie from the school’s email address by 5pm on Friday 5 December 2025.

The email title must be ‘All-Island History Competition 2025 – Entry’.

Do not send entries from a personal / individual email address.

Late entries will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Please note that the Drumcondra Education Support Centre will acknowledge receipt of your application within 5 working days. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within 5 working days, please contact the Centre immediately (Phone: +353 (01) 857 6400) to let us know as your entry may have been blocked by our IT system or sent to spam.

Only entries that have been acknowledged will be considered by the judges.

See further details in the Submission of Projects section below.

Links to other projects, examinations and competitions

It should be noted that success in the All-Island Schools’ History competition should not be considered as any indication of the likely performance by a student or group of students in a State Examination, or in any other competition.

Links to other projects, examinations and competitions

It should be noted that success in the All-Island Schools’ History competition should not be considered as any indication of the likely performance by a student or group of students in a State Examination, or in any other competition.

Information and application forms can be downloaded or obtained through

• Department of Education and Youth website
• Drumcondra Education centre website, https://ecdrumcondra.ie/ or on https://www.scoilnet.ie/ Please direct queries regarding the competition to all-islandhistory@ecdrumcondra.ie

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