DkIT lecturers and students embraced idea
The lecturers and students at DkIT didn’t need much persuasion when local historian Jim Kerley contacted them, asking if they would be interested in making his idea for a website of St Patrick’s Graveyard, Dowdallshill a reality.
Lecturer Enda Finn of the Department of Visual and Human Centred Computing, who co-ordinated the teams of students for their final year projects, recalled: ‘It all started with a phone call from a retired fireman who had an idea.’
Jim then got to pitch the idea to final year students and was it taken up by team GoalBusters comprising David Asare, AbdulFatai Saliu, Vitaliy Vasyltsiv, who developed the website, and Kieron Peters, who produced the Adroid App.
Brendan Ryder, the Head of Department of Visual and Human- Centred Computing at Dundalk Institute of Technology, said ‘Collaborating with industry and community projects forms an integral part of the Department’s engagement strategy.
‘ Involving students in projects with real-world requirements provides a more authentic learning experience and better prepares them was their future careers,’ he continued. ‘Students apply the knowledge, skills and competencies developed on their course in a real-world context, building not only their technical skills but also their communication and team working skills.
He said that the Department was delighted to collaborate with Jim Kerley, of Old Dundalk Society and Louth County Council to design and develop a mobile application (DSPC Explorer) to assist with the location of graves in the Dowdallshill cemetery in Dundalk.
The students gave a demonstrated the website and App at the Project Exhibition 2018 and also at final year student assessment presentations in the School of Informatics and Creative Arts, DkIT last Friday.
Local undertakers, County Archivist Lorraine McCann, County Librarian Yvonne O’Reilly, and Jim Kerley were among those who attended the presentation by the students and were very impressed by what they have achieved.
Enda Finn said that such was the interest in the project, that it was now hoped to develop it into a fully functioning website and mobile App, which will enable users to search all the graves in St Patrick’s Cemetery.
This will involve the inputting of a huge amount of information, much of it taken from old handwritten records, and there are also issues around date protection to be worked out.
When complete, the website and App will be of huge benefit to anyone researching their family history as it will enable them to pinpoint graves and find out information and those buried there. It will also be beneficial to local funeral directors and record keepers.