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Dominga Devitt

Talks available

HISTORIC HILLBARK
The history of the house that moved, who built it, who lived in it and how it moved from Bidston to Frankby.

HILLBARK’S HISTORIC CHIMNEY PIECE
The chimney piece in Hillbark’s Great Hall which once belonged in Sir Thomas More’s home.

WIRRAL FIRSTS
Telling the tale of the many world firsts that Wirral can lay claim to - ideas and innovations which began here and were adopted all over the world. 

THE WIRRAL BROOCH
Roman jewellery unique to the Wirral. The Wirral brooch was popular in the north and north-west of Roman Britain during the second century.  It is  characterised by a bow of semi-oval section, and usually decorated with a rectangular panel which contains three long strips with an enamel infill.

VINTAGE ADVERTISEMENTS TO MAKE YOU SMILE!
You might recall the tune but not the product, or the other way round!  See how many old TV advertisements you can remember from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS
All about the 1957 blockbuster film which was partly filmed in Beddgelert, North Wales, and the reunion in 2004.

HOLDING A CANDLE TO THE WORLD
A history of world-famous Prices Candles in Bromborough Pool and the village which grew up around the factory.

HALLELUJAH!
The story of how Handel’s world famous oratorio, ‘The Messiah’ was first heard on the Wirral.

WILSON, KEPPLE AND BETTY
The fascinating story of the popular British music hall act which outraged the Nazis!

THE ROYDEN REBEL
Mossley Hill, Liverpool–born Agnes Maud Royden was a famous Wirral author, public speaker, and key figure in the suffragist movement.

HOW LORD NELSON LOST HIS ARM
Horatio Nelson was a leader both inspirational and impetuous in style. He would often pay a price for these characteristics, including the loss of his right arm.

THE CHILDREN OF THE ‘DISAPPEARED’
This is the story of what happened to many of Liverpool’s Chinese merchant seamen after the second world war, the cruelty inflicted on their children and families.

THE MAGIC AND MYSTERY OF CORN DOLLIES
Corn Dollies were intricately woven for the Harvest Festival church services. These services replaced earlier celebrations of the safe in-gathering of the corn at the end of harvest.  Whilst not often human in form, the Corn Dollies kept alive the memory of the straw puppet which once accompanied the last – or Horkey – load on completion of harvest.

OUTRAGEOUS MEDICINES OF BYGONE YEARS
For as long as human beings have had maladies, we’ve been trying to cure them in the best ways we know how. For centuries before the development of modern medicine—and even today, for common ailments like hiccups and warts—we have turned to folk remedies. Some of these were gleaned from experience, based on traditions passed down through generations, and surprisingly effective.  But some were just totally bizarre!

STRUWWELPETER’S LEGACY
Struwwelpeter has had an influence on 20th century music, film and comedy.  This was one of the most famous German books of all time and translated into many languages.  The book’s rhyming tales use fear to warn children of the consequences of annoying habits.

THE WYLDERNESSE OF WIRRAL
In early medieval England, the Wirral Peninsula was a mysterious and dangerous wilderness, the hideout of ‘wolf’s heads’ (outlaws) and the haunt of mythological creatures, half man, half animal, as well as the home of wolves and other beasts.