James Morrison Centre, Riverstowan

Touchscreen Interactive Information system

James Morrison was a traditional Irish musician and a notable fiddle player in the “South Sligo style”. Born in 1893 near Riverstown, County Sligo, he grew up in a community that is a wellspring of traditional Irish music. In 1915, at the age of 21, he emigrated to America and settled in New York. Morrison became associated with other leading Irish musicians of the early 1900’s including Michael Coleman and Paddy Killoran who were also from County Sligo and also with Leitrim flute player John McKenna.

During his lifetime, Morrison taught hundreds of young Irish-American students to play traditional music on various instruments. Morrison arrived in the US just as the recording industry was taking off and he recorded a number of the earliest recordings of traditional Irish music. In 2006, The Riverstown branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann opened The James Morrison Teach Cheoil to commemorate the great fiddle player where archive material relating to Morrison’s legacy of traditional music is on permanent display.

A interactive touchscreen presentation was commissioned and art directed by Martin Gaffney working closely with Broadcaster and researcher Happy Bradshaw and the Morrison Committee. Interactive design and programming was carried out by XCommunications.

The software installations feature a fresh and vibrant design style with usability focused on presenting users with an intuitive interface and navigation system to easily support access to its contents. Logical organisation of content, clear labelling and interface design combine for an engaging user experience.