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Junior Cycle · Junior Cycle History

Junior Cycle History: Working with sources

How often Working with sources comes up on the History papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

CL Asked on 5 of the last 5 Common Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Working with sources, Common Level(7 marks)

Quick ones on Working with sources.

(a)Which of these is a PRIMARY source for the Great Famine?
  1. A textbook chapter on the Famine from 2020
  2. A diary kept in Skibbereen in 1847
  3. A modern TV documentary about the Famine
(b)A source is described as biased. This means it…
  1. Has been translated from another language
  2. Is too old to be of any use
  3. Is one-sided and favours one view
(c)Why is a photograph useful to a historian?
  1. It shows what people and places looked like
  2. It can never be posed, staged or edited
  3. It always explains the reasons an event happened
Show the answers

(a) A diary kept in Skibbereen in 1847

(b) Is one-sided and favours one view

(c) It shows what people and places looked like

Your turn: Common Level questions on Working with sources.

Common Level

Asked on 5 of the last 5 Common Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Q4, Q7, Q8
2025Q4, Q5, Q7, Q8
2024Q7, Q8
2023Q4, Q6, Q7, Q8
2022Q4, Q5, Q7

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Working with sources questions

Working with sources, 3 marks

A 1915 poster shows a Belgian woman in danger and says Irishmen must enlist. What was its main purpose?

  1. To warn Belgians about a coming famine
  2. To advertise a charity concert in Dublin
  3. To get Irishmen to join the British army
Show the answer

To get Irishmen to join the British army

Recruiting posters in Ireland used Catholic Belgium, invaded by Germany in 1914, to stir feelings. They are propaganda: persuasive, emotional and one-sided.

Working with sources, 3 marks

True or false: a source is primary simply because it is very old.

  1. True, if it is now kept in an archive
  2. False, it depends when it was made
  3. True, anything over 100 years old
Show the answer

False, it depends when it was made

A history of the Vikings written in 1880 is old but secondary, because it was written centuries after the events. Primary means made at the time of the event.

Working with sources, 3 marks

What is one limitation of a photograph as a historical source?

  1. It may be posed, staged or cropped
  2. It cannot show what clothes people wore
  3. It is always a secondary source
Show the answer

It may be posed, staged or cropped

Photographers choose what to include and can set up scenes. A photo shows one moment and does not explain why things happened, so check it against other sources.

Other History topics

All of Junior Cycle History