Friday 26 May 2017

Donegal's oral history recordings identified in database

Donegal Heritage Office will be launching an Audit of Oral History Recordings for County Donegal this evening (see below).

The Audit is the result of work carried out over the last year by Dr Tomás Mac Conmara, an oral historian from County Clare. He has identified more than 4,000 oral history recordings from 57 collections relating to County Donegal. They range from the professional work undertaken by Seán Ó hEochaidh of the Irish Folklore Commission to a family's recording of their grandmother's memories.

The purpose of the audit was to identify, in so far as possible, what has been collected at national, regional and local levels, and to put that information together for the first time into one database. This will allow more locals and people with ancestral connections to Donegal to explore that material where that is possible and ultimately engage more deeply with their own heritage.

"Oral history as a method of exploring our past enables a more personal and human story to unfold," said Dr Mac Conmara. "It leads us often to a deeper understanding of ourselves and of our history. The folklore and stories of local places and people are crucial to a more complete telling of our past.”

The audit will be available in an 80-page pdf Guide website following its launch.

The launch will be held at 7:30pm at the County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny. All welcome. Details.

A day-long Oral History Training Workshop will be taking place tomorrow in Letterkenny. It is fully booked. If there is demand, the Heritage Office will consider holding another workshop in the future. Details.