Fingal Audit of Oral Heritage Recordings
Fingal County Council Heritage Office, with assistance from the Heritage Council, has announced an exciting new audit of oral heritage recordings in County Fingal. The project aims to identify recorded collections of oral heritage and folklore that have been undertaken over the decades, in both private and public bodies, as well as by individuals. This can range from professional work undertaken by the Irish Folklore Commission, to a community collection of folk traditions and customs, or a family recording, undertaken to document the memories of a grandmother.
The audit, which will run until October 2024, is limited to spoken word recollections, as distinct from recordings of music, singing etc. It is important to note that the project is not seeking to physically take collections, but is instead aimed at compiling a detailed list of what has been recorded as well as information about the collections, including their current location, condition, format, content etc.
What collections are included?
From professionally catalogued archives to shoeboxes full of old cassette tapes, the audit will for the first time compile a database, reflecting what has been collected over the decades relating to the county and establish key points of information on each collection/recording. The types of subjects explored in oral heritage collections could include:
- Life stories
- Folklore, customs and folk belief, Irish language
- Farming/agriculture/Fishing
- Oral tradition of the Irish revolutionary period
- Influential people (politics, sport, religion, literature, public life)
- Trades of the past/Fishing
- The Economic War, the Emergency (World War II)
- Rural electrification/Social Change/Entertainment
All Formats are welcome: Reels, cassette tapes, mini disks, VHS, Videos, Digital records, podcasts, links to online video pieces.
Consultation and Methodology
Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting, leading experts in the fields of heritage and oral history, and in the delivery of large-scale cultural audits, have been appointed to lead the project, Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting have successfully completed similar audits in Counties Donegal, Kilkenny, Galway, Westmeath, Mayo and Cork. A carefully prepared and agreed audit approach will elicit critical data including collection extent, formats and state of digital preservation. This will generate of a usable digital resource, reflecting associated metadata, collection level descriptions, available web links and addresses etc.
How to get involved?
If you know of any collections, we would be very grateful if you could let fill out the survey
If you are a local heritage or community group, or individual who wants to ensure your local collection included, you are asked to contact Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting directly at [email protected] or +353 86 2747230.
