Clare County Council’s Heritage Office, working with Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting and supported by the Heritage Council, has welcomed a very positive public response to the ongoing county-wide audit of oral heritage collections relating to County Clare.
Since the public call for information was launched, Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting (MHC) has been contacted by individuals, families, local historians, community organisations and collection holders with information about recordings relating to Clare. This response has been accompanied by intensive and comprehensive research by the MHC project team across national and local archives, broadcasting collections, specialist repositories, community collections, universities and collections held outside Ireland.
Already, more than 50 distinct collections or significant bodies of recorded material have been identified, ranging from pioneering recordings of Clare people made in the late 1920s and 1930s to oral history and community recording projects continuing today.
Research is revealing that Clare’s recorded heritage is dispersed across an extraordinary range of locations. Significant material has been identified in the National Folklore Collection, RTÉ Archives, Irish Traditional Music Archive, Irish Life & Lore, Raidió Corca Baiscinn, the GAA Oral History Project, Ireland House Oral History Collection, community heritage collections and numerous other repositories.
MHC has already spent several research days examining Clare-related material in the Ulster Museum, National Archives, National Folklore Collection, and with RTÉ, with initial work suggesting that at least 500 Clare-related sound recordings may exist within the National Folklore Collection, alone. This includes important Irish-language and folklore recordings, some extending back to the pioneering collecting work of Séamus Ó Duilearga and Luogh native, Seán Mac Mathúna.
Another cornerstone of Clare’s recorded heritage is the extensive collection developed by Cuimhneamh an Chláir, whose database supplied for the audit contains over 800 recording/interview entries involving approximately 600 distinct named interviewees or contributors and representing around 900 hours of recorded material. Other significant bodies identified include 121 recordings across three Irish Life & Lore Clare series and substantial holdings relating to Clare within the Irish Traditional Music Archive. The research has also identified recordings of Clare emigrants and their descendants held overseas, demonstrating that the county’s recorded memory extends far beyond Clare itself.
Welcoming the response to date, Heritage Officer with Clare County Council, Congella McGuire said: “The response from the public has been extremely encouraging and demonstrates just how much recorded oral heritage exists within our communities. People have taken the time to tell us about recordings made by family members, local historians and community groups, alongside larger established collections. Every contact helps us build a clearer picture of Clare’s oral heritage. We are very grateful to everyone who has responded so far and would strongly encourage others to get in touch, particularly where recordings may never previously have been catalogued or deposited with an archive.”
Tara Brady of Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting said: “What is emerging is far bigger and more diverse than any single collection. We are finding Clare voices in major national institutions, local and community archives, broadcasting collections, universities and collections overseas, while people across Clare are also telling us about recordings held privately in homes and by families.”
“We are particularly interested in those recordings that nobody else necessarily knows about. It might be one cassette containing a grandparent talking about their life, an interview recorded for a school project thirty years ago, a reel-to-reel recording made by a local historian, or hundreds of interviews accumulated by an organisation.”
The preliminary findings demonstrate the remarkable breadth of the material already identified. Subjects represented include life stories, farming and rural work, folklore and belief, the Irish language, traditional music and song, emigration, women’s experience, Traveller heritage, revolutionary history, sport, fishing and maritime life, Shannon Airport and Shannon town, trades and crafts, education, fairs and markets, local customs and changing community life.
The project team is now making a renewed appeal to the public to help identify any voice recordings connected with County Clare. Recordings do not have to form part of an organised archive or formal oral history project. The audit is interested in everything from a single-family recording to collections containing hundreds or thousands of interviews. The purpose at this stage is simply to identify what survives and where it is held. People do not need to hand over their recordings in order to tell the project about them.
Collection holders, local history societies, schools, museums, archives, broadcasters, community organisations, families and private individuals are encouraged to contribute information about voice recordings relating to County Clare.
Those with recordings or who are aware of any relevant material can email macconmaraheritage@gmail.com or call 086 2747230.
The Clare Oral Heritage Audit will ultimately provide a detailed picture of the extent, location, condition and significance of the county’s recorded oral heritage, creating an essential foundation for its long-term preservation and accessibility.