Letter to Clare Herald readers – Interview participants sought
From: Michelle Dunne, PhD student in the School of Irish, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge (FSG) at Dublin City University (DCU).
Seán Mac Mathúna (1876 – 1949), of Luogh, Doolin, Co. Clare, collected folklore during the 1930s and 1940s. Seán was also known as Johnny (Mháirtín) McMahon to his neighbours and friends.
He was a meticulous collector who assembled one of the finest regional archives held in the National Folklore Collection. I hope to publish a selection of the folklore Seán collected from and about women in north-west Clare. I am editing this for publication online at www.duchas.ie.
I am a PhD student in the School of Irish, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge (FSG) at Dublin City University (DCU). Dr. Úna Bhreathnach (FSG, DCU) and Dr. Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh (National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin) are supervising the research. I am writing to you to introduce my research project to your readers in the hope that they may be able to assist me.”
I am conducting interviews with people who knew Seán or who grew up in the 1930s and the 1940s in north-west Co. Clare. I had the opportunity to meet with some local people recently and it was wonderful to hear the stories and memories of the period they shared with me. I would like to speak to more women, however, who can tell me what life was like for them and/or their mothers or grandmothers during those decades.
Anyone who is willing to be interviewed or who might recommend other people interested in participating can contact me at michelle.dunne@dcu.ie or at the postal address below. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any queries regarding the interview process.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh!