Archive treasure trove in Miltown

SIDLE into the Oidhreacht an Chláir centre on the Spanish Point Road in Miltown Malbay and you might be surprised at how speedily time has flown by when you eventually re-emerge.
It’s not that the management committee will attempt to detain you against your will. It’s just that if you have even a passing interest in traditional music, local history or folklore, it’s likely that you will have to be politely ushered towards the door, such is the wealth of archival material in the building.
Oidhreacht an Chláir doubles as the Clare Institute for Traditional Studies and the voluntary management on site is planning to run full semester of courses, validated by NUI Galway.
Of course when in Miltown and if music or folklore creep into conversation, it’s never long before Willie Clancy enters the equation.
“We’re right next door to where Willie Clancy lived for most of his adult life,” Harry Hughes, who is on the Oidhreacht an Chláir management committee, pointed out.
He was joined by fellow members Anne Clune and Mick Willis, outlining the trove of fascinating material contained within the walls of the building.
“Any material that would be relevant from traditional music to folklore, history or local manuscripts, we’re out to get them. We’d hope to have an institute going here that would have weekend courses and maybe full semester courses, again on traditional studies,” Harry added.
Currently the store of traditional music, local history and folklore is kept in the house, while one small room contains hundreds of books.
“It’s not just Miltown-based. We’re here in Miltown but it’s actually for all of Clare,” Harry stressed.
“Additional material comes in all the time,” Anne noted. “Once people know that there’s some place to bring it to and that it will be looked after, they find that they have all sorts of stuff in attics; old recordings that people took, letters and photographs. People love old photographs and they just keep bringing them in. The difficulty is keeping up with the archiving,” she laughed.
“We want people to give us stuff. It might even be things that they think are of little value. Maybe an old recording or photographs. Letters or anything to do with the local history, music or folklore of a place. We’d also like people to support our fundraising attempts and we really want people to know that we’re here and what we’re about,” Anne added.
Much of the traditional music archive is being digitised.
“We’ve the process started at this stage. The tapes themselves deteriorate with age. A lot of them are gone sticky. It has to be done or they’d be lost forever,” Mick Willis said.
Although the building is not open full-time, people are welcome to telephone in advance to ensure admittance or they can call on Saturday mornings.
“There’s also an opportunity on the website to become a member or a patron, depending on how generous people are,” Mick added.
Every Willie Clancy Summer School has been recorded and kept.
“We also produce CDs based upon the recordings of Willie Clancy concerts and recitals. We’re constantly archiving the Willie Clancy Summer School. Obviously the idea may have been inspired by the summer school and the fact that people have been coming here since 1973. Obviously that showed that there was an interest in traditional music,” Harry Hughes observed. 
“So probably to capitalise on that constituency, the idea of the archive and the Institute for Traditional Studies evolved. We would see the institute as functioning in the non-festival period, from September to June,” he suggested.
It is envisaged that the centre will eventually employ a full-time administrator. Some of the local organisations currently availing of the premises for their meetings include the local CCE, the Old Kilfarboy Society and Miltown Singers.
Of course fundraising is an ongoing concern. The house after all has to be paid for.
“Fundraising is the permanent problem,” Anne acknowledged. “We bought the house and we’ve refurbished it. We have the archive room upstairs and we have a big room beside that which works as a classroom and as a place for small recitals. We’ve also had a number of art and photographic exhibitions here and we’ll continue to do that.
“But of course paying the mortgage and paying the upkeep and the maintenance is a terrible problem for a voluntary committee. Some of us have given personal guarantees. We’ve also run a whole series of fundraising events and we’re about to have three quizzes,” Anne added.
Intriguingly, Willie Clancy didn’t just live next door to the Oidhreacht an Chláir house. He helped to build it.
“There’s a beam up there with his signature and his father’s. We found it in the course of the renovations and we decided to leave it,” Mick noted.
The house was built in 1947; these days, once inside, leaving it is the problem.
Further information on Oidhreacht an Chláir can be obtained on www.oac.ie.