Group recalls local lore and history

MEMORIES of the Shannon Scheme in Ardnacrusha, the banshee, old trades, farming in the old days, house dances and other traditions will be recalled in Killaloe this weekend.
People will have the unique opportunity to hear the voices of some of Clare’s oldest citizens with recollections of a fading way of life.
Killaloe Ballina Family Resource Centre Training and Education Programme, Clare VEC Community Education and Cuimhneamh an Chláir present Come here till I tell ya… Killaloe!
Memories from the Cuimhneamh an Chláir archive and the official launch of the Folklore and Oral History Community Education Programme being run at the centre takes place in the Family Resource Centre on Saturday at 6pm.
Cuimhneamh an Chláir’s popular listening room experience will travel to Killaloe as part of the group’s attempt to spread interest in the lore and tradition of Clare across the county.
The group, who have voluntarily documented more than 500 interviews with Clare’s oldest citizens over the last three years, have already held a number of listening rooms in different parts of the county.
Local characters who will be featured include Paddy ‘Brud’ Skehan from Bridgetown, Tom Cooney, a native of Corigano but well known to locals and Killaloe native, Jack Quigley.
The group has also announced details of their support for the Killaloe Oral History and Folklore Community Education Programme.
Stephen McKeogh, a native of Killaloe, will be delivering the community education programme. According to Mr McKeogh, this course is a 20-hour programme, being funded through the community education section of Clare VEC.
“As a community education course, the direction the content will take will depend upon the learners’ interest areas. However, we hope to include the basic skills of oral history interviewing, as well as providing real and transferable skills to the learners, such as interviewing techniques, use of digital audio recording and editing.
“We also hope to establish a group in Killaloe that can work with Cuimhneamh an Chláir in documenting the rich oral heritage of Killaloe and the surrounding area.
“We are delighted to be working with Cuimhneamh an Chláir and hope that people from the local area will come out to hear the lore of our county at this unique event on Saturday.
“People who come on the night can find out about both the education course and also the plans for collecting oral history and folklore in Killaloe in the future,” commented Mr McKeogh.
Tomás Mac Conmara, co-ordinator of Cuimhneamh an Chláir, stressed working with local community groups is essential to the success of the organisation.
“It’s vital we continue to forge strong links with local groups across Clare to help mobilise local collection initiatives in all parts of Clare. Local people who are knowledgeable and passionate about their place are ideally situated to record the memory and lore of their area.
“We are anxious to help with training and equipping local people and in offering our advice and support. The benefit is then to the entire county, as opposed to being isolated to just one place.
“The shift from an isolated and disconnected collection to a more unified and collective approach has been central to our ambitions since the group began,” he said. “We have an obligation as a generation to do everything in our power to ensure that what is the tail end of an older way of life does not pass out of existence in front of our eyes.”