Erris History and Folklore Digitisation Project – Co. Mayo

Funded by DRCD Digital Innovation Programme 2018
Funding awarded: €50,000

Contact details:
Kathryn & Pap Murphy
E: turas.siar@yahoo.ie
P: 087 6990505

Who: Erris is located in Northwest Mayo. It is situated along the coast and comprises the rural Erris Gaeltacht on the Mullet Peninsula. Rich in local history and tradition, the area boasts a rare collection of age-old oral histories, Irish language history, folklore, music recordings, genealogy information, archaeology, and the history of place names and their origin. The Erris History and Folklore Digitisation Project is creating a digital archive to preserve this unique history. 

Objectives to:

• Digitise, catalogue, and archive an estimable collection of Irish oral history and folklore 
• Make the archive openly available, accessible and searchable 
• Conserve the community’s rich history and folklore 

What: Open access digital archives make collected knowledge more accessible to new audiences. Collated recordings of oral histories and folklore stories from across Erris will be immediately accessible and searchable in a digital format. Digitising this precious strand of Ireland’s rich oral heritage, will rescue a rare history from obscurity for future generations to enjoy.

Why: This unique history consists of printed material, video, reel-to-reel, DVDs, CDs and photographs. In fragile condition, the scarce collection requires a digital archive to operationalise its preservation. The result will afford a window into the age-old life of a rural Gaeltacht community. The digital archive will appeal to a range of audiences, including the general public and historians. 

Scale: N/A 

Technologies: Website technology, standard audio recording and videography techniques.  

Impact and Lessons Learned:  

A conservation project, the project will preserve and highlight an estimable heritage that may otherwise be lost. A resurgence in interest where Ireland’s linguistic, social and ecological heritages intersect, means that the archive is also of conceivable educational value to tourists and historians alike. Celebrating antiquated histories are valuable assets for attracting tourism. Planning for how the project could add to the promotion of  Irish language tourism will be important. 

UN Sustainable Development Goals: