While visiting Scandinavia in 1928, a visit which influenced him greatly, Séamus Ó Duilearga was introduced to the many approaches to collecting and cataloguing folk tradition already pioneered by scholars there. The Swedish model in particular would continue to influence the systems of classification employed by the Irish Folklore Commission when it was founded seven … Continue reading Collecting Folklore by Questionnaire
The 17 March 2022 sees the grand return of parades and festivities in honour of St Patrick’s Day. Whether they are parade participants or enthusiastic onlookers, we can certainly rely on the celebrating crowds to dress for the occasion. As in previous years, we will no doubt see the colour green take centre stage as … Continue reading Dressing the Part for St Patrick’s Day
Users of the 1937-1939 Schools’ Collection often comment on the beautiful handwriting of the contributing students. Indeed, it was often the student with the neatest handwriting who copied the chosen material from the smaller copybooks to the larger, final manuscripts now bound into the Schools’ Collection and available online on dúchas.ie. The careful handwriting is … Continue reading Illustrating Tradition: Maps from the Schools’ Collection
Caoimhín Ó Danachair — or Kevin Danaher, as he was more widely known — was collecting folklore in his home town of Athea, Limerick, on behalf of the Institute of Irish Folklore from as early as 1934. In 1935, while Ó Danachair was still a student of archaeology, the Director of the National Museum of … Continue reading Caoimhín Ó Danachair: The Ethnographer’s Eye
The future, in its cloak of fog and mystery, has long been the object of curiosity and worry, urging us to grasp at the unknown and search for evidence of what is yet to come. Some turn to tarot cards, others read their horoscope, or watch for magpies and lucky numbers to judge how their … Continue reading Divining the Future at Hallowe’en
While legal and religious factors have long guided our moral compass, our traditional code of right and wrong has also been informing individual conduct for a considerable amount of time. In oral tradition, particular behaviours deemed to be unacceptable are often followed by examples of what happens when this code is ignored. Among the prohibitions … Continue reading Holy Wells and Sacred Trees: Interference with the natural world
‘... the children, at the first hint of Spring, cast down the toys bought for them at Christmas, and came out to play in the open air — out to play all the games I knew so well. I noticed how little the games and rhymes had changed since I played here, the tunes remained … Continue reading Games I Play
From the 1970s and 80s, a strong tradition of musical subcultures has developed in Ireland, exerting a strong influence on musical subcultures outside of Ireland. Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and Horslips all laid down the foundations for hard rock and heavy metal, while the world of punk had Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon) and … Continue reading Music Subcultures in Ireland
In general, I may say that these part-time collectors have been excellent, because we do our best to pick them carefully. -Seán Ó Súilleabháin, 1950 On walking into the archive of the National Folklore Collection (NFC), you are greeted by walls of numbered manuscripts. To your right are the rolling shelves holding the bright green … Continue reading Part-time Collecting for the Irish Folklore Commission
Through the centuries the Irish have been referred to as storytellers, poets and singers. But where do these poems and songs come from? In UCD Archives there is a small fragmentary collection that belonged to a collector and translator of Irish manuscripts. Eugene O’ Curry was born in Dunaha, Co. Clare on 2 November 1794. … Continue reading Fireside songs they are gone