For Heritage Week Cuimhneamh an Chláir will present a public interview with the vibrant, compellingly interesting and hugely entertaining 88 year old Kitty Leyden from Tulla. It’s a live recording for The Clare Oral History Podcast, hosted by Paula Carroll (https://tinyurl.com/y99ket3h) It’s free but ticketed. See booking details below 

It takes place in Cnoc na Gaoithe, Tulla on Sat 17 Aug. Doors open at 6.30pm. Refreshments will be served at 6.30.pm. Interview starts at 7pm sharp. 

Kitty embodies an important part of the social history of Co. Clare. She was the youngest of 11, born on a small farm in West Clare. She lived her young years in the exciting immigrant city of New York. Then she settled in Tulla, where she raised 8 children. Hers is a story of the ordinary joys and hardships of women’s lives in 20th century rural Ireland. The difference is that she tells it with great good humour, insight, compassion and a turn of phrase that only the gifted storyteller has.

This event is free but must be pre-booked. Bookings here: https://tinyurl.com/3h94m2r6

On the night we will also demonstrate Cuimhneamh an Chláir’s oral history collection at the Digital Repository of Ireland, and how to access the diverse oral histories of Clare life recorded in the last 15 years.  This archival project is supported byThe Heritage Council. More information here.

Cuimhneamh an Chláir runs an annual nationwide Oral History Mentoring Programme for Heritage and Community groups who wish to add an oral history dimension to their work. 

The 2024 trainees have been collecting stories around the country from Tallaght to the Galtees. Come along and listen to them at a celebratory event on Saturday 29 June in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis. 

Refreshments served at 1.30pm. Showcase (livestreamed ) at 2pm sharp

If you can’t be with us in person, join us online at this link: https://vimeo.com/event/4408761/0f065fd0fc

This is a free event, all are welcome. No booking needed. More information here. Supported by The Heritage Council.

“The Past is our Future” is a celebration of traditional farming in Co. Clare and what it can teach us about the environment and biodiversity. It takes place in Kilfenora Community Hall, Main St. Kilfenora, this Friday 24 May 2024 at 7pm.

This is Biodiversity Week so we bring you stories from the Cuimhneamh an Chláir archive that remind us of the wealth of environmental knowledge carried by older farmers. We’ll hear about hay-making versus silage-making, seed-saving, what animals to let graze your orchard, how hares play, what plants will heal broken bones, and much more

We also invite you to bring your own stories. Tell us about the mixed farms of your childhood, what grew around your home, what wild plants you knew, what birds you heard, what has disappeared and what is still there.

This is a free event, all are welcome. No booking needed. More information here. Supported by The Heritage Council and Clare Libraries.

The third Talking Landscapes walk takes place on Sunday 26 May 2024 in Fanore at the earlier time of 11.30am. Joe Queally and Patsy Carrucan will take us around ‘the village of their childhood.’ We’ll see nad hear the stories of the deserted village, the sacred ground where the Tinkers camped, the ‘old penal chapel’ hidden in hazel in the Caher Valley. We’ll also take some time out  to share in a healing experience at the lighthouse at ‘Black Head / Ceann Dubh’.  Our guides Joe Queally and Patsy Carrucan are natives of Fanore and intimately acquainted with its every corner.  Book your free place here.

Cuimhneamh an Chláir has been gathering oral histories of Co. Clare since 2009. Those stories are strongly linked to place and to our sense of identity as Clare people. Now we invite you to walk through those places in the company of local people who will act as your guides. Look beneath the surface, learn the deep stories, connect with landscape.

Walks will take place bi-monthly throughout the year, mostly in rural locations, but Clare towns will feature too. The walks are free but must be booked in advance. Details and bookings here.

Cuimhneamh an Chláir, is running a nationwide Oral History Mentoring Programme in May / June 2024. This is a free peer-to-peer mentoring programme available to Heritage and Community Groups who are interested in collecting oral history (Local History or Heritage Groups, Community or Parish Councils, Arts Groups etc).  It is supported by The Heritage Council’s Heritage Organisations Support Fund.

HOW TO APPLY
Please send Expressions of Interest to us at [email protected] by 30 April. 

Just email us a paragraph or two, telling us about your group and what your interest is.  Ideally you will have an idea for a project that you can work on in May / June. Also ideally, we would like 2 of your group to attend the programme (for mutual support while learning).  

We will inform selected groups by Thurs 2 May. 

Training is free of charge and takes place in Ennis on Fri 10 May, Thurs 6 June, Sat 29 June (full day 10.30 – 4pm). This is hands-on training with online support between sessions.  Last year’s participant feedback strongly favoured this mix of in-person and online.

Recorders and headphones are provided free of charge for participant groups to keep.

See more information here.

Apply by e mailing us at [email protected] telling us in a paragraph or two about your group and why you would like to do this training. Deadline Tue 30 April.