Sharing Stories booklet launched in Moate Library

KAYLEY HARDIMAN

On Thursday last a new book was launched in Moate Library called 'Sharing Stories, Folklore Re-told'. Several local children who use the library were asked if they would like to take part in the operation and interview their grandparents on a wide range of topics, similar to the ones used by the Folklore Commission. A collection of stories and anecdotes have been compiled in the form of a booklet about school days in Eyrecourt, Drumraney, Tubberclare, Athlone and Moate. Local historian Gearoid O'Brien was a guest speaker at the launch and thanked everyone for attending before he spoke about the importance of oral history in preserving snippets of local knowledge that would otherwise be forgotten.

He gave a brief history of the Schools Collection from the 1930s, on which the project was based. Gearoid made reference to specific tales recorded in the book- about holy wells which had cures for all kinds of different ailments, about football matches where men sat on the cross-bar in protest, about the fife bands in the different townlands, and lots of other undocumented anecdotes. The popular historian presented each child and their grandparent with a copy of the book.

Heritage Officer for Westmeath County Council, Melanie McQuade applauded everyone on the fantastic publication and addressed the Creative Ireland Programme which supported the intergenerational project. She also highlighted the significance of Heritage Week in the Irish calendar and the importance of organising and attending local events nowadays.

 

The book: 'Sharing Stories, Folklore Re-told'

'Sharing Stories, Folklore Re-told is a collection of local lore and centres on themes similar to that used by the Folklore Commission in the 1930 and which comprise the Schools Collection. Subject matters were hugely varied with placenames, customs, games, riddles, weather lore, school day stories, craftspeople and historical ruins all included in the new compilation. The variety of people who contributed to the book and wide geographical spread meant that everyone’s childhood memories were very different and gave an interesting insight into life in the midlands in the last 50 years.

Those involved in compiling the book: Ned Buckley was interviewed by Matthew and Niamh Heduvan, Mary Shortall was interviewed by Lucy Brady, Sean Keane was interviewed by Sarah Ravenhill, Tommy Henry was interviewed by Conor and Isla McEnroe, Liz Ross was interviewed by Susan Kennedy and Peter Cunningham was interviewed by Ruth Seery.

The book will be available to borrow from the library service and is currently available from Borrow Box.