A major audit of oral recordings of stories, family histories and memories is being undertaken in East Galway – to preserve them for future generations before reels and cassettes are lost forever.

A similar exercise in Donegal yielded 4,000 items for their database. One in Kilkenny has uncovered 1,000 recordings.

Led by oral historian Dr Tomás Mac Conmara, the first phase of the project will not seek to collect the items but rather record what is out there, who is preserving it and whether it is accessible to the public.

A later stage will extend the database across Galway.

No recording is too insignificant to be part of the Audit of Oral Heritage Recordings in East Galway, insists Tomás.

“If there is a recorded memory of a family member, we’d urge you to make contact with us. If you have a 95-year-old woman in the 1980’s talking about her childhood, that’s so valuable,” he says.

“It contributes to our understanding of life in her area, it may have relevance to other farming communities in say County Derry, it can have an entirely different interest to someone in a different community.”

The project is also open to those not living in East Galway but they may have a family member who once came from there. Contact from members of the Galway diaspora are very welcome.

Now is the time to identify what has been created, particularly with reel-to-reel recordings and those on cassettes before they become unplayable and obsolete, he explains.

“If you have a box of tapes, there may not be a lot of information about what’s on them. We have all the equipment to listen to all file formats so we can help people and community groups to sort through their material.”

The brainchild of Galway County Council’s Heritage Officer Marie Mannion, the project will work with community groups, historians, and collectors either online or in their communities to document what has been saved.

The stories, memories and folklore will be collected by October and the list will be available to the public online.

The audit will help to identify priorities for future recording work, according to Marie Mannion.

“We would really appreciate people’s help in identifying oral history recordings or collections held by community groups and individuals so that we get as complete a picture as possible as to the current volume and extent of recordings,” she stated.

It will likely be a significant resource for historians, scholars, the education system as well as the general public.

For information contact Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting on 087 916 073 or by email at macconmaraheritage@gmail.com.