merrion street

Seán Kyne T.D., Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs, officially launched the new online placename database Meitheal.Logainm.ie and the Schools’ Folklore Collection (duchas.ie) today at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
The Schools’ Folklore Collection, an important component of the National Folklore Collection, UCD, contains the folklore material recorded by primary school pupils between 1937 and 1939. It consists of almost half a million pages recorded by around 5,000 primary school pupils throughout the 26 counties. These pages are kept in the Collection’s archive in UCD. The volumes from the Schools’ Collection have been published on dúchas.ie on a county by county basis since the end of 2013. With today’s launch of material from Co. Cork and Co. Offaly by the Minister of State, all volumes from the Collection, covering all 26 counties that took part in the Schools’ Scheme, are now available to the public in digital form on dúchas.ie.
Meitheal Logainm.ie is a crowdsourcing tool for pooling, storing and sharing data about minor placenames (i.e., local non-administrative placenames). Meitheal Logainm.ie gives users the opportunity to promote the toponymic heritage of the country in the digital age by mapping and sharing minor placenames online. This will enable the preservation of minor placenames, and minor placename data as well as raising public awareness on the subject. Meitheal Logainm.ie is a separate website to logainm.ie but there is a facility for users to switch easily between the two websites using tabs at the top of the screen.
It’s very easy to add a placename to the website, simply pick a place on the map, select the type of placename from the dropdown menu, add the placename in Irish or in English and include any other information you may have about the placename. There is a comprehensive guide to adding a placename available in the information pages of Meitheal Logainm.ie. Additional functions will be added to the website in the near future, e.g. a tool which will allow users to record the pronunciation of a placename.
Seán Kyne T.D., Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs, said [translated]: “There is rich information on the Meitheal website, from hill-names and river-names to the names of ringforts and graveyards. I am proud that the Placenames Branch in my own Department is involved with this project and that the Department intends to develop the website further in the future. I am also delighted to launch the two final volumes of the Schools’ Folklore Collection. This wonderful resource is now available to the public in its entirety. It is of great importance not only as a primary source for the academic researcher but also as a treasure trove for everyone around the world who has an interest in Ireland.”

Notes for Editors:
Dúchas.ie
Duchas.ie is the result of a partnership, beginning in 2012, between the National Folklore Collection (UCD), Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge (DCU) and the Department of Arts, Heritage Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The objective of the project is to digitize the National Folklore Collection and make it available to the public online.

Meitheal Logainm.ie
Meitheal.logainm.ie and logainm.ie are developed by Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge, an Irish-medium teaching and research unit in DCU, in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The project is funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with support from the National Lottery.