Published on Wednesday18thDecember2013
Minister McGinley launches Dúchas.ie
Pictured are Professor Peter Clinch, UCD Vice-President for Innovation; MInister Dinny McGinley, Professor Ríonach uí Ógáin, UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies, Irish Folklore and Linguistics and Director of the National Folklore Collection at UCD; and Dr Ciaráin Mac Murchaidh, Head of School at Fiontar, DCU.
Minister of State Dinny McGinley has officially launched Dúchas.ie, a new Irish folklore repository, at an event held at NovaUCD, University College Dublin.
Dúchas.ie currently features some 64,000 pages of hand-written folklore and local history recorded in 1937-38 by Irish schoolchildren in counties Dublin, Mayo, Donegal and Waterford.
This original material, digitised for Dúchas.ie in a project funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is part of the Schools’ Manuscript Collection.
Speaking at the launch the Minister said:
Folklore allows for fresh insights and interpretation regarding our culture. This is an innovative project bringing together the old and the new in a way which allows for long-term possibilities regarding the understanding of our tradition.I am delighted to announce today new funding of €1.75 million jointly from my Department and UCD over the next 3-years to continue with the digitisation of the National Folklore Collection, including further material from the Schools’ Manuscript Collection.I wish everyone involved every success with the next phase of the project.
Read the full press release here.