merrion street

Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will today (Saturday 6 April 2013) launch a new book entitled Voices from the Great Houses – Cork and Kerry in Muckross House, Killarney, Co. Kerry at 2.30pm.

The book is based on recorded interviews made by historians Jane and Maurice O'Keeffe, founders of Tralee-based company Irish Life and Lore. These interviews feature family histories, stories and anecdotes about daily life in some of the Great Houses of Cork and Kerry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Commenting on the launch, Minister Deenihan said:

"This wonderful book provides a unique medium through which the living voices of many old Irish and Anglo-Irish families may be shared, enjoyed and preserved for future generations. These voices display a profound emotional attachment to specific places and people in Ireland, recalling both personal memories as well as documenting the frequently tumultuous events they observed or experienced during their lifetime.

"I am delighted that this book launch is part of The Gathering 2013. Visitors arriving as part of the Gathering initiative will be particularly interested in heritage sites and the evidence they provide us of how the Irish people have lived and died down through the ages."

Since 1990 Jane and Maurice O'Keeffe have been compiling audio recordings and working with academics and heritage officers to archive the oral histories of 20 counties in Ireland. The interviews are compiled in a collection of CDs with an accompanying illustrated and indexed catalogue which was also launched by Minister Deenihan in April 2012 at the National Library of Ireland.

Minister Deenihan continued:

"The Great Houses celebrated in this book are part of what could be called our lesser know but still fascinating heritage, and it is a pleasure to see them so well documented now in this publication. The survival of our Great Houses as living places is a matter of great importance to me. I believe that their continued use as homes is the best way to ensure their survival. I acknowledge the responsibility, both financially and otherwise, placed on the private owners and surrounding communities who work hard to ensure the survival of these houses and commend their contribution to the safeguarding of this part of our national heritage.

"In these difficult economic times, financial support from the exchequer is necessarily constrained and subject to competing priorities. However, I would like to highlight that support is available through tax relief towards the maintenance of designated heritage properties which allow access to the public under Section 482 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997."