Step Four: Folklore

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Duchas.ie

Simply put, the National Folklore Collection of Ireland is one of the greatest treasures that the country possesses. This invaluable resource for online research is managed by the National Folklore Collection of UCD (who incidentally also have a great podcast).

Their website, dúchas.ie, is a project to digitize the National Folklore Collection of Ireland.

The following resources are available on the website:

• The Schools’ Collection contains approximately 740,000 pages of folklore that was compiled by pupils from 5,000 primary schools between 1937 and 1939. This is one of the most far-sighted heritage projects ever undertaken, it has left us with such a rich resource. All volumes of the Schools’ Collection (digitized and indexed) are available on the website.
• A selection of the Photographic Collection and of the Main Manuscript Collection. The Photographic Collection contains some 80,000 photographs, the majority of which were taken between 1935 and 1970. The Main Manuscript Collection is an important record of Ireland’s oral tradition and material culture, the majority of which was collected from 1935 onwards.
• You can search by people, topics and places
• You can also get involved with the Meitheal Dúchas.ie (transcription project)
• You can also find the Irish Surname Index