Cuimhneamh an Chláir is running a nationwide Oral History Mentoring Programme in April – June 2025. This is a free peer-to-peer mentoring programme available to Community Groups who are interested in collecting oral history (Local History or Heritage Groups, Community or Parish Councils, Arts Groups etc). It is supported by The Heritage Council’s Heritage Organisations Support Fund.
Details on how to apply, as per their Facebook Page, are as follows:
HOW TO APPLY
Please send Expressions of Interest to us at info@clarememories.ie by 31 March.
Just email us a paragraph or two, telling us about your group and what your interest is in collecting oral history, and what project you want to start working on in April – June. We would like 2 of your group to attend the programme (for mutual support while learning). We will inform selected groups by Wed 2 April. Your group will need to commit to attending all 3 days, starting 10 April.
Training is free of charge and takes place in person in Ennis on Thurs 10 April, Thurs 8 May, Fri 13 June (full day 10.30 – 4pm). This is hands-on training with online support between sessions. Recorders and headphones are provided free of charge for participant groups to keep.
ABOUT THIS PROGRAMME
Founded in 2009, Cuimhneamh an Chláir (www.clarememories.ie) is an independent, voluntary group which digitally records, archives and shares the oral heritage of Co. Clare, through interviews with the county’s older citizens. We train volunteers who visit people in their own communities to record their stories. Cuimhneamh an Chláir is the only structured, county-wide, community-based oral history gathering initiative in Ireland.
We established the Oral History Mentoring Programme in 2023, supporting groups from Dublin to Kerry and from Galway to Cork. In 2025 the programme runs from April to June.
Some of you will be working from scratch, so we will train you in the basics. Some of you may already have received some training or have bought a recorder, but don’t quite know how to get started. That’s where peer-to-peer support comes in. We understand the gap between receiving training and applying that training.
Cuimhneamh an Chláir will:
- support you to put your learning into action
- provide equipment, which you can keep, and resources (recording agreements etc)
- provide peer-to-peer mentoring and feedback while you experiment with recording and editing
- discuss ways of constituting your oral history group and safeguarding your recordings
- support you to prepare and present your work at our Showcase Day on 13 June.
