"Irish Life and Lore" is an online archive with over 3,000 hours of oral Irish history, from the Irish revolutionary period to local history, folklore and family history.
An Ireland-based oral history organization, Irish Life and Lore, invites educators, students and those with an interest in Irish history and folklore to browse its rich archive of audio material and books.
Founded in 1990 by Tralee-based oral historians Maurice and Jane O'Keeffe for the purpose of preserving oral history across Ireland, Irish Life and Lore has compiled, cataloged and archived over 3,000 hours of audio material, and arranged into Oral History Collections.
Each themed collection captures a version of the past, which represents the views and sentiments of Irish communities and explores aspects of historical experience that are rarely recorded. Many important topics are covered in the collections, including the Irish revolutionary period, the arts, sport, literature, emigration, local history, folklore, family history and much more.
Some popular Oral History Collections within the archive are:
- The 1916 Rising Oral History Collection
- The Irish Country House and the Great War
- Witnesses to Independence Oral History Collection
- Trinity College Oral History Collection
This archive is valuable to those who are interested in or involved in social or local Irish research, education, modern history, social history, genealogy, sociology, and linguistics.
Irish Life and Lore’s mission is to enrich public understanding of Ireland's shared past through oral history; to record unique life and social histories, document the central historical events and memories of our times, to inform education, create awareness and bolster research across the disciplines.
Their vision is to scaffold bridges to the past for present and future generations. Through the collecting and archiving of Irish voices which offer insight into a historic moment, event, or time period, we seek to represent living history, and ultimately to create a historical record.
Irish Life and Lore’s work is commissioned by Government Departments, Local Authorities, universities, businesses and professional bodies. Visit this archive and browse Oral History Collections and individual recordings at www.irishlifeandlore.com.
* Originally published in 2019, updated in 2023.
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