Voices of Dún Chaocháin presentation for Heritage Week in Mayo

THE Dún Chaocháin oral history collection was first identified by Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting during the Mayo audit of oral heritage collections as one of the county's highest-priority collections for preservation.

The collection originated through a Euroform project in the early 1990s (undertaken by Donnacha Ó Dúlaing, Bríd Ní Sheighin and the late Bairbre Uí Thaidhg) and captures the voices of Dún Chaocháin natives and preserves a unique record of Irish-language life, folklore, local traditions and community memory.

For more than 30 years, these recordings have remained on fragile analogue tapes. Today, through the Recovering Voices digitisation project, delivered by Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting, they are being professionally preserved for future generations.

As part of National Heritage Week, on Friday, August 21, at 11 a.m., Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting will give a presentation in the Seanscoil Community Centre, Ceathrú Thaidhg (F26 Y8P7) on the digitisation of the Dún Chaocháin archive. The event offers a behind-the-scenes look at the project, showcasing selected recordings, photographs and archival material while demonstrating how ageing audio tapes are assessed, digitised, catalogued and prepared for long-term preservation.

Learn about the professional standards behind the work, the creation of searchable metadata and digital catalogues, and the plans to ensure the collection remains accessible for education, research and the local community for generations to come.

Join them to hear a selection of voices that have not been publicly heard for decades, discover the stories they preserve, and explore how today's digitisation work is safeguarding one of Mayo's most significant oral heritage collections and an irreplaceable part of the county's Irish-language heritage for the future.

This event is part of a project supported under the Heritage Council's grants programme in 2026.