West Cork Oral Heritage Project (WCOH) is an independent, voluntary, not-for-profit community-based organisation set up to record and preserve the memories of West Cork’s past for the future. WCOH aims to tell the story of West Cork through its oral history and folklore, by recording, documenting, and archiving the memories, experiences, customs, traditions, music, songs and practices of the area from the local people’s own perspective, for the benefit of all.
– A Brief History By Colum Cronin (Co-Founder of WCOH)
LEFT: A WCOH Training workshop in oral history skills, held in Dunmanway in 2014. This was one of our first collective sessions.
Having always had a lively interest in recording voices of all ages, I did some recordings on cassette tapes. Then I used Mini Disks, then Solid State Digital
recorders. I had a notion of forming a group for years but I needed support. While attending a WCDP Heritage Course in the Celtic Ross Hotel during the Spring of 2011, I met Adrian Roche. He told me that he was involved with the Oral History Network of Ireland(OHNI) and had done many recordings. I asked him if he would be interested in setting up a West Cork Oral History group with me and he said yes!
We discussed this at various times, in early 2011. In an effort to gather as much relevant information as possible on the subject of oral history recording, I contacted Críostoír Mac Cárthaigh, Head Archivist of the National Folklore Collection and made an appointment to meet with him. This we did on 25th February 2011 in UCD.
Our Collections
As of late 2024, the WCOH Collection consists of thirty-nine digitally recorded
interviews with forty-five interviewees, born between the approximate years of 1916 and 1950. The collection contains material collected according to two broad themes/projects. 1916 Collection – focused on connections to the Easter Rising in West Cork. Life Story Recordings which focuses on the memory and tradition of older people in the Dunmanway and Bandon
OUTREACH – WCOH and the Community
West Cork benefits from several highly knowledgeable and committed stakeholder community groups who share a passion for local history, heritage and culture in the area and broader Cork. In many cases, the groups have produced material in their area of interest on websites and publicised oral heritage in social media.
Creating a Resource for West Cork
For many of our interviews, our Volunteers have created verbatim transcripts in addition to a general index of each recording. Since 2023, we have begun (with the help of the Cork Folklore Project) the generation of Interview Resource forms (sometimes called abstracts) for each recording. This process will create a summarised log which breaks the interview up according to themes and subjects explored. As a research tool, the abstract should lead the researcher back to the original verbalized account and so encourage an engagement with the voice. However, unless the Interview Resource Form is sufficiently detailed, aspects being sought out by researchers may be missed.
Increase Awareness & Engagement in WCOH Resource
To protect and enhance oral heritage in West Cork, it is necessary to ensure its management is based on a shared understanding of its value and importance. The WCOH Group have a key role in enhancing the public’s understanding, awareness, and appreciation of West Cork’s oral heritage. The WCOH Group accept they are not the only body with this responsibility and, recognises as central, the need to engage other stakeholders. To achieve this, the group must ensure that expertise, knowledge, skills and resources are accessible to those who need it, and to develop positive approaches to increased engagement and understanding of West Cork’s oral heritage.
Partnership with Cork Folklore Project/University College Cork
Critically, Mac Conmara Heritage Consulting worked closely with WCOH on a restructuring plan for the group which will now see it partner with the UCC Department of Folklore and Ethnology through its public-facing initiative, the Cork Folklore Project.
This new and exciting partnership will follow a consolidation of the WCOH Collection and its preparation to be integrated into the CFP Collection (as a backup to its primary location in West Cork). This addresses issues relating to digital preservation, archiving and dissemination.
Partnership Agreement with CFP/UCC
- WCOH material will be preserved as part of the permanent public resource of
the CFP, as a joint repository, operating common usage policies. - WCOH will retain its own independent identity in West Cork and will operate
its own collection programme, with the support of CFP. - The Department of Folklore and Ethnology at UCC will offer ongoing training and mentoring to WCOH as a partner organization.
- Agreement with UCC Insurance Provider to cover Volunteers within WCOH
- Agreement with Cork Volunteer Centre to centralize Garda Vetting for WCOH volunteers within CFP administration.
- Long-term preservation plan: CFP as the partnering repository brings with it
the capacity to accept the interview materials and will attend to the long-term preservation of the objects. - WCOH will work with CFP towards interoperability through the
organization of all files and the documentation of technical, descriptive,
structural and administrative (including technical) metadata. - Access: A joint agreement will be agreed about who can access the collection, how it is made accessible, as well as future duplication and dissemination of the interview material.
Volunteer Coordination
The Partnership between CFP and WCOH will be underpinned by a planned
Volunteer recruitment campaign. Training will be provided by CFP and UCC
to WCOH Volunteers.