A People’s History of Dún-Laoghaire Rathdown

Description

The need for a comprehensive county-wide oral history project was identified during the consultation process for the dlr County Heritage Plan 2021-2025. An Action Area within the Plan – “The Voices of Place” – included the ambition to “record, curate and share the county’s oral history” and to “explore potential collaborations with UCD’s National Folklore Collection” which is located within Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.

While oral history collection has traditionally focused on rural communities, the scale of social, economic and physical changes that occurred in our county within living memory warranted a significant programme to record and share the experience of living here through the late 19th and full scope of the 20th century.

Between 2021 and 2024, the People’s History of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown programme, was devised and delivered by the dlr Heritage Office and lead Researcher Deirdre Nuttall, in partnership with the UCD National Folklore Collection. An initial pilot programme of 50 interviewees was carried out and the proven methodology was then rolled out over the following 18 months.

Funding was received from the Decade of Centenaries programme and the Heritage Council of Ireland. By the end of the process, 268 interviews of between 60 and 90 minutes duration (in Irish and English) were recorded, transcribed with theme headings, and are now bound and archived (along with a finder’s guide) in the National Folklore Collection. We interviewed equal numbers of men and women and focused on the experience of ordinary working families whose experiences may not appear in the historical record.

During 2023, Deirdre Nuttall was commissioned to write an accessible and academically rigorous book based on the oral history project including photo research. The book was launched in October 2024 and the interviewee contributors to the project were honoured with a celebration lunch in the Talbot Hotel. Other project outputs have included the delivery of two academic papers – The Long Shadow, on aspects of the project at the American Conference for Irish Studies in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and the Galway Conference of Irish Studies, University of Galway in 2024, a talk on the experiences of domestic servants and World War 1 veterans in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in the dlr Lexicon as part of the Dublin Festival of History, a talk for a local branch of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, and two workshops on Oral History as part of the Southside Partnership/HSE/Creative Ireland social prescribing Creative Café sessions in dlr Lexicon and Deansgrange library.

Aim of Initiative

The people of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown have a distinctive, nuanced, and multi-faceted story to tell.  The interviews comprised a sufficient volume of work to enable a picture of a society through time to emerge. Contributors represented a wide socio-economic, denominational, and political spectrum with urban, suburban, and rural perspectives. The project started with an emphasis on collecting material from demographics that are often under-represented in histories of the area, and this has ambition has been achieved. We have also succeeded in interviewing approximately equal numbers of men and women by prioritising women at the start of the process.

The book based on the interviews includes new insights into people’s working lives, women’s lives, how participation in both World War 1 and the War of Independence/Civil War was navigated during and afterwards (many dlr families/neighbourhoods participated in both), the extremes of wealth and poverty in the area, the impact of social housing, food production and industry, working life in the mountains, the experiences of Travellers, the experience of members of the Diaspora, and the experiences of families from varying backgrounds and women during the foundation of the state and up to the second half of the 20th century.

Who is it aimed at

The interviewees in the first instance, and thereafter, their families and descendants, Irish and international researchers with an interest in the social history of Ireland now and into the future, and the broader community of dlr, Dublin, Ireland and the Diaspora.

3 Steps critical to success

1. The partnership with an UNESCO recognised Archive, the National Folklore Collection, was critical for their expert advisory role and the knowledge that the outputs of the programme would be professionally archived and searchable/available to researchers long into the future.
2. The first call outs for participants emphasized the focus on women, working families (listing the potential areas of interest e.g. quarrying, maritime and agricultural sectors, shopkeeping, domestic staff, outside staff, homemakers etc.). This ensured a broad range of interviewees reflecting experiences that may not be already in the public record.
3. The continuity of the lead researcher from initiation, through the interviews, to the production of the final outputs of the programme brought a richness and depth to the programme and ensured that all participants were put at ease during the interview process.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. The early stages of the project were carried out during Covid and all relevant precautions and limitations were followed.
2. The transcription of the interviews involved working with seven different transcribers simultaneously.
3. Funding for a multi-annual project – new applications were made each year.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. 268 oral history interviews recorded, transcribed (with theme headings), bound and archived, reflecting the breadth of experience of living through the 20th century in a rapidly changing county
2. A book, published by Eastwood Books which presents these experience in an accessible manner available in bookshops.
3. Two academic papers, five community presentations, a module for a heritage course.