Musical Memories – Echoes from Longford 2024. Building a Connected Community Through Music

Description

This project is a heartfelt and creative collaboration between Co:worx Edgeworthstown, Creative Ireland, Longford Libraries and Age Friendly. Led by co:worx, the goal was to capture and share the personal stories of Longford musicians and the impact of music on their lives. This initiative bridges generational gaps and brings creativity into our remote working hub.
Co:worx strives to inspire and empower our community. While they usually focus on business connections, this collaboration with some incredibly talented musicians from Longford and Longford County Council is a new way of connecting with our local community. Together, we created “Musical Memories – Echoes from Longford”. This was the first in many other collaborations with Longford County Council. Co:worx were part of the local committee led by Longford County Council that provided the venue the National Famine Commemoration Day on behalf of the hosts – the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The Beginning –
The idea for this project began during Longford Fleadh 2023 which was hosted in Edgeworthstown. Sean Marshall, Brendan Daly, and Mary Marshall recorded some traditional Irish tunes at co:worx recording studio. Mary, who had returned home from Australia for the Fleadh, was joined by her husband Darren Heathcote, who was using co:worx as a base. We decided it would be wonderful to record their musical talents, and the “Musical Memories” project was born from this seed. This recording was sent to the Age Friendly Longford team who sough funding from Creative Ireland for the project.

Bringing Musicians Together – Our aim was to create a digital archive of Longford musicians from across the county.
There were certain criteria for the selection of Musicians- must be over 55, live and play music in Longford, a variety of instruments were needed to show the variety of talent in the county and a recommendation from a fellow musician in the county. Sean Marshall was our first musician and he recommended a number of the participants.
The project features Sean Marshall (Flute), Jimmy Whelan (Accordion), Mary Brady (Fiddle), Noel Sweeney (Fiddle & Saxophone), Olive Kilbane (Fiddle & Singing), Bernardine Farrelly (Harp), Michael Owens (Guitar), and Brendan Daly (Keyboards).

A Day of Music and Stories – On April 20th, 2024, Co:worx hosted a fantastic day, bringing together these eight musicians to share their music and stories. Jimmy Connell (Jimmy Jests) interviewed each musician, while Lee Williamson from Shuttermanic Productions filmed the event and music sessions. Clare Frances Photography captured beautiful portraits of the musicians with their beloved instruments.
The musicians were broken into groups and there was a different activity at each session.
The day concluded with an impromptu ceilí and a delightful lunch, and the musicians also visited the Maria Edgeworth Centre.

Celebrating Musical Memories – On the evening of June 18th, friends and families gathered at Edgeworthstown Library to watch the short film “Musical Memories – Echoes from Longford April 2024.” Longford County Manager Paddy Mahon presented each musician with a presentation box with a copy of the film and their portraits. It was a joyous evening, filled with lively music and community spirit. This film will be shown to other active retirement groups and the Older Person Council when they are back in session.
A presentation box was presented to the Longford Archives to be added to their catalogue.

Aim of Initiative

The goal was to capture and share the personal stories of Longford musicians and the impact of music on their lives.
Create a digital music archive for future generations in terms of family history and musical links
Celebrate the musicians while in good health and shared their memories (a member of the group has been diagnosed with dementia)
The preservation of the musical ability of older generation in Longford.

Who is it aimed at

The current and future communities in Longford.
The Archives service and their current and future researchers of both music and family history
Older Musicians to participate

3 Steps critical to success

1. The selection of the musicians. Having the criteria was hugely important and the recommendations was great because the musician all wanted to play a tune together.
2. The selection of the venue, interviewer, filmography and the photographer. We needed to select people that the musicians felt comfortable with. The aim was to preserve everyone in their natural state. Jimmy Jest is a local celebrity and was known to all the musicians. Lee is a film maker and meet up with the musician before the event in co:worx so everyone got to know each other. Clare Francis is a local photographer and she spent time with each of the musicians to got to know them and their instrument.
3. The editing of the film and its content. This was very important to capture each of the personality of the musicians and their performances.
   The final presentation and viewing of the film with invited family and family was also a big event for all the musicians. They were delighted that Paddy Mahon, the Chief Executive of Longford County Council was available to do the presentations of the USB key and the individual portraits.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. The selection of the musicians in Longford. It was important that we used the criteria, however without the recommendation of the other musicians, this project would not be possible.
2. One of the members of the group has just been diagnosed with dementia. So it was important for them to feel safe. Some of the members have different health issues so we just needed to ensure that they felt comfortable in their co:worx space and in the town.
3. The editing process for the film- there was a lot of coverage and selecting the pieces that works best with each other

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. The creation the digital musical archives. The preservation of the memories, the connections to the past – a lot of musicians mentioned their parents and events in the past
2. The celebration of the musical talents of the older generation in Longford
3. The partnership of co:worx a community remote working hub, the council, Age friendly, Longford, local community and Creative Ireland. This was a successful collaboration and can be a pathway for future projects