What is the Cork Folklore Project sound archive?
The Cork Folklore Project (CFP) has been working since 1996 to carry out recorded interviews about life in Cork, past and present. Our goal is to preserve your memories and stories, expressed in your words, and spoken in your voice, in our archive of over 700 interviews. We record and preserve this material so that community members and researchers are able to access the rich culture and history of the people of Cork, now and for years to come. Part of our ongoing work at the CFP is to share some of the wonderful stories that we collect. We do this in a wide variety of formats, including our annual journal, The Archive, our online storymap, the Cork Memory Map (www.corkmemorymap.org) and our website. Over the years we have also produced books, films and a radio series.
Who are our interviewees?
We are interested in memories of everyday life, from “the old days” to the present. Our interviews include accounts of childhood games, migration, working life and pastimes: from bingo to bowling, from Rory Gallagher to Roy Keane, and from grocery shopping to ghosts. Our interviewees include teenagers and centenarians, stonemasons and tinsmiths, Northsiders and Nigerians, singers and shopkeepers: we are interested in hearing about, and documenting, any and all experiences for this community archive. If you would like to tell your story or know someone whose memories should be recorded, we would be happy to hear from you. Just give us a call, drop in or send us an email.
If you do a face-to-face interview with us, what will happen to it?
1. Interviewees are asked to sign a consent form that gives us permission to deposit the material in our collection, and allows the interviewee to define the conditions of deposit.
2. We save the sound recording of your interview at the CFP. We will also make a digital or CD copy of the interview for you to keep.
3. We give your interview a unique number so we can keep track of it at all times.
4. We generate an archival description and interview log.
5. We make a summary of your interview, which includes a description of what you spoke about and a short biographical note about you based on the information you have chosen to share with us.
We enter some information about your interview, including the interview summary and an audio extract from the interview, in our online catalogue. We do not share information such as your contact details or full date of birth.The entry in our catalogue will include:•
The title we have given your interview
[Fictional example: “Interview with Mary Murphy: Sunbeam, Murphy’s Rock, and First Holy Communion.”]•
The summary description of your interview A list of the topics covered in the interview• A sound excerpt from your interview that people can listen to.
A list of the topics covered in the interview
A sound excerpt from your interview that people can listen to.