What was it like to grow up without a mobile phone - or any telephone? Or to live through war? An ambitious biography project lets students find out first hand, reports John Holden.
How did Dickie Rock become Ireland's Elvis? Try to imagine your town without cars, or living without a landline telephone, never mind a mobile. What was life like during the second World War? We've all read about that kind of thing in history books, but there's no better way to get a feel for the past than by speaking with someone who was there.
Friends of the Elderly has come up with a new way to get transition-year students talking to some of Ireland's most interesting octogenarians - and, through its Life and Times project, compiling their memoirs. A pair of them meet an elderly person and, through interviews, compile his or her biography. History nuts will love the module, as it gives them the chance to learn about the past first hand, in a way that could never be possible simply by reading about it.
The charity is running the programme with St Paul's CBS on North Brunswick Street in Dublin, which featured in RTÉ's School Around the Corner. (If you don't know what that is, ask someone over 25.)
Gary Murphy, a student at the school, met 89-year-old Seán McGuinness. "He grew up in Cabra but lives in Glasnevin now," says Gary. "He is a really cheerful man and plays the saxophone in a group called the Bolton Street Band. They are the oldest boy band in Ireland. He used to play in showbands at all the ballroom dances, which were very popular in those days. He was a very successful musician.
"When he was my age, though, things were pretty different. They had no money. At Christmas all you'd get was a lollipop. He thinks young people take everything for granted these days. But we still have some things in common. He grew up with eight brothers and one sister, and he was very protective of her. I've three sisters, and I'm the same with them."
Gary was not the only biographer to find that he had more in common with his interviewee than he would have imagined. "I met a 76-year-old man called Tommy Fox," says Juljano Kapllani. "He was great craic, a really interesting person. He told us all about growing up during the second World War. He used to play games with his friends in war shelters that I still play now - skipping, football and marbles."
Fifteen-year-old Craig Lawrence, who also spoke with Fox, learned about an instrument the likes of which he had never heard of. "Tommy plays the bones," says Craig. "He holds them in his hands and hits them off each other like spoons. I'd never seen anything like it. I guess people don't play them any more."
So would the students prefer to live in Ireland 70 years ago or now? "People had a lot less in those days," says Gareth Kilkenny. "I think I'd prefer to live now, as back then they had nothing, really - no shops, no good clothes, no heating. Still, they sound like they had great times, and they are very happy now."
The students admit that, when they first went to meet the elderly people, they were apprehensive and not very excited. But they all came back with big smiles on their faces. Now they've all decided to start sending their interviewees birthday and Christmas cards each year.
"It is important to hang out with elderly people," says Gareth. "Many of them who have family living nearby are still spending too much time alone. That's why they end up having to contact Friends of the Elderly."
Dermot Kirwan of the charity started the programme as a response to the growing number of calls the organisation was receiving from lonely older people.
"The elderly are being forgotten about," says Kirwan. "We get too many calls from people saying they haven't seen anyone for days, even though their family might be living nearby. The improved communication and transport infrastructure in Ireland should make it easier for us to spend time with our family and friends, but people are just too busy. As people get older, mobility gets harder; plus, many of their friends and neighbours may themselves become housebound, end up in hospital or pass away. This leads to increased isolation."
The Life and Times project should help, he says. "Students will get to learn about the past, and the elderly will have some company. We hope that all TY schools will take up the scheme. In fact, some co-ordinators have already been doing their own version.
"For newer Irish citizens, whose grandparents might not have lived in Ireland, we encourage them to talk to their parents about their grandparents' lives and have another student in the class record them. This gives the scheme an international flair, which is always more interesting for students.
"We've heard about the life of one Romanian participant whose grandfather spent the whole of the second World War in a concentration camp, and another student, from Ethiopia, whose grandparents went on death marches. These kinds of stories, gruesome as they are, are fascinating for younger people."
Participants make four copies of the biography, one of which will go into Friends of the Elderly's national biography archive. Then, in years to come, people will be able to use this store of oral, or spoken, history to learn about the past.
"It could turn out to be a very valuable resource," says Kirwan. "I believe everyone should have a biography written about them. We all have a story worth telling."
REELING IN THE YEARS
HOW MUCH HAS LIFE CHANGED IN THE PAST 20 YEARS?
• In 1936, the population of Ireland was 2,968,420 (1,520,454 males and 1,447,966 females). Today it is 4,239,848 (2,121,171 males and 2,118,677 females).
• In 1936 Ireland had 522,839 15- to 24-year-olds. Today that figure is closer to 650,000.
• In 1936 the average household consisted of 4.31 people. In 2006 it was 2.81. So even though the population is growing, families are shrinking.
• In 1950 the Garda recorded 12,231 indictable offences, compared with 101,659 in 2005.
• In 1926 men could expect to live to the age of 57 and women to 58. The average expectancy today is 75 for men and 80 for women.
• In 1936 749.9mm of rain was recorded in Phoenix Park; In 2006 the total was 718.3mm.
LIVING HISTORY
Oral historians gather information by interviewing survivors of the time or event being investigated. There are two main methods: qualitative (long, detailed interviews with a small number of people) and quantitative (less detailed interviews with more people).
As conventional historians generally rely on written sources - newspapers, books, legal journals, letters and so on - they are likely to overlook some of the information that oral historians collect. Most Irish history, for example, particularly of the 18th and 19th centuries, refers to political figures and organisations. Oral records can give us crucial insights into social history, focusing less on dates and events and more on people: how they lived, worked, dressed, travelled, communicated and enjoyed themselves, among other things. It also looks at people's traditions, how they regarded their natural environment and what they thought about love, marriage and sex.
All this and much more helps to shed light on areas that are neglected by official history. Not that conventional historical methods aren't important. But official and oral histories complement each other.
Take the IRA. Knowing the events of the Troubles is well and good, but what did people on the ground think? Did the IRA have the support of local people? How did the communities feel? What effect did the Troubles have on individual families? Official history tends to leave out ordinary people's views.
Sometimes, local events that might have been recorded only orally can give official historians new insights into more important issues, such as a murder, disappearance or shipwreck. Oral history can also record events in people's lives that have a value outside of history or academia. TY students can collect oral history on topics that will give us insights into the present as well as the past.
If you are interested in learning more about oral history, the most comprehensive collection of interviews in Ireland is at UCD Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore, University College Dublin, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. For an introduction to the centre, see www.ucd.ie/folklore.
Contact Dermot Kirwan at Friends of the Elderly for more; call 01-8731855 or e-mail dkirwan@friendsoftheelderly.ie
