The fifth issue of the Archive, the journal of the Northside Folklore Project in Cork, has been published.
Again it proves the value of the FAS funded project which is run by Northside Community Enterprises Ltd in partnership with Bealoideas/Folklore and Ethnology, UCC.
The editor is folklorist Mr Stephen Hunter, who has campaigned quietly but insistently for the preservation of some of Cork's un-remembered but great period houses which are being destroyed in the name of progress.
Folklore in the rural parts of the State has been well served. Not so, the rich vein that remains to be tapped in the urban setting.
The project team of 11 researchers is trying to redress this and has compiled an impressive archive at its offices in the old Sunbeam mill in Cork.
Last December, Life Journeys: Living Folklore in Ireland Today was published with the support of the Heritage Council and was well received.
It contained 27 interviews with people from the north side of Cork of different ages and backgrounds, spanning memories from the last days of British rule to the present time.
The current edition looks at Knocknanuss House, near Blackpool, and its historical associations with the fabled Scottish warrior, Alasdair MacCiolla Ciotach MacDonald (Colkitto).
The project team is now working on the creation of an interactive database that will be available on the Internet, offering excerpts of sound and video recordings as well as photo graphs. Work is still in progress. The results will be worth watching and the design for the site may be seen at: www.ucc.ie/ucc/research/nfp/