Schoolchildren to be asked to record stories and traditions in their communities for new project

Education Minister Norma Foley said the aim of the project was to give children the opportunity to play an active and leading role in capturing and preserving the rich stories, traditions and histories of their communities for generations to come. File Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Schoolchildren are to be asked for their views on life today as part of a new folklore initiative, almost 90 years after the original project.

Similar to the ground-breaking Irish Folklore Commission project, students will be asked to gather information about their locality, speak to elderly relatives about their lives, and record their own experiences of life today.

The original schools project gathered 500,000 pages of handwritten oral history, folktales and legends, riddles and proverbs, games and pastimes, trades and crafts from more than 50,000 pupils in 5,000 schools across the State between 1937 and 1939.

Announcing the project, Education Minister Norma Foley said schools and students would be able to use modern technology, such as audio or video as part of the project. However, children will also be encouraged to provide handwritten documents, just like the original scheme.

The project will be carried out with the National Folklore Collection and UCD Library and will be open to all of the country's 4,000 primary, post-primary and special schools.

The aim of the project will be to give children the opportunity to play an active and leading role in capturing and preserving the rich stories, traditions and histories of their communities for generations to come, Ms Foley said.

In so doing, they will follow in the footsteps of previous generations in building on the work of the ground-breaking Dúchas project undertaken by more than 50,000 children across the State in the 1930s.

The full details of the project have yet to be agreed with schools, but it is intended it will begin in early 2025.

"Following consultation with schools and teachers, it is intended that the project would see students in every part of the country gather stories and insights into local traditions from their areas for hosting in a national archive which will allow us as a society to continue sharing cultural values, knowledge and collective memory from one generation to another," Ms Foley said.

Turning her attention to the budget, Ms Foley said an extension of the free books scheme would be one of her key priorities.