Sir, – While Irish Protestants are well represented among Ireland’s earlier folklore collectors in the Republic of Ireland, Irish Protestant cultural history is not as well represented in the archives of the National Folklore Collection as that of the Catholic community. To help address this deficiency, the National Folklore Collection is appealing to Irish people of Protestant descent to respond to a questionnaire that sets out to document Irish Protestant folk memory.
Documenting the different ways in which Irish Protestants have historically engaged with, and contributed to, Irish public life, in the social, cultural and economic spheres, will add significantly to our understanding of the depth and breadth of Irish folklore.
In light of this decade of centenaries, collecting information on these traditions is particularly worthwhile. The social and political upheavals of the early 20th century profoundly affected the lives of many families, presenting challenges with respect to their sense of national identity and historic allegiance.
We would like to invite members of Protestant communities, and people of Protestant descent, throughout the Republic of Ireland to contact the National Folklore Collection to request a copy of a questionnaire it has drafted. We can be reached at ucd.ie/irishfolklore, by email at bealoideas@ucd.ie, by phone at (01) 716 8216, or at the address below. – Yours, etc,
Dr CRÍOSTÓIR
Mac CÁRTHAIGH,
Director,
Dr DEIRDRE NUTTALL,
Research Associate,
National Folklore
Collection,
John Henry Newman
Building,
University College Dublin,
Belfield,
Dublin 4.