Oral Video Project

‘To record for posterity Irish immigrants’ individual unique stories’

The Irish Oral Video Project of Feile is looking for grant writers, videographers, film editors, production assistants and distribution experts to assist us in our latest project:

The story of Ireland is in the experiences of its people in Ireland and America.  When the Irish arrived in America, they adopted their new country, but rarely at the expense of their homeland.  The Irish banded together in churches, social clubs, dance halls, Hibernian clubs, cultural institutions, sports fields, and other places to keep alive their love of their homeland, and to preserve for future generations, the language, music, literature, drama, dance, sports, traditions, and experiences that define what it means to be Irish.

To accomplish the project we began by interviewing and recording the native Irish born members of the Gaelic American Club. Their individual stories, each of which is unique in many ways, at the same time are part of a larger story, the story of how they came to be in America and what they left behind.

We began the project by professionally filming interviews with fifty-six individuals, resulting in approximately seventy hours of unedited footage.  Each person interviewed graciously shared their own unique emigration story with remembrances, feelings, thoughts and insights.  In the coming months, we plan to film additional interviews.

These interviews will be used as a learning YouTube channel, where students of Irish history can access them.

We seek assistance with combining these interviews into narrated documentary films, as well as distributing these films to academic and cultural organizations.

For additional information, or to volunteer, contact Peg at opeggy0812@gmail.com.