Nótaí / Notes

thiarwest:

ThiarWest (a sonic play on “hear west,” “here west,” and a doubling-up on the word “west” itself) is an exhibit of material collected in and around what Tim Robinson has called “The ABC” —Aran, Burren, Connemara— curated by Dr. Carolann Madden. The exhibit began as part of a Fulbright grant to the James Hardiman Library Archives at NUI Galway in 2019.

While conceived of under the auspices of the Fulbright, this exhibit will continue to grow as more tales are transcribed, and as further related materials are processed and uploaded. ThiarWest should be thought of as a living exhibit and one to which you can contribute, if you so choose, by getting in touch.

A note about the text on this site:

Tales appearing in this exhibit were collected in the early 20th century in and around Galway County, specifically the Aran Islands and Connemara. All transcribed text has been transcribed as closely as possible to the original with minimal standardisation or correction. Tales have been translated by both Dr. Heinrich Becker and the curator. And finally, apart from the tales that were recorded in Irish, you will notice smatterings of Irish around this exhibit. The Irish here is being included intuitively by an Irish language learner. Suggestions and corrections are welcome [bosca moltaí]. And for those unfamiliar with Irish, there are many useful sources online, including teanglann.ie and focloir.ie.

A Note for Living Relatives:

If you are the living relative of anyone featured on this site —in text, image, or video— and would like more information on these materials please feel free to ask. I am happy to provide copies of images or text, and to request permission to provide you with relevant clips of video footage. Additionally, if you would like materials related to your relative removed from this exhibit, please don’t hesitate reach out immediately.

Nota Bene:

While there is an element of ‘the mythic past’ to much of the material in this exhibit, at the heart of this project are the lives of real people who lived in real places. Places where people still live, and work, and pull supper together in a hurry on a weeknight. Places that, in fact, are often under served, and are —especially in the case of the islands off of Ireland’s west coast— currently under threat as sea levels rise. As much as we value their past, may those of us who do not belong to these communities make an effort to value their present, as well.