In February 2012, the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht supported us in the compilation of an oral history collection of interviews relating to the Irish 1916 Rising. This project was launched by Minister Jimmy Deenihan at Dublin Castle on 13th November 2013. A further 134 recordings have since been added to this collection with the children, grandchildren and other close relatives of the people central to events at Easter 1916. The complete 1916 Rising Oral History Collection comprising 245 recordings, with an accompanying 240 page catalogue, was presented by President Michael D. Higgins at the National Library on January 21 2016. Valuable historical and personal information can now be accessed through this oral history collection.
Participants within this oral history collection include:
– Fr Joseph Mallin, son of Michael Mallin. Fr Mallin is the last surviving child of an executed leader of 1916, and he was recorded in Hong Kong;
– John Connolly, grandson of James Connolly;
– Count Eoghan and Seóirse Plunkett, nephews of Joseph Mary Plunkett;
– Harry Boland and Eileen Barrington, children of Gerald Boland and nephew and niece of Harry Boland;
– Risteárd Mulcahy, son of Richard Mulcahy;
– Alf MacLochlainn, half grand-nephew of Patrick Pearse;
– Fr Éanna Henderson, son of Frank Henderson;
– Sr Íde Woulfe, niece of Con Colbert;
– Edward Daly O’Sullivan, nephew of Ned Daly;
– Eileen Quinn, niece of Tomás Ashe;
– Máire Brugha, daughter of Terence MacSwiney;
– Attracta Maher and Sr Joanna Brennan-Whitmore, daughters of William J. Brennan-Whitmore;
– Dr Garrett FitzGerald, son of Desmond FitzGerald;
– Dermot Lynch, son of Fionan Lynch;
– Pádraig McCartan, son of Patrick McCartan;
– Camilla Mitchell, daughter of Bulmer Hobson;
– Maureen Haughey, daughter of Seán Lemass;
– Proinsias Ó Rathaille, grandson of The O’Rahilly;
– Dorothea Findlater, daughter of Captain Henry de Courcy-Wheeler who took the surrender of many of the leaders of the Rising in Dublin;
– Lucille Redmond, grand-daughter of Thomas McDonagh;
– Liam Cosgrave, son of W. T. Cosgrave;
– Pádraig Thornton, son of Frank Thornton.
*Also included in the oral history collection are some early interviews of central figures in the Rising. These recordings were donated to the project by their families, who also generously contributed many historical documents and photographs.
The full 1916 Rising Oral History Collection, on sale for €1,350, comprises the following:
- 245 digitised recordings on DVD or USB key
- 240 page (hard-copy or digitised) catalogue detailing each interview
- CD of sounclips from the recordings
The 1916 Rising Oral History Collection Catalogue & Soundclips CD can be purchased separately for €30.
Browse the individual recordings in the collection here
