This article is from page 21 of the 2012-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
THE quest to reclaim the memory of one of Ireland’s foremost storytellers and social historians begins this weekend in Kilbaha with a lecture on the life of Bríd Ui Choisteala – the blind storyteller of West Clare.
Bríd, who was recorded by Tadgh Ó Murchú on behalf of the Irish Folklore Commission in the 1930s and 1940s, was once recognised as one of the finest tradition-bearers in Ireland. However, over the last number of decades, Bríd Uí Choisteala has largely fallen from social memory.
Cuimhneamh an Chláir, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Group, will host a public lecture in Kilbaha Community Hall this Friday, March 9, to remember Bríd and her work.
“Women can be fantastic bearers of tradition but often dismiss themselves and fade into the background. In our collection of work, we have made every effort to ensure that the memories of Clare’s older women are documented and added to our archive and have been privileged with some of the memories and stories we’ve documented from women in Clare,” said Tomás Mac Conmara of Cuimhneamh an Chláir.
“The case of Bríd Uí Choisteala is a sad example of how, over time, these great storytellers can be largely forgotten outside of their native area.”
Last year, Cuimhneamh an Chláir produced an outreach project called Faces of Folklore, which featured Seamus Ó Duilearga, Stiofán Ó hÉalaoire and Bríd Uí Choisteala.
“We highlighted in Faces of Folk
lore that, in a picture
of Bríd Uí Choi
steala taken in the
1930s, she had been
reduced in the cap
tion to the blind wife
of Mr Costelloe,”
continued Tomás.
“We wanted to ad
dress this terrible
reduction and it re
ally seems to have
struck a chord with
people across Clare.
We received a lot of
interest in the storyteller over the following moths and so decided to arrange a public lecture in her honour in her native place of Kilbaha. In fact, the lecture takes place in the very building she went to school in the late 1800s.”
Cuimhneamh an Chláir have spent a number of days in the Kilbaha area, gathering local traditions about Bríd Uí Choisteala and are anxious to meet with any other people who may remember her from their childhood or have heard any information about her.