Minister launches country's first community archive in the internet

Oughterard was chosen by the National Museum of Ireland as the first community on the state to pilot their Community Archiving Project.

The Oughterard Culture and Heritage Group in partnership with the National Museum of Ireland launched their community archive on Thursday night at the Oughterard VEC.

Guest of honour was Minister Eamon Ó Cúiv.

A large crowd attended and enjoyed an evening of shared memories prompted by a wonderful display exhibiting a photographic panorama of the town.

Linked with historic images, the collection of images and memories, video and folklore will be accessible on the internet at the end of July following a demonstration period for the local community.

The archive was created in partnership with the National Museum of Ireland’s centre at Turlough, Castlebar and it is hoped to encourage and facilitate groups across the country to establish their own community archive for the internet.

Minister Ó Cúiv, in his speech emphasized the importance of Heritage, which he stated was the number one reason visitors coming to Ireland and that recording heritage and culture at a local level was vital.

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