Friday, November 30, 2012

Audio of Recent Interviews with Éamon de Buitléar

Éamon de Buitléar with researcher Micheál Holmes

Rinne taighdeoir de chuid an tionscadail – Micheál Holmes – an obair chomhthéacsaithe le hÉamon de Buitléar ina theach cónaithe i nDeilgne, Contae Chill Mhantáin, idir Meitheamh agus Iúil 2012.

Roghnaíodh ceithre mhír éagsúla le léiriu níos doimhne a thabhairt dúinn ar chúlra Éamoin - a óige agus a mhuintir; na postanna éagsúla a bhí aige; an grá a thug sé don dúlra; tábhacht na Gaeilge ina shaol; a chuid ceannródaíochta i gcúrsaí craoltóireachta - idir raidío agus theilifís agus an tionchar cinniúnach a d’imir sé ar fhorbairt an cheoil dúchais le Ceoltóirí Chualann agus Ceoltóirí Laighean.



Between June and July 2012, the researcher, Micheál Holmes, worked closely with Éamon de Buitléar in his home, contextualising his work.

From this research four tracks were chosen to provide a more in-depth knowledge into Eamon’s life. These were: his youth and his parents; his career; his love of nature; the importance of Irish in his life; his leadership in broadcasting – radio and television; and his influence on traditional music with Ceoltóirí Chualann and Ceoltóirí Laighean




Mír a hAon: Óige Éamoin de Buitléar Fad = 4.42

Tógadh Éamon de Buitléar i dteach taobh leis an Deargail i gContae Chill Mhantáin agus chuir sé eolas, ina óige, ar na héisc agus ar na hainmhithe ar bhruach na habhann sin. Bhíodh peataí dá chuid féin aige chomh maith.




Mír a Dó: Amuigh Faoin Spéir Fad = 4.59

Píosa gairid faoi Amuigh Faoin Spéir, clár teilifíse a bhí mar chuid thábhachtach de sceideal RTÉ ar feadh na mblianta. Éamon féin agus Gerrit Van Gelderen, ón Ísiltír, is mó a d’oibrigh ar an tsraith. Tugadh léiritheoir d’fhoireann Amuigh Faoin Spéir i dtús ama ach is cosúil nach raibh mórán cur amach aige ar an dúlra. Is mar seo a chuaigh Éamon agus Gerrit i mbun pleanála ar an tsraith.




Mír a Trí: Ceoltóiri Chualann Fad = 4.21

Bhí post ag Éamon i siopa mór le rá ar Shráid an Dáma i mBaile Átha Cliath tráth. Dhéantaí earraí spóirt agus iascaireachta den uile chineál a dhíol i Hely’s. Lá amháin tháinig an fear gafa gléasta isteach chuige ag iarraidh gunna a cheannacht uaidh.

D’aithin Eamon ainm an té seo nuair a shínigh an stráinséir na cáipéisí riachtanacha le gránghunna a cheannacht – Seán Ó Riada a bhí ann. D’fhás cairdeas eadarthu ó tharla gur chuireadar beirt suim sna rudaí céanna.




Mír a Ceathair: Reacaireacht an Riadaigh Fad = 4.34

Sa bhliain 1961 chuir Seán Ó Riada ceolchoirm stairiúil ar bun a bhainfeadh caint nach beag amach ina dhiaidh sin. Bhí maithe agus móruaisle na tíre i láthair agus bhí ról fíor-thábhachtach agus lárnach ón tús ag Éamon maidir le heagar a chur ar imeachtaí na hoíche sin. Thuig an Riadach gur thug Éamon bua na peannaireachta leis óna óige.



Éamon de Buitléar - Recorded at home


Éamon de Buitléar speaks about some aspects of his life’s work - and about the audio tapes, film reels, videotapes, documents, books and equipment which he is donating to NUI -Galway. In these short audio clips Éamon outlines some of the work he has done and his satisfaction that his personal archive will remain intact and in Ireland. ( Recorded by Mícheál Holmes.)





In this excerpt Éamon speaks about recorded sound, scripts of radio programmes from the fifties and sixties – Ceoltóirí Chualann and Ceóltóirí Laighean- connections to the Gaeltacht

and his reluctance to export this archival material. He is pleased that NUIG is taking the entire contents to make it available to the younger generation.




His reason for keeping the film material was because it became a useful working archive for him.

He was careful to preserve tapes sent to him by Seán Ó Ríada and details here the use to which they were originally put. Éamon says that Irish traditional music was not as widely heard in the 50’s and early 60’s so de devised a story Lúidín Mac Lú where Paddy Moloney would play the tin whistle as an integral part of the live transmission so that children would become familiar with the instrument.

His contentment that the archive material will be preserved and distributed through modern technology.




Éamon tells of his love of the Irish language, Music and Wildlife; His early years working in television with his friend Gerrit Van Gelderen. Amuigh Faoin Spéir began as a studio based programme but with Gerrrit’s 16mm camera they filmed in black and white and later on in colour. Because they were independent film makers they had editorial control over the material they transmitted. Later on he produced filmstrips on wildlife for the classroom.




Here Eamon describes the childhood environment that influenced him and shaped his life.

Éamon de Buitléar viewing the exhibition of his archive at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Éamon de Buitléar to Present His Unique Multi-Media Archive Collection to NUI Galway


Èamon de Buitlèar
Renowned film-maker and environmentalist Éamon de Buitléar has officially presented his exceptional personal archive to NUI Galway. This multi-media archive collection spans some sixty years of creativity and reflects a broad range of Éamon de Buitléar’s professional and personal concerns.

The archive contains:

  • Éamon’s documentary film output over the course of his career;
  • Key materials relating to the history of broadcasting & film production in Ireland;
  • Original recordings and unique insights into the revival of Irish traditional music in the twentieth century with material relating to Seán Ó Riada, Ceoltóirí Chualann and Ceoltóirí Laighean;
  • Visual and audio records of interest in terms of historical environmental studies;
  • Culturally significant material within the de Buitléar family papers including manuscripts and A Dictionary of Irish Bird Names, compiled by An Coirnéal Éamon de Buitléar, former aide-de-camp to Dubhghlas de hÍde, the first President of Ireland.

Launching the project, Éamon de Buitléar said: “The collection contains my life’s work. The environment, the Irish language and our native music have been cornerstones of my work and I am happy that the archive as a whole will find a home in NUI Galway. It is important that the collection will be available and accessible, particularly to young people and also to the Gaeltacht community in Conamara.”

President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne paid tribute to Éamon’s generous donation to the University: “This is a magnificent gesture by one of the pioneers of Irish broadcasting. Éamon’s constant concern for various aspects of our heritage – natural, cultural and musical – has enriched not only his personal archive but national life. We will use our institutional strengths in visual studies and the Irish language to fully exploit and conserve this rich resource.”

NUI Galway, will begin a major project to catalogue and to digitise this collection of national and international significance to facilitate access to scholars, researchers, students and the Gaeltacht community. Playing a key role in the Digital Repository of Ireland, the University is uniquely positioned to exploit the archive material and place it in a framework which will facilitate scholarly access and public engagement while working with partners such as RTÉ Archives to develop common protocols and best practice in the conservation of and public access to the national audio-visual heritage.

Work on this multi-media project will be carried out by NUI Galway’s James Hardiman Library and Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge and will process materials on film, video, audio tape and paper. A unique aspect of the collection is the contextualisation which has been provided by Éamon de Buitléar himself in the form of 20 hours of audio recordings describing the various facets of his work to project researcher, Micheál Holmes.

The Éamon de Buitléar Archive will complement existing and newly acquired collections in the James Hardiman Library such as the project to digitise the Abbey Theatre archive and the acquisition of the papers of Brendan Duddy, Thomas Kilroy and John McGahern. Following the launch on Wednesday, 28 November, an exhibition will be staged in the James Hardiman Library in NUI Galway which will highlight the diversity of Éamon de Buitléar’s work and display key items from the collection.

Èamon filming on location with Amuigh Faoin Spèir
The collection will be accessible in the new Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Building which will open at the heart of the NUI Galway campus in 2013 and at the University’s Gaeltacht centres in Carna and at An Cheathrú Rua where BA and MA programmes in Communications are taught through the medium of Irish.

The Project Digitisation will take place in the James Hardiman Library and in the University’s centre in Carna where Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge have already managed multi-media research projects such as www.joeheaney.org, Cartlann Raidió na Gaeltachta, The Joe Burke Archive and, most recently, iTunes U COGG, a project to develop digital classroom resources for primary schools.

Further information and access to archive material here

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Mary Robinson establishes new visitor and research centre in Ballina in association with NUI Galway

Mary Robinson addressing guests in the Aula Maxima at NUI Galway
 
Former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, visited NUI Galway this weekend to mark the beginning of a new partnership with the University. Recent plans have been unveiled to establish a Mary Robinson Centre in the former President’s home town of Ballina, Co. Mayo. The Centre, supported by Mayo County Council and Ballina Town Council will be established at Mary Robinson’s birthplace and will include both a Visitor Centre and an academic research centre, supported by NUI Galway and focused on scholarly research and education in the fields of Human Rights and Women’s Leadership.

Mary Robinson’s archive will be the centrepiece of the educational facility, and as academic partner to the project, NUI Galway will bring researchers and students from all over the world to Ballina to engage with the archive. NUI Galway is internationally recognised as a leader in the field of Human Rights and Gender research, and offers undergraduate degrees and Masters programmes in the area. The University will also advise on the cataloguing and making available of the extensive archive which is valued at over €2.5 million.

President Jim Browne of NUI Galway commented: “We at NUI Galway are delighted to have been invited to become involved in this project. We believe that the Mary Robinson Archive is very important for scholarship globally; for our region – it adds a truly unique piece of infrastructure to the knowledge capital of the West of Ireland; and for Ireland as a nation preserving the narrative of the life and work of probably the most significant figure to emerge from our country – a transformative figure of modern Ireland – Mary Robinson.”

The proposed Visitor Centre, which is set to open to the public by the end of 2014, will provide a unique cultural tourism resource for Mayo as visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about Mary Robinson’s life and work, including her early roots in Ballina. The project will involve the refurbishment of Victoria House, a protected 19th century Georgian house, together with the construction of an Annex to the house. Parts of the house will be recreated to its original condition at the time of Mary Robinson’s birth in 1944.

The property at Victoria House, which has been in the Bourke Family for generations, is being made available to the Centre by the owner, Mary’s brother Adrian Bourke, and will be leased in perpetuity.

Existing collections at the James Hardiman Library that will greatly encourage and engage with research and scholarship with the Robinson Archive include the Prof. Kevin Boyle Archive. Prof. Boyle was Professor of Law at University College Galway and founded the Irish Centre for Human Rights at then University College Galway. Prof. Boyle was a life-long advocate of Human Rights globally and was founding director of the international body Article 19, advocating for freedom of expression and religious tolerance and also later Director of the Centre for Human Rights at University of Essex. Prof. Boyle also served as advisor and speech writer for Mary Robinson for a period during her time as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Boyle papers are currently being catalogued at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway.

Mary Robinson’s archive is a vast collection illuminating the life and career of one of Ireland’s most distinguished public figures. The archive includes a library of books, and periodicals, Mary Robinson’s personal diaries, working files and detailed records of her career as a champion of human rights and women’s equality. Also included are numerous recordings and manuscripts from her time as President of Ireland.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Launch of Music for Galway Archive Catalogue


The archive of Music for Galway has been catalogued here at the James Hardiman library, National University of Ireland Galway. The archive will offer researchers a unique insight into the establishment and growth of one the West's premier music groups while documenting the creative and administrative processes of Music for Galway's numerous achievements.



The archive ranges in date from 1981 to 2011 and includes numerous series of original records documenting the Irish and international acts that played to audiences across Galway and the West of Ireland. The archive traces the relationship between Music for Galway and National University of Ireland, Galway, as the group found a home for concerts and their grand piano at the Aula Maxima on the University's campus.

The archive consists of nineteen boxes of records comprising of a comprehensive record of Music for Galway's legacy. The archive includes records of productions including posters, flyers, invitations, programs and press releases; numerous black and white and also colour photographs of Music for Galway committee members and also of musicians and concerts, financial records, details of membership and rates, correspondence between Music for Galway and various musicians and groups, Music for Galway Newsletters and press cuttings of news and coverage of concerts and events.

The archive will be launched by Erika Casey, founding member of Music for Galway and the evening will include an exhibition of material from the archive, an overview of the archive material and a performance from Con Tempo Quartet. A reception will follow this performance. The event will take place at the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway, 19th November, 6pm.

For more information or to RSVP, contact archivist barry.houlihan@nuigalway.ie