AN innovative outdoor museum to be installed in Dunmanway has recruited local adults and children to be a part of the project.

Stories on the Street will transform historical landmarks in Dunmanway into an interactive heritage experience.

The project, supported by Cork County Council, has been spearheaded by history consultant Michelle O’Mahony and Cllr Deirdre Kelly, and highlights the stories of a wide history of Dunmanway, including the town’s foundation by Sir Richard Cox, the story of Ballinacarriga Castle and the tales of Duffy’s Circus.

This is the first project of its kind supported by the council, and the organisers hope it could be replicated across other areas in the future.

Stories on the Street incorporates two experiences: Echoes of the Past and the Time Traveller’s Guide to Dunmanway.

Echoes of the Past will detail historical accounts of areas in Dunmanway town and its surroundings.

Those taking part in the history trail will scan a QR on a plaque at the location and listen to an audio guide detailed the story.

The audio for Echoes of the Past has been recorded by local people, ensuring that the community stays involved in the project.

Local author Kieran Connolly was enlisted to record the guide detailing Sam Maguire’s life.

He is an apt choice, considering he wrote a book about the local legend.

Kieran knows from personal experience that Dunmanway needs more awareness around its rich historical past: ‘I wasn’t aware of Sam Maguire as a young fellow, even though I walked past his grave every day coming to and from school.’

It was only when his brother-in-law visited the town from Carrick-on-Shannon and noted the uniqueness of Dunmanway being Sam Maguire’s homeplace that Kieran realised its significance.

Kieran sat down at the desk in a meeting room in Brookpark Business Centre and read off a teleprompter with a script for the audio guide.

He described the whole recording process as ‘absolutely amazing and interesting.’

Historian Michelle O’Mahony

Michelle O’Mahony of OM History Consultants is one of the co-ordinators the project. She also wrote the scripts for the audio guides.

For her, Stories on the Street is all about access and equality: ‘It’s really, really important to bring history onto the streets. Everybody thinks it’s boring. People think it’s a case of read the book, and it’s all fact, but if you can interact with it, and you can see it, and you can feel it, then there’s more chance of you remembering the story and remembering history is everybody’s story.’

A dozen plaques will be designed and printed by Fraher Media, and will feature braille for the visually impaired. The audio guides will be recorded thanks to Clonakilty-based company Flux Learning.

The company, founded by Patrick Kiely, normally facilitates training for surgeons and medical students. State-of-the-art equipment including four different microphones, a soundboard and a teleprompter are just a few pieces that make up the impressive recording set up.

Patrick describes himself as a ‘recovering historian’, and has experience in digitising archives as well as with digital skills.

Another resident brought in to record an audio guide was Caitriona Murphy. She found the experience very educational: ‘It was very interesting. I learned stuff reading over the passage that I wasn’t aware of myself.’

Caitriona believes Stories on the Street will make a real difference in Dunmanway: ‘A connection, present to past, is always very important. If people know the origins of the town, know the background of where people came from, I think that’s very valuable.’

The digital heritage project will also feature audio guides adapted for children, recorded by children.

Michelle and Patrick visited seven schools around West Cork to get local students involved, and to enlist their help recording the audio guides, which will be known as the Time Traveller’s Guide to Dunmanway.

‘We’re bringing characters to life,’ said Michelle. ‘One school has just recorded their podcast where Sir Richard Cox, the founder [of Dunmanway], comes back to life and he tells the children about why he founded the town.

‘We also have Maggie, a spinning lady, coming back to tell the children about the flax industry in Dunmanway and what it was like in the spinning school…some of it will include a few tall tales and a little bit of poetic license just to make it interesting, but 99% of the content in the Time Traveller’s Guide is all accurate.’

Each school underwent a two-day process to achieve the recordings as comfortably as possible.

The Stories on the Street webpage will also feature historical images and resources to accompany the audio guides. Michelle and Patrick are scanning and colourising photos of Dunmanway, some of which have not been published before

Michelle believes the project will highlight forgotten elements of Dunmanway’s history: ‘The connection with Duffy’s Circus is one that everybody has heard of, but you would be surprised how many people have actually said to us, ‘so, the story is true? There were elephants buried behind Galvin’s filling station?’

‘People know these stories but we’re bringing them to life and we’re lucky that we’re getting some unique photographs as well that will highlight and showcase the best of these podcasts.’

Stories on the Street will be launched in Atkin’s Hall, Dunmanway on Friday, June 5th at 3pm.

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