Britain

Irish Oral History Archive – a reference archive and resource for the contemporary and historical spoken narratives of Irish people at home and abroad, especially as they relate to the story of emigration.

MovingHere.org.uk: Luton Irish Forum – a variety of individuals detail their moves to England

I Only Came Over For a Couple of Years… 2005 – Interviews with Irish elders in England who arrived between the 1930s and 1960s. (Half-hour documentary, £7 plus postage and packaging)

Irish Elders Now project

Dunne, Catherine. An Unconsidered People: The Irish in London. Dublin: New Island, 2003 – a book detailing the experience of older emigrants.

Canada

A story to be told: Personal Reflections on the Irish emigrant experience in Canada (book)

Memories of the Past: Reflections from Ottawa’s Irish Drop-In group – a collection of memories and recipes

United States

Archives of Irish America – Interviews with a range of notable people in the New York Irish community, discussing their life history and sense of identity.

When Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again – the stories of 35 people who moved to New York between 1927- 1964. Available as both book and DVD.

An Irish (American) Story (film, 1997) – The 96-year-old grandmother of the filmmaker recalls her emigration as a 17-year-old in 1911.

The Gathering: Collected Oral Histories of the Irish in Montana – Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, this project is based in the University of Montana.

Irish Dance in Arizona – Tracing the history of Irish dance in the American southwest since 1942.

Crossroads Irish Oral History Project Archives of the San Francisco Bay Area – Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the project looks at the Irish and Irish-American communities of the San Francisco Bay area.

Molloy College – documenting the Irish of Long Island and the greater New York area.

University of Notre Dame – Director of Notre Dame’s Department of Anthropology Deb Rotman is working on a developing an online archive of Irish-American oral histories.

Australia

The National Library of Australia – has a number of Irish-related recordings in its oral history catalog.

New Zealand

National Library of New Zealand – has several oral history collections; contact them for Irish-related materials.

Global and Irish-based

GAA Oral History Project – recording what the GAA has meant to the Irish people, in their own words.

Breaking the Silence: Staying at home in an emigrant society – examines the impact of emigration on those who stayed through 78 oral narratives and 12 text contributions.

Returning to Ireland

Narratives of Migration and Return – Stories of returning emigrants

Coming Home: “Stories of young men and women who left Ireland and, after many years in exile, closed the circle of emigration by coming home again” – produced by the Safe Home project – also see their True Lives page.

To listen, visit RTE’s archives:

• Emigrating to the US in search of work – 3 March
  
• Australia still popular with Irish emigrants – 4 March
  
• Emigrating to Britain – 5 March
  
• Emigrating to Canada – 6 March