‘IT WILL PRESERVE OUR PAST’
KILLORGLIN ARCHIVE GOES LIVE WITH NEW ON-LINE RESOURCE
“IT’S a top-class website. We’ve put a lot of work into this, but I promise there’s a lot more to come.”
Killorglin Archive Society Chairperson Johnny ‘Porridge’ O’Connor is duly delighted after seeing his locality’s new online archive go live as it’s the realisation of a long-held ambition. Now, he is confident the resource will both reconnect the locality to those who’ve left the area and attract more visitors to the mid-Kerry region.
He told The Kerryman that the website contains more than 15,000 entries – a combination of photographs, videos, documents, newspaper cuttings, recordings, and more – but this is only the start.
“Only about 10 to 15 per cent of the Killorglin Archive’s material has gone live, because the uploading process is extensive. On top of that, we had our launch this weekend, and the amount of people that have called into our base – Dominic Crowley’s old shop in the square – in the last few days with material has been unreal.
“People are welcome to contact us with any stuff they have, because we want to preserve the past for our future.
“We have the foundation to share our material with the world now; Derek Counihan of Harpoon has laid out a user-friendly site that is beyond what we could have hoped for. We’ve material stretching back as far as the 1800s, and it’s all laid out in sections like sport, events, years, and the likes of that. It’s very easy to navigate.”
The website’s material concerns the old parish of Killorglin which includes areas surrounding the town such as Dooks, Cromane, and parts of Glencar, and Johnny describes the resource as one of the best of its kind in Ireland.
“It’s terrific, and it’s only going to improve as people come to us with new material, new stories, helping us build a sense of place and creating a top-class diaspora section,” he said.
“When I was looking through the site, I found a photo that I’d never before seen of my father and my uncle playing football. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’ll have that experience, and it sums up how valuable this is.
“I think people will see this and be more inclined to visit Killorglin. I know of one man living in America called Brian Freeman who’s going to check it every week for new updates, so it’s fair to say we’ve brought Killorglin before a global audience. I think you’ll also see more parishes following our example in times ahead.”
If interested in providing material to the society, you can submit through the website itself at www.killorglinarchives.com. Altenatively, you can call into their set-up on the square in Killorglin, you can phone (066) 9790720, or e-mail killorglinarchivesociety@gmail.com.