Fergal’s putting your stories on world stage
THE mellifluous tones of O’Connell Street’s last remaining resident and gentleman John Mullaney have been recorded for posterity in a new mobile app.
Tap on StoryTracks a couple of times to hear John regale you with stories of bank robberies and tales of Sligo long ago.
StoryTracks founder Fergal Nealon, is himself a lover of stories and the son and grandson of two great raconteurs - the late Fine Gael Sligo Leitrim TD Ted Nealon and his own father from a rambling house in Aclare.
Storytelling is in his blood.
The Greenfort native has just signed a contract with Cork City Council to help them record stories from both young and old. He will partner up with civic engagement platform onestepcloser.to
On onestepcloser.to people vote to “nudge how brands allocate substantial brand resources towards projects for good – projects that hold meaning for you. All at the click of a button.”
“For example, one Dublin local authority has the highest percentage of foreign nationals - 45 per cent under 25 years and they’re not showing up at town hall meetings, or engaging with the democratic process. We’re looking at new ways of doing that for those demographics,” said Fergal.
StoryTracks has also just been accepted onto Google Adopt-a-Start-Up programme which will see the firm working alongside other start-ups at Google HQ in Dublin for six months.
“It’s exciting. Ireland is a great place to start a business with all these excellent supports,” said Fergal. So what is StoryTracks exactly? “It’s the only app in the world that allows users to upload their own stories,” said Fergal.
By opening the app, users can record their own story about a place and upload it to the app, or listen to other people’s recordings, such as John Mullaney.
Other local characters who feature on the app - which aims to feature stories from all over the country - include the caretaker of Sligo Cemetery Brian Scanlon, former Cliffoney principal Michael Roper, Mullaghmore historian Joe McGowan and Damien Brennan, who he says are “brilliant resources of living and past history.”
Plans are afoot to launch a specialised ‘Yeats Trail’ section of the app, with 40-50 stories of the poet ready to go once they secure funding.
“People will be able to listen to stories about Yeats as they travel through Yeats Country,” said Fergal, who hopes to interview Constance Cassidy of Lissadell and Yeats experts Stella Mews, Susan O’Keeffe and Martin Enright.
StoryTracks is aiming to sate the “real thirst out there for history” with that and other features, such as a music trail, a food trail and an archaeology trail.
The origins of the business came to Fergal on the sad passing of his father Ted, who “was a great storyteller”.
“We’ve made StoryTracks as user friendly as possible to enable people to go out and capture those stories of their grandparents or great local characters,” he told this newspaper.
“The beauty is you don’t even need to approach me - you can download the app for free and just add the story yourself with a picture of the schoolhouse/church/ football pitch,” he said.
StoryTracks will be moving into their new offices in Sligo town soon and Fergal remains “committed to the North West.”
“I love capturing stories,” he smiled as he hit the road for another meeting.