Irish Dialect Sound Recordings 1928-31

Welcome! This archive of Irish dialect sound recordings made during 1928-31 contains folktales, songs and other material recited by native Irish speakers from 17 counties. Crucially, it includes examples of dialects that are now extinct. The collection also includes a speech in English by W.T. Cosgrave, who was head of the Irish government that funded the recording scheme.

• Browse by county, speaker or title using the links on the left, or by clicking a county on the map.
• Information on the speakers’ background, together with a Google Map link, may be found by clicking on the ‘Speakers’ link on the left.
• You can also enter keywords in the search field on the left, e.g. ‘Fionn’, ‘Róisín Dubh’.

We hope that you will enjoy engaging with these songs, stories and speakers and that you will find the experience an enriching one. We welcome further information from you on the speakers or on the data. To send further information for the site please use the contact page.

This multi-media archive is a project of the Royal Irish Academy Library in collaboration with the Digital Humanities Observatory.