For the Record: StoryCorps, NYIC Style!

Shortly after I started my internship at NYIC, I discovered that the Exec. Director, Paul Finnegan and I were both fans of NPR's StoryCorps. Hence, we began looking at creating our very own NYIC version of StoryCorps, both as part of my intervention and as a way of capturing some of the life stories of the seniors who attend our Center. StoryCorps is a non-profit organization that records, shares and preserves the stories of everyday American people and the Irish have played one of the most important parts in the American story.

I grew up in Douglaston, Queens to Irish parents who came here
in the 1970's. This is also true of many of the Irish at our Center
who came to New York in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. There are
many colorful characters at the Center, with amazing stories to
tell and much to learn from them. Hence StoryCorps NYIC came in
to being.

Thanks to Conor Murphy of Co. Kildare, a sound engineer who has been living in NY for a number of years, we were given the opportunity to record our stories at Verbatim Studios on West 46th St. Our first recording session took place on Feb. 25th with myself, Paul Finnegan and our six wonderful participants; John Houlihan and Tom McCluskey both from Dublin; Frank Gordon of 'Lovely Leitrim', who has just celebrated his 88th birthday; Padraic Feeney originally from Galway, who has been Volunteering at NYIC for a number of years, Tony Lambe of Co. Kerry and Patrick Morgan of Co. Down.
Going into the studio we didn't really know what to expect, so we decided that to let each recording be like a chat between two friends with a little prompting where needed from me.

The results were better than I could have hoped for. The conversations consisted of; tales of O'Connell Street, Dublin in the 1950's, World War II recollections, accounts of marching down 5th Ave. on St. Patrick's Day, stories about the transformations of NYC neighborhoods and of the many changes in Ireland over the years.

I am so proud to have been a part of this project and I hope we can record more of our NYIC friends in the near future. As a child I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit my family in Ireland most summers. The memories of those summers that 

 I hold dearest are the afternoons in my Grandmother's kitchen,where she would entertain me with stories of her Dublin childhood. However, I never got the opportunity to record her stories before she died in 2006. The stories of the seniors who attend the New York Irish Center are especially important and it is imperative that their stories can be passed on to future generations. Stay tuned to the New York Irish Center for details of
where and when our recordings can
be heard.

Rachel O'Donnell