Fionn Folklore Database

fionnfolklore.org 

Director (PI): Prof. Natasha Sumner

The Fionn Cycle Folklore Project was initiated in September 2019 with grant support from the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme and Harvard University (Dean’s Competitive Fund for Promising Scholarship; Barajas Dean’s Innovation Fund for Digital Arts and Humanities; Milton Fund). The project is currently funded until summer 2024.

The project has constructed the Fionn Folklore Database, a trilingual (Gaeilge / Gàidhlig / English) online database of c.3,500 stories and songs about the best-loved heroes of the Gaelic world: Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) and his roving warrior band, the Fianna.

Stories about Fionn and the Fianna have been told for over a millennium and have been carried everywhere Irish and Gaelic speakers went -- even as far as North America!

The database is a research tool for scholars and a resource for the public to discover tales about these fascinating Gaelic heroes.

 

Progress

2019-2020

Project RA Dr. Brian Frykenberg undertook manual data preparation of catalogue records prior to migration to the online platform. One important task involved recording geodata so the stories could be mapped:

Image of work in progress

2020-21

Website vendor Digirati began constructing the online database and project RAs Dr Duncan Sneddon and Dr Pádraig Ó Mathúna verified data converted by the website vendor.

2021-22

Digirati completed construction of the online database and project RAs Dr Duncan Sneddon and Dr Pádraig Ó Mathúna created descriptions of over 100 story/song types, produced editorial content for the website, and began adding additional records.

2022-23

Project RA Dr Pádraig Ó Mathúna undertook project promotion via social media and in-person presentations in Irish and American universities and heritage centers; administered targeted follow-up surveys; and added additional records.

2023-24

Project RA Dr Dubhán Ó Longáin is creating educational resources and undertaking project promotion via social media and in-person presentations.

Access

The online database is free and open to the public. It replaces and supercedes the preliminary catalogue I prepared as a supplement to my doctoral dissertation:

A Catalogue of Fenian Folklore (© 2015, all rights reserved)

 

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