The County Donegal Heritage Office, Culture Division, Donegal County Council in partnership with The Heritage Council commissioned the research and publication of a booklet on the 1930s Schools’ Folklore Collection in County Donegal as part of the implementation of the County Donegal Heritage Plan.
Download Scealtai Booklet
The ‘Scéaltaí’ booklet provides a unique insight into the folk life, material culture, heritage and folklore of County Donegal. In 1937-1938, the Irish Folklore Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, initiated a revolutionary scheme in which schoolchildren were encouraged to collect and document folklore, material culture, heritage and local history. Over a period of eighteen months, over 50,000 children in 5,000 primary schools in twenty-six counties were encouraged to collect folklore material in their home districts on themes such as local history and monuments, folktales and legends, riddles and proverbs, songs, customs and beliefs, games and pastimes, traditional work practices and crafts. Dr. Eithne Ní Ghallchobhair of the Royal Irish Academy was commissioned to research and write this free, A5-size, 56-page booklet which is the fourth in the 'Donegal Heritage Series' published by the County Donegal Heritage Office, Donegal County Council in association with The Heritage Council.
Copies of the 'Scéaltaí: The 1930s Schools’ Manuscript Collection in County Donegal' booklet are available free-of-charge from the County Donegal Heritage Office on (074) 917 2576, the Donegal Education Centre and from your local library.
