7th of November 2024

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The branch is based in The Emerald Centre in Leicester city, which caters to the local community with a connection to Irish culture. Last April, the branch decided to set up a storytelling workshop project for their elderly community as a chance to capture those memories. The success of the workshop meant that they organised another successful workshop held on the 18th of October. 

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The Senior Storytelling Workshops have been set up as an on-going project by the branch as an opportunity for participants to tell their stories and memories of Ireland. A spectrum of anecdotes from early memories of living in Ireland to the past-time of holidaying every year in their home County was captured.  

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The session was based around each table randomly choosing a County. Deliberating together and recalling memories of people they personally knew, famous people, saints, sinners and places to visit in their chosen County in Ireland. Similar to reminiscent therapy, it allowed participants to think creatively as well as recall faded memories. Each table finished their story with the whole group singing songs relevant to the County for example Co Antrim – Green Glens of Antrim, Co Louth – Carlingford, Co Roscommon – My Lovely Roscommon and Wexford - Boolavogue 

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“Some of these memories I hadn’t spoken about in a long time. With my table having to talk about Co Roscommon, I had to think back and think about memories that I thought I’d forgotten. I am from Boyle in Co Roscommon so it was a pleasure to take the group at my table to wander in the area around Lough Key, the McDermott castle and Boyle Abbey, answer their many questions and tell the stories of trips to the lake and castle with my older brothers.” Chris – Age 75.  

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“It was nice to be able to sit down and share a moment with people I see almost every week. I found out facts about my friends that I didn’t know. They definitely didn’t hear my story before as I had complete forgotten it myself until Annie said I had chosen Co Wicklow for our table. My mother came to Leicester from Co Wicklow and when I was young she told me about the typhoid fever epidemic when she was young in her town when a lot of children died which left a very sad memory in her and her town. This was a story that I haven’t told the people here before.” Bridget – Age 87

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“With my table having to talk about Leitrim, I had to think back and think about memories that I thought I’d forgotten. It really makes you think outside the box and for me as we talked to come up with details of a wonderful man that came from Leitrim to Leicester.  I had the good fortune to meet him when I came to Leicester as a young man and he pointed me in the right direction to make a good life here for myself and my family.  He was a generous Leitrim man and also left his mark with his charity work here in the city.” Henry – Age 80.  

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The art of passing down knowledge through stories has been around since humans started communicating. Today it serves a different purpose, it shares a glimpse into the lives of people we love. It allows us to feel connected, heard and changes our perspectives on older generations. Due to the nature of oral traditions being passed down through generations, it’s important these stories aren’t lost to time. 

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If you’re interested in joining future workshops, you can contact the Leicester branch for more information. Comhaltas in Britain does a lot of work around Dementia and Music as well as Community and Loneliness. You can read more by following the links. 

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We want to say thank you to the Irish Government through their Emigrant Support Grant for funding this project. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to continue doing workshops like this.