The Irish COVID-19 Oral History Project is a rapid response oral history project based at DCU focused on archiving the Irish lived experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by a similar body of work carried out by the Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the project seeks to create a repository of oral and written histories about the Irish experience of COVID-19 and how different people in our community are living through this crisis, both in Ireland and abroad.

Oral histories are a critical way to capture and preserve those stories and voices that are so often lost to time. The last great pandemic to hit our shores was the Spanish Flu epidemic over a century ago. Historians, educators, and students have garnered valuable insights into life during this time through people’s personal accounts of their experiences. The Irish COVID-19 Oral History Project aims to collate stories of teachers and others of the current pandemic to help preserve memories of this time for generations to come.

The material collected will be made available to researchers, historians and the public as an open source digital archive and will inform research into shaping responses to future pandemics and/or global crises, enabling a deeper understanding of the impact that such global events have on Irish society.

If you are interested in participating in this worthwhile project, further information can be accessed on the COVID-19 Oral History website