'It’s great to share our stories and our history': Launch of new Cork heritage portal welcomed 

A new Cork heritage portal has been launched encouraging the public to explore, contribute and to get involved with their existing local archives.

Cork County Council is the latest local authority to partner with the Irish Community Archive Network (iCAN), the leading organisation supporting community archives in Ireland.

The Heritage Council has announced it is iCAN’s new funding partner, which will facilitate an expansion of the iCAN team. 

Since 2009, iCAN has supported the creation of 33 online digital archives, including in Cork.

Having joined the network last year and taken part in training over the last few months, the new portal for County Cork was unveiled on Wednesday.

The website www.heritagecork.org will be home to four digital community archives supported by iCAN: Bere Island Projects Group, Kilmurry Heritage Group, Kilshannig Heritage Society and Youghal Community Archives.

iCAN community archive websites are contributory, which means that anyone in the world can contribute their photos, maps, letters, records, stories and documents to help build the collections.

The archives are also a valuable source for genealogy and ancestry projects.

Helen Riddell, of the Bere Island Projects Group in Cork, said: “Being on an island, we can be geographically isolated, but now that we’re a part of a larger network, it’s great to share our stories and our history."

Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Danny Collins said: 

“This website will be home to the four digital community archives in Cork that are part of the iCAN network which not only provides a secure and permanent online presence but also gives deserved recognition to the tremendous work being done by these groups to document and preserve their local heritage.” 

Members of the public are also invited to visit, contribute to and to volunteer with the digital archives, available at www.ouririshheritage.org.