Cork college set to launch unique oral history podcast 

A 10-EPISODE podcast detailing the oral history of Presentation Brothers’ College ahead of the school’s 150th anniversary is due to launch this week.

Voices of Pres, Voices of Cork sees broadcaster George Hook of the class of 1959, team up with Ronan McAuliffe of the class of 2023 to present a series of documentaries produced by English teacher, Éanna Ó Loingsigh with sound engineering by Elaine Smith.

Liam Ring of the class of 2024 has composed an original piano soundtrack as a soundbed to the series.

Each episode features recorded interviews not only with Brothers, teachers and alumni but also with people who have been connected with or influenced by the school in some small way in their lives. It also charts the rich social history of the city.

“This is a series of memories, reflections and tributes; it includes historical and cultural conversations, plenty of splashes of humour and wistful recollections,” producer, Eanna Ó Loingsigh, said.

“We sought to keep the bandwidth as wide as possible, the voices various, the perspectives multiple, not settling on a single way of seeing or defining our school.

“Being able to capture voices of people still living who can take us back as far as the 1930s in Cork and in Pres makes this series unique I feel.” Among those who feature in the podcast is Brother Matthew Feheny, now in his 90s, who recounts Cork during the Second World War and leaving the Mardyke in 1959 to join his Pres brethren in Trinidad; rugby legends Jimmy Bowen, Moss Finn and Michael Kiernan who discuss their illustrious careers and the great rugby tradition in the school; and Lord Mayor and historian councillor Kieran McCarthy who sets the scene for what a Pres schoolboy in the 1880s would have witnessed on the Mardyke and in the city.

It’s hoped that the podcast will help past pupils young and old reconnect with their old school preserving the traditions, values and culture of the school.

All episodes of Voices of Pres, Voices of Cork will be available to download and listen to on Apple, Spotify and Acast from Friday, May 10.