Schoolchildren in Mayo are being asked to connect with their grandparents in a really special and meaningful way on Mayo Day 2020, which will be celebrated on Saturday, May 2.
Mayo County Library will launch 'Through The Ages', a project that will see children aged between six and 16 become reporters for the day - and the subject matter for these young reporters will be their grandparents.
The children are being asked to contact their grandparents over Skype, Facetime or even the old-fashioned landline and ask them about some aspect of their younger years, whether it is schooldays, rural life on the farm or in the town, emigration, the social scene, travelling cinemas or any other aspect of life as it was once lived in Ireland.
Each child must then write the report in their own handwriting and submit it to Mayo County Library where all of the entries will be collated, digitised and preserved in the library's archives as a permanent record of this very unique Mayo Day 2020.
There will be prizes in a number of age categories for the best entries, while each child will also receive a certificate.
Mayo County Librarian Austin Vaughan said: "We're all aware of heartbreaking stories of grandparents being unable to spend time with their grandchildren due to Covid-19 so this is a great opportunity for the generations to come together on Mayo Day and do something very unique.
"This collection of essays will be preserved for posterity in our Local History section in the County Library in Castlebar and will be accessible for future generations. I think it has the potential to provide an extraordinary snapshot of life in Mayo in these truly historic times and to also capture a lot of social history that might otherwise be lost."
Mayo Day is all about inclusiveness and Mayo County Library is keen to involve as many children as possible in this one-off historic project.
Vaughan added: "We're opening it up to children who may be living elsewhere in Ireland or overseas but have grandchildren in Mayo. Equally, we're encouraging children in Mayo who have grandparents living in other countries to contact them and record their memories of what life was like in their particular country in bygone years.
"It would be fantastic if we could have as many countries as possible represented - through our own Diaspora and through the children of non-nationals who are such a big part of our communities in Mayo in 2020."
Full details on the initiative and an entry form will be published from Wednesday on www.mayo.ie
