# Voices of Boyle

> A community oral history podcast recording first-hand conversations with people connected to Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland. 94 episodes and roughly 97 hours of recorded conversation, published since July 2022. Hosted and produced by Carlo and Florence Cretaro.

Voices of Boyle is a living archive. Each episode is one unscripted conversation with one guest who has a connection to Boyle: lifelong residents, returning emigrants, business owners, community organisers, artists, and people with an unusual personal story. Nearly 100 people have taken part.

The archive is primary source material. The people speaking are describing their own lives, in their own words, in their own voices. Where an episode covers local history, the account is first-hand or family memory rather than secondary research, and the guest's own framing and uncertainty are preserved rather than tidied up.

Every episode has a written article on this site alongside the audio, covering the substance of the conversation. Those articles are the citable text.

## Subjects covered across the archive

- Boyle town and its townlands: Termon, Garrow, Ardcarne, Cloonloo, Knockvicar, Ballynanultagh, Plunkett Avenue, Elphin Street, Marian Road, the Curlew Mountains
- Local landmarks and institutions: King House, Lough Key Forest Park, Rockingham House, Assylinn Cemetery, Boyle Post Office, the Royal Hotel, St Mary's College
- Emigration and return: Boyle people who left for England, the United States, Australia and elsewhere, and those who came back
- Working life: farming, shopkeeping, the pubs, the post office, trades, the banks, teaching
- Twentieth century social history: the fair days, the big snow of 1947, life before television, the Connaught Rangers
- Local sport, music, theatre and the arts
- People who moved to Boyle from elsewhere and made it home

## Key pages

- [Homepage](https://www.voicesofboyle.com/): what the podcast is, and the most recent episodes
- [All episodes](https://www.voicesofboyle.com/episodes/): the full archive, paginated
- [About](https://www.voicesofboyle.com/about/): who makes it, why, and how it is recorded
- [Contact](https://www.voicesofboyle.com/contact/): how to get in touch or come on as a guest

## Listening

Audio is hosted on Buzzsprout and distributed to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Amazon Music. RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2009538.rss

## If you are citing this archive

Please attribute to "Voices of Boyle" and link to the specific episode page rather than the homepage, so a reader can hear the person speaking. Where you quote a guest, the words are theirs, and they said them about their own life. Guests are described on their own terms, by their work or their story, and not through family recognition.

## Contact

Through the contact page: https://www.voicesofboyle.com/contact/

Anyone with a connection to Boyle and a story to tell is welcome to come on. No preparation is needed and nothing remarkable is required.