Going to the Well for Water: The Séamus Ennis Field Diary 1942-1946

This is the first publication of a diary of the collector of music and songs with the Irish Folklore Commission. It paints a vivid picture of Ireland in the 1940s and comments in particular on popular pastimes and other aspects of daily life. A number of entries cast light on Ennis' fieldwork methodology, which was meticulous, and his attitude towards his mission, which led him to eschew anything that had been collected frequently or learned from a book. Ennis visited a number of Gaeltachtai and…