TWO OUT OF work filmmakers have created a new and creative way to explore Dublin with the launch of the Storymap app which lets users tap into the hidden stories of the city as they wander around its streets.
The app combines the old age tradition of storytelling with the latest tecnology in film and mobile apps to “capture the essence of Dublin life – past and present”. Included in the app is a library of 80 stories, presented in audio or HD video with each tied to a location in the city and told by a different Dubliner.
Tom Rowley and Andrew Flaherty first launched their project in 2011 with the website Storymap.ie which showcases the stories online. The filmakers said it was, in many ways, “a reaction to the gloomy mood hanging over Dublin”.
“We both arrived back from working abroad and were really frustrated with the way the city was being represented – bleak, empty and finished,” said Flaherty. “For us, the things that made Dublin truly special were still there to be celebrated – its people, its stories, its humour and charm. We couldn’t find work and so we began Storymap as a way to use our skills to showcase the real cultural wealth of Dublin, in a way no-one had ever seen before.”
Rowley said the new app gives locals a chance to see the city with fresh eyes. “On O’Connell Street alone there’s riots, risings, nervous dates, and hoax plaques – along with hundreds more we’ve yet to capture,” he said. “By using the app and seeing a well-told story on the spot, you get to see it in a whole new light, and build a new connection with it.”
(Image: Storymap.ie)
The stories are collected in eight themed routes across the city, each offering a different flavour of Dublin’s life and history. The app also has the ability to generate a ‘ramble’ based on any destination which its creaters say can transform a simple walk across the city into “an engaging and entertaining experience”.
Storytellers featured in the app include Roddy Doyle on the Spire, two Dublin gents recounting their lives and loves in Fallons bar and cartoonist Toma Matthews on his lifelong love of the ‘Why Go Bald?’ sign.
The app was developed in DIT by Jamie Osler and Eoin Rogers, and overseen by Bryan Duggan. It is on sale in the Android and iPhone app stores for €2.59. Using their fanbase in Dublin, Storymap crowdfunded the initial funds through fundit.ie, and then supplemented this with funding from Enterprise Ireland.
(StorymapDublin/YouTube)
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say