This week marks one hundred years since the Irish civil War. Much of Ireland’s history seems to have vanished.
An attack on the Four Courts of Dublin in Dublin was the start of civil war between those who supported and those who opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
The Irish Public Record Office, a valuable history of Ireland, was destroyed.
The official documents that charted a country’s history through the centuries were destroyed by the flames of the building on 30 June.
Herbert Wood, deputy keeper at the Public Record Office, said after seeing the damage that the records from centuries had “passed into oblivion”.
He had published a book three years before, A Guide to Records Deposited at the Public Record Office of Ireland.
Later, it would be called “the most depressing book of Irish history”, because it catalogued thousands of documents that had been destroyed or were lost forever.
It is now clear, however, that it was not over 100 years ago.
The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland – the Beyond 2022 project is a ground-breaking initiative that has unearthed a treasure trove.
Archive from all over the globe joined hands to share documents and bring back the lost records.
It covers the entire history of Ireland, from 1174 to 1922.
Visitors can “step back in history” and explore a virtual recreation of Ireland’s Public Record Office and its collections as it was at the beginning of civil war.
Online access to more than 6,000 maps and 150,000 records, from single sheets to whole series of bound volumes.
This vast treasure trove of replacement documents was discovered in partner archives all over the globe.
These charts cover seven centuries of Irish history, and they are available to anyone with an interest in Ireland’s past.
The five-year-old state-funded research program Beyond 2022, which was led by Trinity College in Dublin, resulted in the treasury.
It combines historical research, archival conservation, and technological innovation to re-imagine the archive that was lost in June 1922 using digital technologies.
It was described by the Taoiseach (Irish PM), Micheal Martin as an “enduring, meaningful legacy”.
He stated, “It belongs the people of Ireland. Democratising access to our rich archive heritage and making our shared historical history accessible for all”
It is a valuable historical resource for all people from the island, as well as for anyone of Irish heritage worldwide.
TCD historians worked with computer scientists to create the archive in partnership avec the National Archives of Ireland, National Archives (UK), the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, the Irish Manuscripts Commission, and the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
The following are some of the things that people will be able do:
Listen to BBC Sounds’ podcast series Year ’21 to learn more about the 1921 partition of Ireland.
