Irish Records restored as Virtual Record Treasury

Millions of words from destroyed documents within an immersive 3-D reconstruction of the destroyed building.

The Four Courts in Dublin during the Battle of Dublin.

In June 1922, the opening battle of Ireland’s civil war destroyed one of Europe’s great archives in a historic calamity that reduced seven centuries of documents and manuscripts to ash and dust.¹ The Public Record Office at the Four Courts in Dublin, was a repository of documents dating from medieval times, and packed into a six-story building by the River Liffey.

Beyond 2022 is an all-island and international collaborative research project working to create a virtual reconstruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, which was destroyed in the opening engagement of the Civil War on June 30th, 1922.²

Seven centuries of Irish records dating back to the time of the Normans.

The ‘Record Treasury’ at the Public Record Office of Ireland stored seven centuries of Irish records dating back to the time of the Normans. Together with 5 Core Archival Partners and over 40 other Participating Institutions in Ireland, Britain and the USA, Beyond 2022 will recover what was lost in that terrible fire one hundred years ago. ³

On the centenary of the Four Courts blaze the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland will be launched online.

On the centenary of the Four Courts blaze at the end of June 2022, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland online will be launched. Many millions of words from destroyed documents will be linked and reassembled from copies, transcripts and other records scattered among the collections of the archival partners. This rich array of replacement items will be included within an immersive 3-D reconstruction of the destroyed building.

The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland will be an open-access resource, freely available online to all those interested in Irish history at home and abroad. Many of the most important memory institutions worldwide are joining in this shared mission to reconstruct Ireland’s lost history. The Virtual Record Treasury will serve as a living and growing legacy from the Decade of Centenaries.⁴

The Decade of Centenaries

The Decade of Centenaries encompasses the different traditions on the island of Ireland and the initiative provides opportunities to focus on the everyday experience of ordinary people living in extraordinary times, as well as on the leaders and key actors in these events. It also aims to offer fresh insights and constructive dialogue, and to foster deeper mutual understanding among people from the different traditions.

Beyond 2022: Ireland’s Virtual Record Treasury

1. Rory Carroll. (2022) “Seven centuries of Irish archives painstakingly recreated after being destroyed in civil war.” The Guardian (May 22, 2022).

2. Beyond 2022 reconstructs the Search Room in 2022.

3. Participating institutions:

• The National Archives (Ireland)

• The National Archives (UK)

• The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Belfast)

• The Irish Manuscripts Commission

• The Library, Trinity College Dublin

4. Decade of Centenaries. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The centenaries programme is broad and inclusive, highlighting the economic and social conditions of the period, the shifts in cultural norms and the experience of the Irish abroad.  The Culture Division has responsibility for the coordination of the initiative.

The Decade of Centenaries encompasses the different traditions on the island of Ireland and the initiative provides opportunities to focus on the everyday experience of ordinary people living in extraordinary times, as well as on the leaders and key actors in these events. It also aims to offer fresh insights and constructive dialogue, and to foster deeper mutual understanding among people from the different traditions.