Dublin Festival of History | Collecting Ireland's History Lecture

Discover how libraries are helping the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland to recover Ireland's history.

Event description

This lecture, organised in collaboration with the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland (VRTI) Library Network, will explore the diverse approaches to collecting Irish historical manuscripts of the last 700 years; and the role of libraries in preserving and recovering lost materials. Focusing on materials from the Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library, British Library, National Library Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and the Royal Irish Academy, this talk will explore the themes presented in the accompanying Collecting Ireland’s History exhibition. It will examine the links between private and institutional collecting and how their combined efforts are helping to reconstruct a lost archive: the Public Record Office of Ireland, destroyed on 30 June 1922.

For details on the accompanying Collecting Ireland's History: Libraries and the recovery of lost records exhibition launch at the Royal Irish Academy Library, see here.

About the speaker

Dr Sarah Hendriks is an early modern historian specialising in the socio-cultural and architectural history of Ireland and the British Isles. She has studied and worked in universities around the world including The Australian National University, The University of Oxford, The University of Cambridge, and The University of Edinburgh. She is currently Archival Discovery Research Fellow and Lead Coordinator of the Library Network for the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland.

The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland (VRTI) Library Network

The VRTI Library Network was established in 2023 to explore the materials, connections, and provenance of Library-held material whilst fostering opportunities for engagement and collaboration. The six founding members – 3 in Britain and 3 in Ireland – are key repositories whose histories, collections, and roles have ensured the survival of many Irish historical manuscripts. Through a series of regular Network meetings, the group will support the work of the Retracing Archival Footsteps Research Strand to examine the connections between materials held across the Libraries, and explore how technology can assist in highlighting and investigating these connections.

Access requirements

Have you got any access requirements that we can assist you with, so that you can fully engage with our event? If so, please email accessofficer@ria.ie in advance

About the Royal Irish Academy

The Royal Irish Academy, established in 1785, is an all-island, independent learned society and academic body that champions research by supporting and promoting scholarship in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Its elected membership of approximately 680 individuals and 80 staff represent Ireland internationally, provide expert advice to government, carry out research, administer research grants, organise conferences and public lectures, publish academic books and journals, and maintain a research library.

Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann | Royal Irish Academy
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