University of Galway Poster Presentation at the International Council on Archives' biennial conference, Rome 19-23 September 2022.

The Conradh na Gaeilge archive at the University of Galway, and the work by archivist Niamh Ní Charra to process it and make it available for researchers, forms the basis of a poster presentation at the upcoming International Council on Archives conference taking place in Europe for the first time since 2015. Ní Charra is flying the flag for Irish archives and archivists at the conference and her contribution marks the first time the Irish language will have featured in the conference's ten year history.

The theme of this year's conference is "Archives: Bridging the Gap", which is further divided into four categories: "Bridging the Digital Gap", "Bridging the Cultural Gap", "Bridging the Democracy Gap" and "Bridging the Distance". Ní Charra's submission falls under the second category and background information to accompany her onsite poster presentation follows below.

The Conradh na Gaeilge archive at University of Galway, Ireland

A case study of the work to process an Irish language archive, 

the resulting side project to designate archival terms in Irish, 

and the wider benefits attainable when cataloguing minoritized-language archives.

In 2018 work commenced on processing and cataloguing the iconic Conradh na Gaeilge archive at the University of Galway. Earlier this year, the work was completed and the archive was officially launched online. The deposit, processing and release of the Irish language organisation's archive at the university helps bridge the cultural gap through the partnership of a cross-border organisation and a university with a unique Irish language remit, through bilingual cataloguing, through the designation of over 200 archival terms in the Irish language and through the use of the archive to highlight the work of the organisation itself.

Who are Conradh na Gaeilge?

    Conradh na Gaeilge [The Gaelic League] is an organisation which was founded in 1893 to promote the Irish language in Ireland and abroad. Material gives a unique insight into the last 130 years or more of the history of the island of Ireland. Staff were actively involved in promoting and observing the use of Irish across all aspects of everyday activities. A significant portion of material covers several language rights campaigns. Also included are documents relating to prisoners' rights and civil rights in Northern Ireland.

Conradh were instrumental in community campaigns which led to the

• creation of Irish language radio and television stations [1972, 1996]
• the enactment of the Official Languages Act [14 July 2003] in Ireland
• making Irish an official language of the European Union [1 January 2007]

They are still campaigning for Irish language rights in Northern Ireland. 

At the core of these campaigns is the right of the individual to their own name, and to living and interacting in their own language, one that is indigenous to this island.

 

Why University of Galway?

    When deciding where to deposit this immensely rich and significant archive, Conradh na Gaeilge were conscious of the importance of choosing the right institution to house the archive and carry out the work required. After much careful consideration, they chose the University of Galway, formerly the National University of Ireland, Galway. There were several reasons for this decision.

• Remit of the university - a unique aspect of the University of Galway's remit as a university is its strategic commitment to the provision of university education through the medium of Irish, its aim to serve the Gaeltacht [Irish language speaking regions] and the Irish language community, and to create an exemplary bilingual campus.
• Location - the university is situated on the West coast of Ireland on the edge of the Connemara Gaeltacht, one of several Irish-speaking regions in Ireland. Furthermore, its links with the region are strengthened by its Irish language education and cultural centres in towns in both the Connemara and Donegal Gaeltachts. 
• Other Irish language archives - this iconic collection joins many more Irish language archives at the university, many of which have links to it.
• Respect - in choosing the University of Galway, Conradh na Gaeilge ensured a unique partnership where respect for the language and for the material was central to the task at hand.

Unique considerations:

    Apart from the normal decisions archivists need to make when appraising, processing, preserving and cataloguing an archive, the nature of this particular archive brought additional unique considerations.

    As part of the agreement between Conradh na Gaeilge and the university, it was vital that the archive be listed in Irish to ensure it was inclusive for the Irish language community. It was decided by the archivist to also list in English to ensure this wonderful archive was accessible to non-Irish language speakers as well. (Many press releases and other material are in English, and there are in fact 24 languages represented in the collection).

    Decisions on spelling also needed to be made: Irish language spelling was not standardised until the 1950s and many variations of spelling exist throughout the collection as a result. For the purposes of consistency, modern spelling was chosen with older versions also listed where necessary (eg Connradh na Gaedhilge [Conradh na Gaeilge]).

    Decisions on CALM included what order the Irish and English listings appeared, how to separate the two, whether to use free text or drop down menu options for certain fields and where to override the default options. With bilingual listing inputted in CALM, generating a report through CALM would automatically result in the finding aid also being bilingual. It was therefore decided to also provide an Irish-only version as a word document.

    Throughout the cataloguing process, use was made of the university's translation department. However, their excellent work was hampered due to the nonexistence of Irish language archival terminology at the time.

Side project - 200 archival terms designated in the Irish language:

    Issues with catalogue translations arose early in the process due to the absence of official archival terminology in the Irish language. The incredibly rich language meant that there were multiple options for some terms, while other terms simply did not have any Irish language equivalent, or the specific meaning as it related to the archival context was being lost. Ní Charra discovered that while Irish language archive collections exist all over the country, very few had been catalogued in Irish, and those that had been were done on an ad-hoc basis. The inconsistencies between listings from an archival standards point of view had not been recognised.

    As a direct consequence of these issues, she instigated and co-led a project involving University of Galway, the National Archive of Ireland and An Coiste Téarmaíochta [The Irish Language Terminology Committee]. The collaboration led to 200 archival terms being officially designated in the Irish language. Thanks in no small part to Dr Luciana Duranti, these terms are now available on ICA's MAT database where Ní Charra has been nominated as the Irish language co-ordinator.

Project Benefits:

    The dual project to have Conradh na Gaeilge's archive at the University of Galway appraised, preserved and catalogued, which in turn led to the creation and designation of archival terms in the Irish language has been hugely beneficial. The cataloguing of this iconic archive is not just a good case study - it is a perfect showcase for the following reasons:

• Consistency - having this new terminology available encourages consistency in Irish language listing to archival standards.
• Inclusivity - it enables Irish language archives to be listed in Irish making them inclusive and ensuring those for whom the archives relate the most, have access.
• Respect and recognition - making such a significant archive available and doing so through Irish, using official terms in that language, is an important recognition of both the indigenous language itself, and the community who speak it as their first language.
• Creates awareness - collections in minoritized languages are often overlooked by researchers, despite being very rich in material. The stories in these archives are therefore often missing from the overall narrative.
• Adoption - having the terminology should hopefully encourage Axiell and others to adopt it and make their products available in Irish.
• Positive knock-on effect - this case study and new terminology should encourage more institutions to have more Irish language archives catalogued.

Decolonising the archive - if we want to start a conversation about decolonising the archive, we need to think about the language of the archive.

    

    When considering the coloniality of the archive the discussion is generally either centred around the material of the archive, certain problematic terms being used in describing the archive, or perhaps the bias of those descriptions, but very rarely is the language itself the catalogue entry is in considered. In addition, there is a tendency within Europe to think of present and former colonies being located outside of the continent itself, and the archival community are no different in this regard. This project therefore can act as a gentle reminder that some former colonies are much closer to home, and other parts of this continent remain contested and divided territories.

Challenge to the archive community:

    The challenge for the archive community, is not only to ensure that when these stories are told, they are preserved and accessible in archives, but also to ensure this access is as inclusive as possible. Whether material is in Irish or in other minoritized languages (and the term "minoritized", not "minority" here is key), the archive community should do our best to ensure we are not part of the obstacles communities face when trying to access these stories. Providing more bi/multi-lingual cataloguing, and doing so in a consistent manner to archival standards through the creation/designation of archival terminology, is one step towards bridging this cultural gap.

Useful Links:

    More information on the archive itself, and on the project to designate archival terms in Irish can be found below:

Launch of the Conradh na Gaeilge Archive 

Conradh na Gaeilge Digital exhibition

200 Archival terms designated in the Irish language

PDFs of the terminology in English-Irish, Irish-English, Irish only

International Council on Archives Multilingual Terminology Database.

Leagan Gaeilge den bhlag seo

 

'Cruinniú na mBád' and the Galway Hooker - From the Archives

This week sees the return of the Cruinniú na mBád Festival in Kinvara. Now in its 42nd year since its revival in the late 1970s, the Festival attracts up to one hundred of the famous Galway Hooker boats, among many others, as part of a celebration marking the tradition and rich history of the Galway Hooker and of sea faring along the West coast.

The boats, with their distinctive sails, are synonymous with Galway and the West of Ireland. Within the Archives of the Library are numerous collections which make reference to and document various histories and information about the history of the boat and its connection to the sea and the people. Material is present in the digitised journal, Rural Ireland, published by Muintir na Tíre, The Tim Robinson Archive includes a photograph of a Galway Hooker from 1953 and the Heinrich Becker Collection has numerous photographs of the boats across the Claddagh and Galway Bay in the 1940s.

G22_59_1_002 From Heinrich Becker Archive

Within the Bob Quinn archive are a number of archive images from previous Cruinniú na mBád at Kinvara. A contact sheet of images is present from the Kinvara festival in 2002. Quinn is a famous Irish film-maker and photographer who has a well renowned list of award-winning films and documentaries. Poitín (1978) was the first feature film made entirely in Irish. The film starred Cyril Cusack, Donal McCann, and Niall Tóibín.

From the Quinn archive of photographs are these images from the 2002 Cruinniú na mBád which show the Galway Hooker in full sail and with the locals enjoying the festivities.

Bob Quinn was also awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts by NUI Galway in a ceremony in April 2022. The full catalogue of the Bob Quinn Photographic Archive is online here.

P99_4_13 - Galway Hooker at Kinvara, 2002. Bob Quinn Archive

P99_4_13 - Galway Hooker at Kinvara, 2002. Bob Quinn Archive

P99_4_13 - Galway Hooker at Kinvara, 2002. Bob Quinn Archive

.

Patricia Burke Brogan - An Archive of a "Renaissance Woman".

Patricia Burke Brogan (c) Joe Shaughnessy

The playwright, poet, and artist, Patricia Burke Brogan is to receive the Freedom of Galway City in a ceremony on Friday 20^th May. Burke Brogan is widely regarded for her writing which always dared to speak of an often hidden Ireland, and which through poetry or the stage, gave presence and voice to neglected and marginalised women’s voices. The Patricia Burke Brogan archive, containing annotated drafts and scripts of her plays, notes on her writings, correspondence, programmes, posters and press cuttings about her work from Ireland and around the world, along with other collected items, is deposited at the NUI Galway Library Archive.

Burke Brogan’s most well-known play is Eclipsed, which opened on 11 February 1992 in Galway, produced by Punchbag Theatre Company. The play is framed by a present-day prologue and epilogue, the play is set in 1963 in a convent laundry at St. Paul's Home for Penitent Women in Killmacha, Ireland. Eclipsed explores the practice of making pregnant and unwed Irish mothers work as 'penitents' in church-run laundries. Supervised by nuns who regarded these women as mindless vessels of evil, the women were treated as virtual slaves and their infants were forcibly put up for adoption.

Programme from Eclisped, 1992, Burke Brogan Archive,
NUI Galway Library Archives

Following its initial run in Galway the play toured to Project Arts Centre, Dublin and the Richard De Marco Gallery Theatre, Edinburgh. Recent Irish and international revivals were produced by Mephisto Theatre Company at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway in 2013, and later international productions include at the Spiegeltheater performance season in Belgium in March 2015. The play had its American première at the Worcester Forum Theatre in 1994 and was also later produced at the Seattle Fringe Festival in 1995 at the Irish Rep Theatre in New York in 1999. Eclipsed won a prestigious Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1992 as well as being nominated for numerous awards at the Los Angeles Are Theatre Awards 1995. Her poetry has been widely published, with volumes including Above the Waves/Calligraphy (1994) published by Salmon Press.

Notes by Burke Brogan within her archive at NUI Galway state:

Under double lock in pious laundry-cages, the “fallen women” of Ireland, unmarried mothers, who had broken the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, washed the stench from our clothes. Betrayed by lovers, signed in by parents, the women were also separated from their children, who were either taken for adoption or enclosed in industrial schools. In the laundries, the only shelters available to the penitents, they lived a Spartan and loveless existence. Those who became institutionalised remained inmates for life and buried in nameless graves.

In 1990, when the Galway Magdalen Laundry building was being demolished, Burke Brogan wrote a poem entitled Make Visible the Tree. A section of the poem together with a limestone sculpture of a Magdalen Woman were unveiled by the author with the sculptor Mick Wilkins on International Women’s day in Galway in 2009. In the poem Burke Brogan wrote:

This is the Place of Betrayal.

Roll back the stones

behind madonna blue walls.

Make visible the tree.

Burke Brogan has long standing links with the University. She was part of the then U.C.G. Writers Workshops, which brought together leading contemporary Irish writers for talks and literary workshops, along with Thomas Kilroy, John McGahern, and others. In 2015 Burke Brogan was awarded an honorary degree by NUI Galway for her contribution to the Arts.#

L - R, Charlie Byrne, Professor James Browne, Patricia Burke Brogan pictured at NUI Galway on the occasion of Honorary Conferring in 2015.

Other materials collected within the Burke Brogan archive include an annotated script for another play, Stained Glass at Samhain (Sister Luke’s Story), first performed at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway in 2002. Set at Halloween in the1990s, the play depicts Sister Luke, a former Mother Superior of the nearby Magdalen Laundry, and who returns to her convent, as the convent buildings are about to be demolished to make way for new apartments.

The memory of Sister Luke’s life, within the Laundry and of her own reflections, are explored within the play. Playwright Thomas Kilroy, speaking at the launch of the publication of the play at the Town Hall Theatre Galway, said “It is a wonderful thing to come across a truly visionary play, a poetic play and a play which used the stage in a very interesting kind of way... I found it very moving and I was even more moved by the silence, the fact that they were talking about those unknown, unrecognised, unnamed graves.”

Excerpt from archived annotated script of Stained Glass at Samhain.
Patricia Burke Brogan Archive, NUI Galway

Speaking at the launch of Burke Brogan’s Memoir with Grykes and Turloughs in 2014, Sabina Higgins commented in her speech, a copy of which is in the archive, that “Patricia emerges as a renaissance woman. The breath of her knowledge and achievement is no many branches of life is both wonderful and impressive.” The archive is a richly detailed insights into one of Galway and Ireland’s most important contemporary writers. Today, students, and scholars of NUI Galway, as well as visiting international researchers and artists, from Brazil to the U.S.A., have consulted the archive and utilised it within new research and productions, ensuring the life’s work of Burke Brogan across the arts and to Irish social and cultural history, is continuing to reach new audiences, informing new generations, and to keep the voices and experiences in particular of the Magdalene women, alive and known to all who read her work.

The catalogue of the Patricia Burke Brogan Archive can be searched online here.  

Covers of first editions of poetry books written by Patricia Burke Brogan

Eoghan Ó’Tuairisc - The Archive of a Bilingual Writer

 

Born in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway in April 1919, Eoghan Ó’Tuairisc (Eugene Watters) was a bilingual writer, with a prolific output through both Irish and English, of poetry, stories, prose, novels and plays. He was educated at Garbally College in his home town of Ballinasloe before joining the army in 1939. His parents were Thomas Watters, a shoemaker, who had been wounded at the Battle of the Somme in France during the First World War, where he was a member of the Connacht Rangers. And his mother was Maud Watters (née Sproule), was a seamstress and clairvoyant.

Following his time in the army, Ó’Tuairisc enrolled in St. Patrick’s College where he trained to be a teacher. The college was run through Irish and which further extended his fluency. He qualified as a primary school teacher in 1939. He later undertook an M.A. at University College Dublin, graduating in 1947. Ó’Tuairisc married the artist Una McDonnell in 1945 but who died suddenly in 1965. Following a period of personal and artistic withdrawal, Ó’Tuairisc married the poet Rita Kelly in 1972. He was the recipient of numerous literary awards throughout his life for his bi-lingual writing and was also elected a member of Aosdána.

Ó’Tuairisc won the Hyde Memorial Award for his early novel, L’Attaque, in 1962. In 1964, his book of Irish poetry, Lux Aeterna again won the award. In 1966, Dé Luain won the American Cultural Award and a stage-play, Lá Fhéile Michíl won the Oireachtas prize. Ó’Tuairisc is associated with a number of theatres in Dublin and Galway, such Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, who staged his 1974 play, An Hairyfella in Ifrinn. He also won an Oireachtas prize for his play Aisling Mhic Artáin in 1977. As well as having works staged at An Damer theatre in Dublin, Ó’ Tuairisic also contributed to work at the Peacock stage and the main stage of the Abbey Theatre, such as Táinbocú, written by Ó’Tuairisc, Criostiór Ó Floinn and Gabriel Rosenstock (1979), and the political revue, A State Of Chassis (1970) with John D. Stewart and Tomas MacAnna.

The Ó’Tuairisc archive at NUI Galway Library comprises twenty-six boxes of materials which documents Ó’Tuairisc’s literary and personal life, including manuscripts, drafts of work, correspondence with family, correspondence with Irish writers, editors and publishers, posters and programmes, photographs and a range of other material from the literary life over a number of decades. Files of letters are present from the likes of David Marcus, a long-time editor of Ó’Tuarisc at the Irish Press and Poolbeg Press, Tomás MacAnna at the Abbey Theatre, and other publisher of his poems and plays, such as Mercier Press.

As well as letters from leading Irish writers, from Martín Ó’Direán to John McGahern, early manuscripts and drafts of novels, such as a memorandum book containing notes on characters and the order of chapters for a novel, which later became "An Lomnochtán" (recently translated by Mícheál Ó hAodha and published in English as “I am Lewy” by Bullaun Press), a commemorative work on the 1916 Rising, and numerous drafts, treatments, outlines, and research files, all capturing the literary process of Ó’Tuairisc. The archive is accessible at NUI Galway Library and the catalogue can be searched online here.

Joyce's Masterpiece in Print - Ulysses: A Century Later

 

James Joyce's Ulysses
Shakespeare and Co., Paris.
Special Collections, University of Galway Library

As Leopold Bloom began his odyssey around Dublin with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, on 2^nd February 1922, so too began the story of the one of the most famous novels in all of English literature. Ulysses has captivated and confounded readers for a century since it was first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris and at her Shakespeare and Company bookshop. Within Special Collections of University of Galway Library is a rare fourth printing of the novel.

Sylvia Beach’s first printing of the novel in February 1922 ran to 1,000 numbered copies. The second printing by Egoist Press took place in London in October 1922 and ran to 2,000 numbered copies, with 500 of those famously burned by U.S. Post Office authorities. Egoist Press ran a third printing of the book with a further 500 copies in January 1923, with all but one sole copy of these being seized by Customs.

Printing run and previous editions. 
4th Printing

This fourth printing returns the story of Ulysses back to where it began, in Paris, and at Shakespeare and Company. The edition still contains the original packing slip from Beach’s shop, advertising it as a “Bookshop and Lending Library – Modern English and American Literature”. It was priced at 60 francs. At the end of the novel is a list of “Additional Corrections” with changes and edits made to the text. It was printed in Paris in January 1924, just before the book’s second anniversary.

Original packing slip from Shakespeare and Company bookshop, Paris, run by Sylvia Beach.

The book’s impact on reading, readership, language, and literature is unquantifiable. The edition is in excellent condition and a reminder of the power of words and reading to bring readers together to celebrate a novel a century after it was first published. 

Front Cover, Ulysses, 4th printing, University of Galway Library

Strand House and The Treaty - Story of a Photograph

Back Row L to R: Mary Rynne, Michael Rynne, Eamon De Valera,
Richard Mulcahy
Front Row L to R: Stephen O'Meara, Cathal Brugha.
Rynne Family Archive, NUI Galway Library Archives

The Strand Hotel in Limerick city, near the river Shannon, was the site of a significant moment at the heart of the Treaty negotiations of 1921. Then known as Strand House, home of the O’Meara's, a prominent political and business family in the city, a photograph was taken of a group of visitors to the house who would all play prominent roles in the lead up to and in the aftermath of the signing of the Treaty in December 1921.

As the Treaty negotiations were drawing to a close, and on the night the Treaty was being signed in London, Eamon De Valera was at Strand House in Limerick. Along with De Valera, Richard Mulcahy and Cathal Brugha also stayed at Strand House on the night of the 5^th  and 6^th of December as guests of Stephen O’Meara and family.

A phone call from the Irish delegation in London reached Strand House so as to inform De Valera on the outcome of the negotiations. The phone call updated De Valera that the Treaty had been signed in London in the early hours of 6th December 1921.

The photograph is included as part of the recently opened “The Treaty, 1921: Records from the Archives” exhibition, located at Dublin Castle and led by the National Archives of Ireland. The photograph is part of the Rynne Family archive at NUI Galway Library Archives. Comprising records of various members of the family, including playwright Mary Rynne, diplomat Michael Rynne, and later archaeologist and professor at NUI Galway, Etienne Rynne (grandson of Michael Rynne).

Michael Rynne (1899–1981) was a legal scholar, civil servant and diplomat. He was born on 12 September 1899 in Hampshire, England, before moving to Limerick in 1907. He studied at University College Dublin before joining the Volunteers in 1917. In 1921, Rynne was in charge of the flying column of Blessington, Co. Wicklow. He later served as ADC to Richard Mulcahy. A close associate of Michael Collins, Rynne was later appointed officer in charge of the military training camp at Dunboyne, Co. Meath, of which detailed records of training and drilling regimes devised by Rynne are present within his papers.

Rynne received his doctorate in legal studies from the University of Munich in 1929. In 1936, he was appointed legal advisor to the Department of External Affairs, soon becoming head of the department's League of Nations section from 1936 to 1940, part of a small group of close advisors to Eamon De Valera. In 1955, Rynne was appointed Irish Ambassador to Spain, before later retiring from the civil service in 1961. Rynne died in Dublin on the 8^th February 1981.

For the full catalogue of papers from the Rynne Family Archive, including the Michael Rynne papers, click on this link

For more information on “The Treaty, 1921: Records from the Archive” exhibition see the National Archives for details.

Michael Rynne
Rynne Family Archive, NUI Galway Library Archives

Mary Robinson Archive: Phase 1

In January 2020 the task of processing the Mary Robinson archive in NUI Galway began. As project archivist, I am privileged to have this honour, and despite Covid_19 restrictions adding to the challenges, work continues apace. At almost 750 bankers boxes of material spanning over six decades, this immensely rich collection covers many different aspects of the former President of Ireland’s work, including her time as barrister, senator, professor, President of Ireland, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, chair of the Elders, founder of Realizing Rights (the Ethical Globalization Initiative), and culminating in the setting up of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice. As I near the end of the first phase it seemed a fitting time to introduce you all to the work of the archivist behind the scenes before a collection can be made available, to update you all on the progress and to give you a sneak peek.

Postcard sent to Senator Mary Robinson

Statement by Sen Mary Robinson at press reception to launch Directory of Services in Ireland for Unmarried Parents and their Children, 1977

The Phases 

The interest which greeted the announcement that work had commenced was fantastic but also led to my inbox unsurprisingly being inundated with queries! Because the job of the archivist is often misunderstood, it is easy to assume that all that was required of me once the material had been transferred to NUIG was to hand it out as requested. I have therefore chosen to detail the process involved to shine a light on the painstaking work that goes on behind the scenes, and hopefully to delay those queries for a little longer until I am further down the road. There are several stages to processing a collection before it can be made available and essentially they can be listed as follows: know what you have, make it safe, appraise it, decide on an arrangement, catalogue it, consider what should be made accessible (for example is it too frail, are there data protection issues etc.) and then release it. Separate to these are decisions on digitising where possible and appropriate. It can be daunting to know where to start when faced with hundreds of boxes of material but keeping these points in mind and having a plan is key. It is also important to familiarise yourself with the background of the collection, in this case getting a feel for the various areas in which Mary Robinson was/is involved. (The answer is LOTS!) 

 

Flyer protesting destruction of Wood Quay, 1979

    

Due to the sheer vastness of this collection it was decided to divide the overall project into three sections.

• Phase 1 – The First Pass: this is the process whereby the contents of every box are removed, examined, listed and re-housed in special archive boxes which are then stored in secure climate-conditioned storerooms. It encompasses the first three stages listed above: know what you have, make it safe, appraise it.
• Phase 2 – Arrangement: in order to get intellectual control over a collection, give it structure, and lay the ground work for making items easily discoverable to researchers down the road, a clear logical arrangement must be decided on by the archivist (unless one already exists). 
• Phase 3 – Cataloguing and Release: this phase predominantly involves the painstaking work of cataloguing the collection, box by box, series by series, file by file, and in some cases item by item. During this phase items are also considered for digitising, and decisions made on accessibility which take issues such as GDPR into account.  
  
  

Phase 1 

KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE 

Each one of the 750 boxes has to be opened and its contents examined before I know what is in the collection. This is the first pass and due to the size of the collection I decided to combine a few additional stages while conducting it: 

MAKE IT SAFE 

 

While examining the contents of each box, I am also checking their condition for problems such as mould that might spread. Contents are then removed from the current boxes and placed in specially designed archive boxes and folders that help preserve them. These boxes are then placed in secure storage in climate controlled storerooms. The material is now both secure from further deterioration, and from theft. It is also protected from environmental hazards such as fire and flood. During this process, I list the contents of each box (known as a box-list) and note what format the items are in (paper, photograph, CD etc.). This box-list not only summarises what is in the collection, it will also aid in deciding on an arrangement for the collection once the first pass is complete. 

Archive boxes safely stored on shelves, with unprocessed bankers boxes in background

APPRAISE IT 

Not everything in a collection should necessarily be kept – it may not be relevant or unique to that collection. There can also often be duplication of material and in some cases it may not be possible to suitably store an item due to its format, size or other practical considerations. For that reason the collection needs to be appraised. Appraisal is an important function of archivists and what separates them from colleagues in other related professions. 

An unwelcome visitor to any archive!

At the end of what I’ve termed The First Pass the entire collection has been made safe from the elements, we know what’s in it (to a basic level), and we know roughly where to find it. However, none of the items are stored in any particular order. The collection is safe from the elements and from theft but is not considered 100% safe yet from an archival point of view until an arrangement has been put in place, the material structured under that, and reference IDs assigned. That’s the next phase. 

What’s Next 

The arrangement stage, Phase 2, will commence in January 2022. Once that has been completed it is then time to catalogue the collection (Phase 3). Until the cataloguing has been completed it is still not possible for the researcher to browse through a finding aid to know what can be viewed from the collection. The good news is that because it is so vast, rather than waiting until the entire collection is described fully, parts of the collection will instead be released in tranches, as they are completed. 

Sneak Peek 

Under normal circumstances access is never given to a collection before it is processed. This is not because archivists are power-hungry gatekeepers! Rather it is because we simply don’t know what we have, where it is, what condition it is in, and what its context is until we have processed the collection.

 

However, many of you may already have heard mention of this fantastic collection in national press in recent weeks. That is because of the recent publication The Presidents’ Letters, which came out late October and which features over 60 images from this archive. In an unusual move, author Flor MacCarthy was given permission by the donor of the collection to NUIG, Mary Robinson, to access the collection before it was released, and I was asked to facilitate any way I could. 

Former President Mary Robinson launching Flor MacCarthy's book "The Presidents' Letters", October 2021

An exception such as this is rare, but it made complete sense that a book covering the correspondence of all 9 Presidents of Ireland would include those of our first female president, who redefined the role. While Flor had access to a few processed boxes in early 2020, due to Covid restrictions the bulk of the material was selected by me as I continued to process the boxes. These selections were based on the topics and themes of Flor’s book which she had shared in advance, and digital copies were sent to Flor for her to browse. 

Some children's drawings from the Mary Robinson archive, reproduced with their permission in Flor's book.

It was a challenging but fun exercise that has resulted in an excellent representation of Robinson and her presidency in the book, but until the rest of the phases are complete, it will have to do for now! In the meantime here is a sneak peak of material from other areas of her work, to whet your appetites further.

letter from the Dalai Lama congratulating Mary Robinson on the setting up of the Ethical Globalization Initiative

letter of congratulations and thanks from Senator Edward Kennedy following success of Lawrence v Texas, a "well-deserved victory for gay rights...".

Mary Robinson with Bishop Desmond Tutu

I hope this blog gives you an insight into the painstaking but incredibly rewarding work that goes on behind the scenes and I look forward to sharing this amazing collection with you all when the time comes.

Beir bua / Take care 

Niamh 

Christmas card from Áras an Uachtaráin with pencil drawing of the Áras by John Nankivell