Peter Crooks

“The Yeats family could have sent this material anywhere. They chose the National Library.”

Last week, our Director Dr Audrey Whitty spoke at the Yeats Memorial Building in Sligo @yeatssocietysligo.bsky.social, a fitting place to talk about what we hold, and what we are building.

YouTube video by TCAS: Trinity Centre for Asian Studies Isabella Jackson (TCD) -- Classical Chinese Gardens through the Centuries

Dr. @isabellajackson.bsky.social gave a talk for the Dublin Lunar New Year festival on classical Chinese gardens, including the one in Dublin's St Anne's Park: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFOV...

VRTI will be posting some information about the 1766 religious census returns over the next few days (260th 🎂 approaching). Keep an 👁️out. We'll be revealing some hidden gems 💎 among the surviving returns.

https://virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-PRIV-M-5036-A-9 Handwritten copy of the Irish House of Lords resolution on 5 march 1766 ordering the 1766 Religious Census to be taken. Source: National Archives, Ireland, PRIV/M/5036A, p. 13.

https://www.virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams/1766-religious-census The homepage for the 1766 Religious Census on the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland. Every surviving copy census records from over a dozen archives are gathered together and fully searchable here.

Countdown to the 260th anniversary of Ireland's first census. 🕰️ 7️⃣
5 March 1766 the Irish House of Lords orders a census of all householders noting 'which are protestants and which are Papists' (Catholics).
They gave only 61 days to cover the whole country!
virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-PRI...
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Sprung. Looking to spawn? Not on the front step preferably.

First flowers of Edgeworthia chrysantha — an incredible scent says spring is here after a diluvian early February. Named after — you guessed it — Maria Edgeworth and her botanist half-bro Michael (www.dib.ie/biography/ed... and www.dib.ie/biography/ed...)

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice, welcomed the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Micheál Martin, to Cambridge to celebrate the appointment of the University’s first Childers Professor of Irish History. Photo of Prof Alvin Jackson, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, and Vice-Chancellor Prof Deborah Prentice standing in the Great Court, Trinity College, Cambridge. Photo credit: University of Cambridge The text of the Taoiseach's speech is available here: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/speeches/address-of-taoiseach-miche%C3%A1l-martin-announcement-of-the-first-childers-professor-of-modern-irish-history-at-cambridge-university-trinity-college-cambridge-friday-20th-february-2026/

https://virtualtreasury.ie/item/CamTrinity-MS-1388 Flyleaves from MS 1388, Gesta Romanorum, Trinity College, Cambridge. The three flyleaves at the beginning are fragments of an account roll of cent. xiv, xv. On one side, well written, are portions of an Irish rental. Among the names that occur are 1. Ballythormoth · Ballybrodyn · Mologhrath· Balyrothe ...Henr. Adameson.Christopher de Holywode.Manerium de Trym. 2. Nouum castrum de Lyones Tasshagard.... Joh. Humbleton... Laurencius Neweton....fratres Carmelitarum leghlyn... Galfr. de Vale miles.Cromlyn.Bally Margg.Capella Isold et saltus salmonum... Walt. de la Hyde... Edw.Perrers... Will. Wellesley... Th. Monyn... Will. Kylmyngton.Walt. Eure... Prior S. Joh. Jerusalem hibern. 3. Balyskeagh.Manerium de demore.Castelricard.Maneria de Rathtoirith(?) Ardumlghan · Moylagli · Kyldalk Each paragraph ends with a statement of what is due to the King: "itaque domino Refi," "et sic Regi" etc On the other side in a rougher hand are some more accounts, viz Rentale Johannis Shordich and copenhanger doune. See more Cambridge MSs in VRTI: https://www.virtualtreasury.ie/collecting-history-exhibition

The Statue of Kilkenny's ban on mixed marriages being enforced. 1396/7. Translation of entry on Page 32 of MS 3104: J.W. is indicted because he took Finowle Ó hAnluain, an Irish woman, in cayff and held her for two years feloniously, contrary to the form of the Statute of Kilkenny. And he pleaded for pardon. 20 Richard II, roll 7. (Trans. P. Crooks) See more Cambridge MSs in VRTI: https://www.virtualtreasury.ie/collecting-history-exhibition

See Irish historical records shared by Cambridge and other British and Irish research libraries at our online exhibition: https://www.virtualtreasury.ie/collecting-history-exhibition

Welcome remarks by @micheal-martin.bsky.social at @trincolllibcam.bsky.social
Irish + British histories are bound together:
sometimes literally! virtualtreasury.ie/item/CamTrin...
often personally - virtualtreasury.ie/item/CUL-MS-...
and collaboratively 👍️
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@camlibresearch.bsky.social

“The sanguinary but necessary purgative” Great review in @lrb.co.uk by great Chris Given-Wilson @uniofstandrews.bsky.social of John Watts @ox.ac.uk, who gave the ‘Lydon Lectures’ in 2022 at TCD @historytcd.bsky.social. Yes, before you ask, CGW quote refers to #warsoftheroses not outcome of reading!

Thank you Peter, I am sure it will!

Thank you for everything JP. It was one of the best developments for VRTI that you joined our team and made such a magnificent contribution over four years. I hope this experience will carry you forward to the next great adventure — in metadata, research, travel, and public history.

Quick note that the # of names from Irish censuses, 1766-1891, has leaped forward over the past few weeks, and now stands at a whopping 115,911. And the good news is that we have 1,000s more names to come in over the first half of 2026. Here's a cracker: virtualtreasury.ie/item/VRTI-CE...

#TNAConnections Have you had a chance to explore our newest Gold Seam, Parchment Conquest (1171–1307)?

150 years ago Henry Savage Sweetman published the first of five volumes that would become foundational to the study of medieval Ireland.

virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams/C...

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

Join us for a lecture with Dr Sarah Hendriks and see the RIA Library's physical exhibition. 3pm, Wednesday 8 October. Visit https://www.ria.ie/events/ for booking

@virtualtreasury.bsky.social

Congratulations to my @historytcd.bsky.social colleagues @petercrooks.bsky.social and @cwallacedublin.bsky.social and their team @virtualtreasury.bsky.social on repurposing 30 June as a joyful day of archival discovery through their extraordinary work

'New lease of life' - Project digitises archive documents 175,000 new historical records lost during a fire at the Four Courts during the Civil War in 1922 are being made available online, including 60,000 names from the Irish 19th century censuses.

103 years ago #OTD Dublin's Four Courts, including the Irish PRO, was destroyed at the start of the Irish Civil War.
Last year we enjoyed a fascinating talk by @petercrooks.bsky.social on @virtualtreasury.bsky.social's efforts to reconstruct these lost records, the latest batch of which is out now!

📢 (Re)Introducing DARIAH-IE! 🇮🇪

On Tuesday May 27th DARIAH-IE will be hosting an online event for members of the Irish Digital Arts & Humanities communities and beyond, to give an an overview of DARIAH-IE & its exciting plans for the coming years 🤗

➡️ www.dariah.eu/2025/05/07/r...

Looking for some case studies in the Registry of Deeds for something I am writing and found a Patrick Walsh as the beneficiary of a will in 1709! virtualtreasury.ie/item/ROD-PR-... @virtualtreasury.bsky.social

Airport bound after an enjoyable couple of days at the Scottish Medievalists Conference in snowy Cumbernauld, where I was speaking on 13thC connections between Ireland and Scotland
@historytcd.bsky.social

For historians of the news, media, eighteenth-century Ireland, and the Atlantic world: the Dublin Gazette, 1750-1800 is up on the @virtualtreasury.bsky.social online platform here www.virtualtreasury.ie/browse/Dubli...

Also ran into a 'Mr. Beamish' and an 'honourable foreman Mr. Guinness'. A banner day for the stouts...

Stained glass portrait of Henry VIII, Cardiff Castle. Source: Flickr, Leo Reynolds. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Our newest Gold Seam is live — "Fiants of Tudor Monarchs" curated by Sadhbh Dunne, Dr Eamonn Kenny, and @petercrooks.bsky.social.

virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams/f...

ACTS OF MEMORY — MAIRÉAD McCLEAN ACTS OF MEMORY FILM

👀 trailer for this '16mm/ Artificially Intelligent film' here 👇
www.maireadmcclean.com/acts-of-memory

The Belgrade-Based Kinoscop celebrates experimental approaches to working with celluloid in the digital age and showcases imaginative films that evoke powerful audiovisual experiences and thought-provoking reflections, drawing inspiration from experimental, surrealist, and underground cinema.

A HUGE congratulations to Mairéad McClean who was recently awarded the Kinoscop International Festival of Analog Experimental Cinema's Curator's Award 2024 for her film, 'Acts of Memory'.

More information can be found here:
virtualtreasury.ie/news/mairead...

I will wait patiently for the full thing - meanwhile, hurrah for any mention of Mabel Mills!

Still from 'Acts of Memory' - full face shot of the archivist putting on his glasses as the image comes into focus. Mairead McClean was the Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence with the Trinity Long Room Hub working with the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland.

Still from 'Acts of Memory' showing newsreel footage of the shelling of the Four Courts, Dublin, in June 1922 - in the battle which resulted in the destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland and its seven centuries of Irish historical records.

Still from 'Acts of Memory' showing a hand opening to reveal a chestnut

😃 Delighted that Mairéad McClean's brilliant film
'Acts of Memory' is selected as the opening screening at www.kinoskop.co Museum of Yugoslav Film Archive 8-10 Dec 2024
👀 trailer for this '16mm/ Artificially Intelligent film' here 👇
www.maireadmcclean.com/acts-of-memory
Insta: @maclofski

Psalter of Queen Isabella of England (between 1303 and 1308). Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. ALT: Initial letter "A" of Psalm 120 illuminated with the queen praying, flanked by the arms of England and France.

Our colleagues @elizabethbiggs.bsky.social and Paul Dryburgh wrote about linking together medieval
#Irish collections both in Ireland and the UK to tell the story of Alexander Bicknor's corruption in new ways.

Read about it here: virtualtreasury.ie/hidden-stori...

Rethinking State and Society in Early Modern Britain — CEMS KCL Blog Conference on the state and society in early modern Britain.

Very much looking forward to taking part in this conference next Tuesday, the 17 December at the Centre for Early Modern Studies, King's College London.

kingsearlymodern.co.uk/events/confe...

Spying on Hibernia: Intelligence Gathering in Ireland, 1660-1900 A One-Day Symposium (PRONI, Belfast)

Spying on Hibernia:
Intelligence Gathering in Ireland, 1660-1900

Psssst! Check out the great line-up at this fascinating
symposium tomorrow (Thursday, November 28) in PRONI, Belfast
🤫🧐🔎
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spying-on-...

Congratulations to our team member Anna Attwood, who recently completed her PhD in @historytcd.bsky.social!

Read more about Anna's research here: virtualtreasury.ie/news/vrti-te...