Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

@fmdmedievaldublin.bsky.social @ria.ie @rialibrary.bsky.social @irishmanuscripts.bsky.social @opwireland.bsky.social @cccdublin.bsky.social

From left to right: Barbara McCormack, RIA Librarian; Ciarán Wallace, VRTI Co-Director; John McCafferty, Chair of the Irish Manuscripts Commission. Image courtesy of Royal Irish Academy.

From left to right: VRTI Associate Researcher Dr Theresa O'Byrne; VRTI Research Fellow Dr Lynn Kilgallon; VRTI Archival Research Assistant Sadhbh Dunne. Image courtesy of Royal Irish Academy.

Colm Lennon, MRIA, addressing the audience in the RIA Library. Image: Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland.

On Wednesday, 22 October 2025, the VRTI joined the Royal Irish Academy and the Irish Manuscripts Commission to launch the new Guild of St Anne Gold Seam, one of Dublin’s most important historical records.

You can read more about the collection here: virtualtreasury.ie/news/ria-imc...

Watching the old Parliament building/now Bank of Ireland get some new headwear from the desk…

Henry Savage Sweetman: the man who uncovered Ireland’s medieval history Henry Savage Sweetman published the Calendar which translated over 8,000 Irish medieval records. But who was Sweetman and why did he complete this project?

It was a pleasure to collaborate with Paul Dryburgh (TNA, UK) on this blog on the fascinating life of H.S Sweetman. More to come so watch this space! @historytcd.bsky.social @virtualtreasury.bsky.social

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

Detail from Coffee House in Salisbury Market Place, Thomas Rowlandson, 1891 (Royal Museums Greenwich ID: PAF4936)

Detail from NAI CSO/REB/620/38/222 -- Examination of Bella Martin (Co. Meath) as to activities of William Aylmer [Saturday, 23 June 1798]

#WomeninRebellion Bella Martin started as a Belfast barmaid. By 1798, she was a Crown agent inside a rebel leader’s home, reporting on arms hidden under a chapel altar. Her world was dangerous — and morally murky.

Read more here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...

Ireland and the American Revolution | Newstalk On the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, we'll discuss the Irish involve...

Our colleague @joelherman.bsky.social was recently featured on the podcast "Talking History with Patrick Geoghegan"

Listen here: www.newstalk.com/podcasts/hig...

Detail from 'The Battle of Wexford in Ireland fought June 20th 1798' Coloured line engraving, published by G Thompson, August 1798. National Army Museum, Study collection, 1971-02-33-471-1

NAI CSO/REB/620/6/69/5 - Account of Court Martial of Catherine Kelly, Co. Tipperary [Thursday, 28 March 1799]

#WomeninRebellion Only one woman appears as the primary defendant in the court martial records of 1798–1801. Catharine Kelly’s trial in Clonmel was brief — but it shows how suspicion reached even into women’s lives.

Read her case here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...

Today's translation (coming soon to @virtualtreasury.bsky.social when I sort out the dates and metadata) is this lovely survivor.

Strikingly, there are many women named in it paying for royal taxation in the early fifteenth century. Any more fragments lurking?

virtualtreasury.ie/item/CamStJo...

Four Courts, June 1922

Even Charlotte Dowager Duchess of Somerset finds that her eyesight was restored by Rowley's British-herb snuff and tobacco. Handy stuff. (Dublin Gazette, 4 July 1771 via @virtualtreasury.bsky.social )

It was a fantastic closing roundtable and a fitting end to a wonderful two days. Many thanks to my co-organisers, @virtualtreasury.bsky.social, @tlrhub.bsky.social, and all the speakers, participants, and attendees! The start of a generative conversation that I hope we will continue.

YouTube video by Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Ireland and the American Revolution

How was Ireland involved in the American Revolution? 🇮🇪 🇺🇸

Launching the ‘Ireland and the American Revolution’ conference, Dr @joelherman.bsky.social (@tcddublin.bsky.social & @virtualtreasury.bsky.social) explains how Ireland is connected with the #AmericanRevolution.

youtube.com/shorts/Q0hb9...

NAI CSO/REB/620/5/58/54: Proceedings of Court Martial of John Whelan, Co. Carlow [Wednesday, 17 April 1799]

Illustration from W.H. Maxwell's "History of the Irish rebellion in 1798 : with memoirs of the union, and Emmett's insurrection in 1803" (1854).

#WomeninRebellion April 1799: Margaret McIvers hides in a limekiln with a child as rebels kill her family. Months later, she stands in a Carlow court martial, her testimony shaping the fate of the accused.

Hear her voice here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...

Collecting Ireland’s History @virtualtreasury.bsky.social a talk by Sarah Hendriks as part of the Dublin Festival of History now taking place @ria.ie

We were delighted to welcome guests to “Registrars and Deputy Registrars at the Registry of Deeds, 1708–1832”, where Dr. Brendan Twomey delivered an insightful talk exploring the journeys of those who led the Registry during its first century.
#PublicRecords #CulturalHeritage #histfest2025

Ireland and the American Revolution | Newstalk On the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, we'll discuss the Irish involve...

Dr Joel Herman, Research Fellow at @virtualtreasury.bsky.social and School of Histories and Humanities TCD, features on the @newstalkfm.bsky.social Talking History panel discussion about the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

Listen now: www.newstalk.com/podcasts/hig...

Join us on 8 Oct for Collecting Ireland’s History, a lecture for the Dublin Festival of History in collaboration with @virtualtreasury.bsky.social

Explore 700 years of Irish manuscript collecting.

Book your tickets now: www.tickettailor.com/events/royal...

#HistFest2025 event at 45 Merrion Square this morning, with @tailteeireann.bsky.social and @virtualtreasury.bsky.social

Trim Castle, Co. Meath. Source: Curious Ireland

John's paper will introduce the NAISC (Normandy and Ireland Settlement Connections) project and share some early exciting findings which shed new light on medieval Dublin.

Lynn's paper will showcase the riches of medieval Dublin in the VRTI and provide an advance peek at a new Gold Seam: the Deeds of the Guild of St Anne, launching on 22 October @ria.ie.

Our colleagues Lynn Kilgallon and @jmarshallmed.bsky.social will be presenting at tomorrow's 26th @fmdmedievaldublin.bsky.social Symposium as part of the Dublin Festival of History.

As part of Dublin’s Festival of History, Tailte Éireann is partnering with the Irish Manuscript Commission to deliver a free seminar on Saturday, 4 October 2025 from 11:00-13:00 at 45 Merrion Square, D02VY60.

No booking required, first come, first served.
#HistFest2025
#VirtualTreasury

A printed poem which reads: I hav for breakfast Weetabix I hav for lunch some meat I have for tea 2 sosajis and thats enuf to eat Peter Hazel, 5

On National Poetry Day, the greatest poem I have ever read

Women in Rebellion: Recovering Female Voices in the 1798 Rebellion Papers - Virtual Treasury This gallery, created in collaboration with the National Archives of Ireland, presents a series of documents that capture the voices and experiences of women during the 1790s, and especially during…

This series will feature images and stories from our new image gallery, created in collaboration with The National Archives of Ireland: virtualtreasury.ie/image-galler...

@historyireland.bsky.social

J. F. O'Hea. A Scout of '98. "The Yeos'!!!". drawn, printed and published by the Freeman's Journal, 1891. Source: National Library of Ireland

For too long, the 1798 Rebellion was told as a man’s story. But hidden in the Rebellion Papers are women’s voices that witnessed, resisted, and sometimes fought. Through a new weekly series curated by @timvrti.bsky.social, we're bringing them back into the light.

Cork City Libraries, Cork CL GJ

Professor Gillian O'Brien (https://www.gillianobrien.net/about)

This Fri, 3 October at 2pm — 3rd and final talk in @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy's "Finding Ireland" online series: "Ireland's undiscovered past: the 1800s" from @gillianobrien.bsky.social. More info on how to join here:

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/whats-on/eve...

One week until our Symposium, looking forward to seeing you all there!
@historytcd.bsky.social @dublincityheritage.bsky.social @dubcitycouncil.bsky.social @virtualtreasury.bsky.social

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

Eighteenth-Century Clickbait...

Neil's talk will explore how, from the 1530s onward, religious reforms fractured a centuries-old political settlement. These reforms undermined traditional Irish rule in favour of English-born governors and officials, culminating in the explosive tensions of the 16th and 17th centuries.