Deep History, Deepening Collaborations

62 Virtual Treasury 101 Step Into the Past and Back to the Future Public Research Showcase from the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland and Key Partners, marking the 101st Anniversary of the Four Courts Blaze, 1922 Thomas Davis Lecture Theatre, Trinity College Dublin Saturday, 1 July 2023 In this public showcase, Virtual Treasury 101 described the latest discoveries from the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland team and our Core Partners. 101 years ago, on June 30th, 1922, the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) at the Four Courts, Dublin, was destroyed in the Civil War. This priceless cultural storehouse was lost in a single afternoon. One hundred years after the Four Courts blaze, the Treasury was re-born as a dynamic legacy from the Decade of Centenaries. Our showcase began with ‘After the Fire’, stepping back in time to the aftermath of the Four Courts blaze and the challenge of reconstructing Ireland’s lost memories. Our collaborative research retraced the footsteps of the archival heroes of one hundred years ago, who retrieved damaged records from the rubble, preserved them for posterity and began the hunt for replacement archives in British libraries and archives. The second session — ‘Back to the Future’ — explored our latest Thematic Collections and the power of technology and creativity to re-imagine the past. Participants: Jessica Baldwin (Senior Conservator, National Archives, Ireland), Sarah Hendriks (Retracing Archival Footsteps), Brian Gurrin (Localities and Communities), Elizabeth Biggs (Cultures of Conquest) and Paul Dryburgh (The National Archives UK); Timothy Murtagh (Rumour, Riot and Rebellion); Lynn Kilgallon (Humanities Lead, Knowledge Graph for Irish History); Mairéad McClean (Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence); Zoë Keeper, Keeper, Public Services and Collections, National Archives, Ireland. Dissemi