VRTI Team Member Anna Attwood completes PhD in History at Trinity College Dublin

VRTI Team Member Anna Attwood recently completed her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, focusing on the Irish Record Commission. Her dissertation, The Irish Record Commission (1810-1830): Medievalism and the Emergence of Archivism in Ireland, examines not only the Commission’s achievements—representing the first large-scale effort to organise Irish archival material—but also explores why this activity became a priority during the politically charged years following the Act of Union and preceding Catholic Emancipation.

Her research, conducted in collaboration with the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland and supported by the Provost PhD Award Scholarship, provides crucial context for the calendars and transcriptions produced by the Commission. These documents now serve as foundational replacements for the original records destroyed in the Four Courts Fire of 1922. Anna’s primary research interests lie in medievalism and the origins of archival practices in Ireland. While her academic background is rooted in late medieval history, her work increasingly intersects with the memory of the Middle Ages and the intellectual milieu of early nineteenth century Ireland.

Congratulations Anna!