John O'Connor sits down with the Director Archivist of the National Archive, Orlaith McBride, to discuss the importance of safeguarding our history in a rapidly evolving world.
In the course of their history, archives have gone through significant changes, from the construction of the Library of Alexandria to the introduction of iCloud; the format and practice of archiving has faced many challenges since its inception but none so grave as the one it faces today. In today’s world, we have begun to place a troubling focus on the here and now, often at the expense of our future and with little regard for our past. Archives remind us of the valuable lessons our own history can teach us.
The National Archive of Ireland is devoted to preserving and caring for our past and the priceless records of the Republic of Ireland, including diary entries handwritten by Michael Collins, The Good Friday Agreement, and over 50 million records dating from the 14th century to the modern day. The archive, located in Dublin’s Bishop Street, also provides an online catalogue that contains over 2 million entries that not only aids students in fundamental academic research but allows people to access family and local history.
In early 2024 it was announced that an impressive €37 million would be set aside for the refurbishment of the National Archive.
The National Archive has adapted to the modern world as the Director Archivist, Orlaith McBride, tells us that “the archive is format neutral, it doesn’t matter if it’s paper, or digital, it’s about the content of the record.”
Today, archives are often undervalued in terms of their importance; greater focus is placed on the content within the records themselves, rather than the critical role the archive plays in “looking after, caring for and preserving said record.” This attitude frequently leads to archives being underfunded. However, in early 2024 it was announced that an impressive €37 million would be set aside for the refurbishment of the National Archive. The project will future-proof the records of the State over the coming decades in a “state of the art passive archive which will enable [the archive] to house over 250,000 boxes of records.”
McBride reminds us that the National Archive “was the old Jacob’s biscuit factory. It’s not a purpose-built archive.” The Director Archivist and her team are fundamentally “trying to turn an old biscuit factory into a modern archive.” The colossal re-development is a daunting task and a significant project under the National Cultural Institutions investment programme as part of Project Ireland 2040, which states that its aim is to “provide a comprehensive, social, economic and cultural infrastructure for [everyone] to flourish, [and to] create a better society.”
There is something very beautiful in a way about the physical, it speaks to the journey of the record. The physical journey speaks in many ways to the totality of what an archive does for the record [...] it looks after, cares for and preserves it.
Despite additional funding, the National Archive, or any archive for that matter, will “never have enough money [to sort through every record] because the State is generating such a vast amount of records every year” that it makes such a feat impossible. However, digital archives have improved efficiency in sorting through these millions of files, and McBride says that “over the next two or three years, as it’s all digital records, it will be a much easier proposition in terms of making these records available [to the public].” The National Archive benefits from its format neutral approach and its embrace to digitalised archives as it solidifies its own longevity and allows people all over the world to gain access to countless documents, photographs, and records which are too fragile to be handled in person. This has expanded the reach of what an archive is and redefined the practice, putting an archive in everyone's pocket and home.
Although digitised archives benefit many, there is “something significant about holding on to a physical record” which McBride defines as “a shared experience.” Nothing will ever beat holding the document or holding a piece of history in your own hands as “there is something very beautiful in a way about the physical, it speaks to the journey of the record. The physical journey speaks in many ways to the totality of what an archive does for the record [...] it looks after, cares for and preserves it.” McBride says the online archives “are a much more solitary experience” in comparison to the physical archive.
When walking through the halls of the National Archive you can, quite metaphorically, feel the history and culture around you. In a forever changing globalized world, archives help to preserve the identity and traditions of various communities, ensuring that cultural heritage and our national language is not lost to time. It provides an insight to the diverse perspectives and fosters a sense of shared history. Archives safeguard our past, inform us in the present, and will guide us into the future. The National Archive of Ireland puts our past, present and future in very safe hands.
If you're curious to explore a wealth of Ireland’s historical records and documents, the National Archives Online Catalogue is the perfect place to start.