Waterford's story to be told through virtual roadshow
Waterford townland survey - courtesy L. Brown Collection
On Wednesday, November 13, Waterford City and County Libraries and Waterford City and County Archives will host an event called the 'Finding Waterford in the Virtual Record Treasury Roadshow', at Central Library.
The initiative will showcase digital records that help tell the story of Waterford and its people from the 19th Century back to medieval times.
A spokesperson for the library services commented on the initiative to Waterford News & Star and said: "The roadshow is a wonderful opportunity for people to learn about their local history in this exciting new online resource."
When the Public Record Office of Ireland was destroyed during the Battle of the Four Courts, in June 1922, seven centuries of Irish history went up in smoke. In recent years historians, archivists and computer scientists have been searching in archives and libraries, at home and abroad, hunting for any copies that can help replace these lost records.
The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland was launched in June 2022, providing the public with free online access to thousands of replacement records, with over 50 million words of searchable text, collected from 70 partner archives and libraries around the world.
The upcoming roadshow will take place in the Central Library, Lady Lane, Waterford, at 6pm on Wednesday, November 13. Joanne Rothwell, Archivist with Waterford City and County Archives, will share further resources for local history at the event.
Following Ms Rothwell’s introduction, Ciarán Wallace, Lynn Kilgallon, and Brian Gurrin from the Virtual Record Treasury, will each give presentations on various facets of the project.
The event will culminate with Lorraine Boyle, Local Studies Librarian for Waterford City and County Library, giving an introduction to the Local Studies Collection in Waterford.
The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland research programme is supported by the Irish Government through funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under Project Ireland 2040.
To find out more about the initiative visit www.virtualtreasury.ie
The Waterford roadshow will be free-of-charge and everyone is welcome to attend, however booking is required. To reserve a place visit http://bit.ly/4eMjn9P or contact Central Library on 051 849975 or by email at centrallibrary@waterfordcouncil.ie
