Beyond 2022 -Ireland’s Virtual Record Treasury

The long room of the old library at trinity college, dublin, ireland Photo by Jonathan Singer on Unsplash

Those of you who have researched in Ireland know the sad tale of all those public records that were destroyed by fire in 1922. Sigh. A unique and welcomed project was to virtually recreate as many records as possible that were housed in the 1922 Public Records Building in Dublin. Look at what is available.

The Beyond 2022.ie site is the launch site for the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland. According to their site: “Beyond 2022 is an all-island and international collaborative research project working to create a virtual reconstruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, which was destroyed in the opening engagement of the Civil War on June 30th, 1922.” If they were all destroyed by the fire, where are they finding these records? Like most government records there are copies and transcripts that exist both in Ireland and internationally. It is an immense project but I’m happy they are doing this. Who knows what will be discovered? You can learn more details about this project here.
 
I spent some exploring the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland. You can search for a subject, name, or place to get started. This will provide you with a listing of documents that contain that word. I searched for “Donegal” and documents related to County Donegal were served up. I could then choose a particular document and search by a keyword. If you have a town or a person that you are searching for, the keyword is helpful. You can choose from the list presented of where the keyword is found in that document. Click on one of the items from the list and it takes you to the highlighted area in the document. While I didn’t find any family in my search in Donegal, there is information on land, parishes, court cases, and other documents covering other topics. I think it worth exploring.
 
Spend some time looking at the site. Here’s an interesting document from 1280. It notes payments received by clerks in Dublin. This record was sent to England to be reviewed so it didn’t go up in smoke and is now available to view digitally.
 
I am hopeful that we will see more records that help us with our family history. Regardless, this is an interesting endeavor that provides rich documentation about Ireland. Have fun exploring!