What were people in Ireland writing letters about 100 years ago? What were they thinking? How were they affected by the Great War? The Easter Rising? How was the government of the day responding to domestic and international pressures? Researchers at Maynooth University are today launching an online archive of letters written 100 years ago that will enable the public to delve into these important questions.
The Letters of 1916 project has crowd-sourced letters and their transcriptions from memory institutions and members of the public in Ireland’s first public humanities project. Letters written between 1 November, 1915 and 31 October, 1916 were digitised to create this unique collection, which will be of great interest not only to historians and genealogists, but to anyone who wants to find out what people were writing in Ireland at the time, as well as how people outside of Ireland viewed events here. Moreover, since each letter is available online, the project transports present day readers to a different time, providing a rare opportunity to be, however fleetingly, part of the world they inhabited. Letters of 1916 is making visible a new perspective on events which took place a century ago. The collection contributes to public understanding of what it was like to live an ordinary life through extraordinary times.
As the project leader, Professor Susan Schreibman explains: “Letters of 1916 has created a crowd-sourced digital collection of letters written between 1 November, 1915 and 31 October, 1916. To date it has collected more than 2,500 letters from more than 20 institutions and 45 private collections. These letters cover a variety of topics ranging from the Easter Rising to art, culture, family life and the Great War. Through these letters the project is bringing to life the written words, the last words, the unspoken words and the forgotten words. It is an online collection for the public, created by the public, which is adding a new perspective to life in this period, a confidential glimpse into early 20th century Ireland and the politics of the time.”
This public humanities project makes it possible for anyone to be part of the research process. The Letters of 1916 invites the public not only to help transcribe these precious letters – perhaps the last remnants of the lives of those who have themselves passed into history – but also to ensure that private family history is included in the national narrative by contributing letters to the collection that until now were hidden away in boxes, attics and biscuit tins.
Maynooth University President Philip Nolan welcomed the project: “This is an excellent demonstration of how researchers can utilise new technologies to provide a resource that has tremendous appeal to the general public. This launch is the culmination of much hard work on behalf of Professor Schreibman and her team, who have ensured that these ordinary voices have not been lost. Maynooth University’s 1916 commemoration programme is dedicated to ensuring that these voices, and in particular the voices of women, which are often marginalised by history, are preserved.”
See letters1916.maynoothuniversity.ie.
Prof Susan Schreibman is Course Director of the MA in Digital Humanities at Maynooth University.
Commemorations
ToggleLetters of 1916: A year in the life’ project launches
News
Remembering 1919: war, politics and sport in revolutionary Ireland
On 28 September 2019, Maynooth University’s Decade of Commemorations Committee, in association with the History Department, held a one-day conference, Remembering 1919: war, politics and sport in revolutionary Ireland.
Date: Monday, 30 September 2019
An-Spéis i Quiz Amlíne na gCuimhneachán Arís i mBliana
Ghlac daltaí rang a cúig agus rang a sé ó dhá scoil aitiúla páirt sa Quiz Amlíne, bunaithe ar Dheich mBliana na gCuimhneachán 1912 – 1922.
Date: Monday, 22 July 2019
Strong Interest in Commemorations Timeline Quiz Continues
5th and 6th class students from two local schools took part in the Timeline Quiz, based on the Decade of Commemorations 1912-1922
Date: Thursday, 04 July 2019
The Development of the Doctrine of Universal Jurisdiction seminar
The Commemorations Committee supported a seminar, recalling the creation of the landmark international court, the Permanent Court of International of Justice, and analysing its legacy in the realm of the doctrine of universal jurisdiction.
Date: Monday, 29 April 2019
New publication
Congratulations to Dr Jennifer Redmond on the publication of her monograph Moving Histories: Irish Women's Emigration to Britain from Independence to Republic (Liverpool University Press, 2018).
Date: Thursday, 13 December 2018
1918 and the Old-New Europe Exhibition on campus
A one day event took place Maynooth University on Friday, 19th October on 1918 and the Old-New Europe
Date: Friday, 19 October 2018
Geographers conference on “A Century of Elections: Past, Place and Politics
The newly established Electoral Geography Group (EGG), Maynooth University, hosted a conference entitled ‘A Century of Elections: Past, Place and Politics.’
Date: Monday, 08 October 2018
The Country House and the Great War Exhibition
An exhibition exploring the impact of the First World War on the Irish Country House, curated by Prof Terence Dooley was launched on Thursday 4 October in Maynooth University Library
Date: Saturday, 06 October 2018
The Country House and the Great War launch
The Country House and the Great War launch at Maynooth University Library
Date: Thursday, 04 October 2018
Local Schools take part in Decade of Commemorations Timeline Quiz
5th and 6th class students from Presentation Girls’ School Maynooth were the first students to take part in the Maynooth University Timeline Quiz based on the Decade of Commemorations Timeline
Date: Thursday, 21 June 2018