Irish Archives: The Records of the Church of Ireland

Edited by Susan Hood & Elizabeth McEvoy

Irish Archives is the annual publication of the Irish Society for Archives and is Ireland’s only dedicated professional journal. Irish Archives vol. 21 is devoted to the records of the Church of Ireland, and reflects the vast array of materials kept safe in the RCB Library.

The journal was launched in the Deanery of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, in November 2014, by the Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD, who said great credit was due to the Church of Ireland for gathering its records and keeping them safe. Referring to the journal’s cover photograph which features American First Lady, Michelle Obama and her daughters viewing the parish registers of Templeharry, County Offaly, the Minister stressed the importance of record–keeping:

‘We are all aware that there are parish records. But it is important that they are gathered together and made available to the public. Looking at the cover photo, we wouldn’t have had President Obama’s visit if it hadn’t been for archives because he would have been able to trace his family,’ she said. ‘The gathering of these records and the provision of them to people is a service to the nation. And as a national we rely on these archives because of the destruction of the Public Records Office in 1922.‘

Commending the journal, the Minister suggested that it would make interesting reading not just for Church of Ireland people, but for anyone interested in the evolution of modern Ireland.

• Year

  2014

• Cover

  Paperback