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Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
@virtualtreasury.bsky.social
1.9K followers 560 following 220 posts
www.virtualtreasury.ie
An All-Island & International Legacy from Decade of Centenaries
Core partners: National Archives Ireland, The National Archives UK, Public Record Office Northern Ireland, Irish Manuscripts Commission, Library Trinity College Dublin
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Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland @virtualtreasury.bsky.social · 15d
Save the date! 📆 We are bringing the VRTI Roadshow to Kilkenny this month, with a special addition: the launch of Professor Keith Busby's new publication — The Statute of Kilkenny — published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission.

🗓️ Tues25 November 2025
🕠 6:45 – 9:00 PM
📍 Mayfair Library, Kilkenny
Source: L.Brown Collection
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
#WomenInRebellion We hope you've enjoyed this series (curated by our colleague @timvrti.bsky.social)! These voices — from courtrooms, safehouses, prison cells, and family rooms — reveal women as actors, witnesses, and narrators in the 1798 Rebellion.
‘A map of Ireland to elucidate the Rebellion of 1798’, from Sir Richard Musgrave, Memoirs of the Different Rebellions in Ireland (1801)
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
⚜️ Hear ye, hear ye!

In the year of our Lord 1392, James Butler, Earl of Ormond, did release and quitclaim his noble castle of Kilkenny.

In the year of our Lord 2025, the VRTI returns to Kilkenny to reveal this very record — and to launch Professor Keith Busby’s The Statute of Kilkenny (IMC).
NLI Deeds Ormond D 1332 - Irish letters patent: INSPEXIMUS of release and quitclaim given under seal of earl of Ormond Image of Kilkenny Castle behind a bed of red flowers. Wikimedia Commons, Jonjobaker, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
November 17, 2025 at 1:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
#WomenInRebellion Petition for survival: Jane Montgomery asked Lord Cornwallis for one thing: safe passage to America. Not land, not money — just the chance to escape retribution. Hers is one of many women’s petitions in the Rebellion Papers.

🔗 Read it here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...
Francisco Goya Woman in Prison 1797-98 185 x 125 mm Burnished aquatint, touched with black chalk on paper Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid NAI CSO/REB/620/51/91 Jane Montgomery (Co. Down), memorial to Marquess Cornwallis [no date, post-1798]
November 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
📣 The keynotes and a VRTI panel from last month's 'Ireland and the American Revolution' conference hosted with @tlrhub.bsky.social are now available here:

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Ireland and the American Revolution
A two-day conference organised by The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland in partnership with the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute.
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
Great feature in historyireland.bsky.social by bsky.app/profile/mayn... Eamon Darcy on William Molyneux & the birth of #LocalHistory in Ireland.

👀 our Curated collection
www.virtualtreasury.ie/curated-coll...
📢 Shout out to funders bsky.app/profile/ria.ie
&
📷TCD Library bsky.app/profile/tcdd...
😊
Engraving of William Molyneux in full wig and white lace collar c. 1660s Image of the headline to Eamon Darcy's feature in History Ireland: 'A Heap of Rude Materials - William Molyneux and the birth of local Irish history in the age of empires.
November 11, 2025 at 5:18 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
Enjoyed reading an expert article in History Ireland Nov/Dec 2025 (33:6) by @eneclann.bsky.social's Fiona Fitzsimons about Grand Jury records (One of our favourite sources 🙂)
And very kindly linking to our free downloadable guidebook:
People, Place and Power www.virtualtreasury.ie/publications 😀👍
November 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
🔔 WANTED — Dead or Alive! (1694)
A £50 reward offered for ten “Notorious Rebels and Traitors” in Kilkenny — or just bring the head. 😳

Join the VRTI Roadshow in Kilkenny on 25 Nov to see this chilling notice and explore how law, memory, and violence show up in the archives.
TNA SP 63/356/81 Proclamation by the lords justices and council: of a reward for the apprehension, dead or alive, of rebels, listed in detail, who have fled to the mountains and other places where they 'stand upon their keeping'.
November 11, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
briangurrin.bsky.social
Me when I find a new census transcript.
November 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
archiseek.bsky.social
Postcard of the Four Courts, Dublin (after restoration as the publisher is so keen to point out) - note the scaffolding between the columns. #Dublin
November 6, 2025 at 3:09 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
#WomenInRebellion Grief & defiance: Mary Ann McCracken’s letter after her brother’s execution is searing: a sister’s grief, a patriot’s outrage, and a refusal to forget.

Read her unflinching words here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...
NAI CSO/REB/620/16/3/8 — Mary Ann McCracken to Thomas Russell, describing trial and execution of her brother Henry Joy McCracken [Wednesday, 18 July 1798]
November 6, 2025 at 1:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
Save the date! 📆 We are bringing the VRTI Roadshow to Kilkenny this month, with a special addition: the launch of Professor Keith Busby's new publication — The Statute of Kilkenny — published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission.

🗓️ Tues25 November 2025
🕠 6:45 – 9:00 PM
📍 Mayfair Library, Kilkenny
Source: L.Brown Collection
November 5, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
joelherman.bsky.social
Had a wonderful time speaking with students at Columbia University about the @virtualtreasury.bsky.social recently. Many thanks to James Stafford for inviting me to zoom in to NY from Dublin, and to the students for their fantastic questions about Irish history, the archive, and so much more.
November 3, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
igrs1936.bsky.social
IGRS Top Research Tip #179: The records of Ireland’s Genealogical Office (created by the Ulster King of Arms) date from the 16th to 19th centuries and are described in detail here: shorturl.at/s5zdP
November 1, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
irishphilosophy.bsky.social
More on the Islandmagee witchcraft trials in 1711.

www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
October 31, 2025 at 2:04 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
👻 🧙‍♀️🎃 Molyneux Papers (TCD MS 883): Examinations & depositions taken in Co. Antrim in 1710 respecting witches and witchcraft — including testimony from Mary Dunbar, who has been "in a most grievous and violent manner / tormented and afflicted with Witches".

www.virtualtreasury.ie/item/TCD-MS-...
October 31, 2025 at 1:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
Modesty prevents us commenting on this great collaboration😊 virtualtreasury.ie/gold-seams/g...
October 30, 2025 at 9:07 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
#WomeninRebellion — Intercepted love & politics: In 1797, a letter from Lady Pamela Fitzgerald to her husband Lord Edward was intercepted. It’s tender, witty, and full of republican camaraderie — proof that love and politics were entwined.

Read the letter here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...
The Lady Edward FitzGerald, ARTIST: G. ROMNEY ENGRAVED BY: T. HOLLIS London Published in 1835 for the proprietor by Whittaker and co. NAI CSO/REB/620/15/3/18 (Pamela to Lord Edward Fitzgerald), Tuesday, 10 January... [Tuesday, 10 January 1797]
October 30, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
rothweeee.bsky.social
A fun little piece I did on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, with some interesting snippets from the RIA collection, for your delectation!
rtebrainstorm.bsky.social RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 21d
Inside Sheridan Le Fanu's spooky world of Gothic ghosts and ghouls. The writer's early life in Dublin and reading material give valuable insights into his ghostly tales and supernatural horror stories, write @rothweeee.bsky.social & Ailbhe Rogers @ria.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
Inside Sheridan Le Fanu's spooky world of Gothic ghosts & ghouls
The writer's early life in Dublin and reading material give valuable insights into his ghostly tales and supernatural horror stories
www.rte.ie
October 30, 2025 at 9:40 AM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
On Wednesday, 22 October 2025, the VRTI joined the Royal Irish Academy and the Irish Manuscripts Commission to launch the new Guild of St Anne Gold Seam, one of Dublin’s most important historical records.

You can read more about the collection here: virtualtreasury.ie/news/ria-imc...
From left to right: Barbara McCormack, RIA Librarian; Ciarán Wallace, VRTI Co-Director; John McCafferty, Chair of the Irish Manuscripts Commission. Image courtesy of Royal Irish Academy. From left to right: VRTI Associate Researcher Dr Theresa O'Byrne; VRTI Research Fellow Dr Lynn Kilgallon; VRTI Archival Research Assistant Sadhbh Dunne. Image courtesy of Royal Irish Academy. Colm Lennon, MRIA, addressing the audience in the RIA Library. Image: Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland.
October 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
joelherman.bsky.social
Watching the old Parliament building/now Bank of Ireland get some new headwear from the desk…
October 28, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
jmarshallmed.bsky.social
It was a pleasure to collaborate with Paul Dryburgh (TNA, UK) on this blog on the fascinating life of H.S Sweetman. More to come so watch this space! @historytcd.bsky.social @virtualtreasury.bsky.social

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...
Henry Savage Sweetman: the man who uncovered Ireland’s medieval history
Henry Savage Sweetman published the Calendar which translated over 8,000 Irish medieval records. But who was Sweetman and why did he complete this project?
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
October 24, 2025 at 4:13 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
#WomeninRebellion Bella Martin started as a Belfast barmaid. By 1798, she was a Crown agent inside a rebel leader’s home, reporting on arms hidden under a chapel altar. Her world was dangerous — and morally murky.

Read more here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...
Detail from Coffee House in Salisbury Market Place, Thomas Rowlandson, 1891 (Royal Museums Greenwich ID: PAF4936) Detail from NAI CSO/REB/620/38/222 -- Examination of Bella Martin (Co. Meath) as to activities of William Aylmer [Saturday, 23 June 1798]
October 23, 2025 at 12:05 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
Our colleague @joelherman.bsky.social was recently featured on the podcast "Talking History with Patrick Geoghegan"

Listen here: www.newstalk.com/podcasts/hig...
Ireland and the American Revolution | Newstalk
On the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, we'll discuss the Irish involve...
www.newstalk.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:38 PM
virtualtreasury.bsky.social
#WomeninRebellion Only one woman appears as the primary defendant in the court martial records of 1798–1801. Catharine Kelly’s trial in Clonmel was brief — but it shows how suspicion reached even into women’s lives.

Read her case here: virtualtreasury.ie/item/NAI-CSO...
Detail from 'The Battle of Wexford in Ireland fought June 20th 1798' Coloured line engraving, published by G Thompson, August 1798. National Army Museum, Study collection, 1971-02-33-471-1 NAI CSO/REB/620/6/69/5 - Account of Court Martial of Catherine Kelly, Co. Tipperary [Thursday, 28 March 1799]
October 16, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
elizabethbiggs.bsky.social
Today's translation (coming soon to @virtualtreasury.bsky.social when I sort out the dates and metadata) is this lovely survivor.

Strikingly, there are many women named in it paying for royal taxation in the early fifteenth century. Any more fragments lurking?

virtualtreasury.ie/item/CamStJo...
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October 13, 2025 at 4:46 PM