Armagh Robinson Library will host a special talk exploring early investigations of Ireland, as four of its manuscripts become freely available online through the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland (VRTI) project at Trinity College Dublin.
The event will take place on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 7.30pm at Armagh Robinson Library. It will be presented by Dr Ciaràn Wallace, Programme Director for the VRTI, and Dr Eamon Darcy from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at Maynooth University.
Exploring Ireland through the library’s collections
The joint talk is titled ‘Stories, landscapes and folklore: early investigations of Ireland in Armagh Robinson Library’s collections’. It will examine the wider VRTI project and the material held by the Armagh library, which includes the work of early scholars studying local history, geography, natural science and folklore.
The event has been arranged to help people learn more about the digitisation project and the historic material involved. The library has been involved in the VRTI initiative at Trinity College Dublin, through which four manuscripts from its collections have now been made available online.
Among the digitised works are the Revd William Henry’s Natural History of Killesher, Co Fermanagh, Co Sligo and Co Antrim, written in 1739, and The Topographical and statistical returns from various respondents sent to Walter Harris & the Physico-Historical Society of Ireland, dating from 1738 to 1750.
Manuscripts now available online
The guest speakers also referred to a third manuscript during their initial approach to the library: The History and Antiquities of Dublin, Collected from Authentic Records and the Manuscript Collections of Sr James Ware Knt, By Robert Ware Son of that Learned Antiquary, from 1678.
That volume is also available through the VRTI. The source material relates its contents to the kind of research carried out by the Physico-Historical Society and the Dublin Philosophical Society.
The digitisation work was made possible by funding from the Royal Irish Academy’s Nowlan Digitisation Grant. The project brings together Armagh Robinson Library, Maynooth University, the Royal Irish Academy, Trinity College Dublin and the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland.
The Very Revd Shane Forster, Keeper of the Library, said: “Our Governors and Guardians were delighted to give permission for the relevant manuscripts in Armagh Robinson Library to be included in this project. Funded by the Royal Irish Academy, we believe that this has been a successful collaboration between Armagh Robinson Library, Maynooth University, the Royal Irish Academy, Trinity College Dublin, and the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland and allows many more people, through this project, to have access to and engage with some of the treasures held within our collection.”
Booking information
Admission to the talk is free, but prior booking is essential. People wishing to attend can reserve a place by emailing [email protected] or calling 028 37523142.