Letters of 1916 is Ireland’s first public humanities project. It is creating a crowdsourced digital collection of letters written between 1 November 1915 and 31 October 1916. To date it has collected over 2300 letters from over 20 institutions and 40 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 the project is bringing to life the written words, the last words, the unspoken words and the forgotten words. It is creating 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 era. For more information, please visit letters1916.ie.
Neale Rooney, a member of the Letters of 1916 team, will visit Bunclody Library on Saturday 30 January from 2:30-4:30 to provide an introduction to the Letters 1916 and offer a digitisation service. Members of the public are invited to bring family letters from the period 1 November 1915 to 31 October 1916 relating to any aspect of life in that period for digitisation.
Neale Rooney is responsible for digital editing, research and event coordination with the Letters of 1916 project. He has previously worked on a number of digital projects relating to the First World War and Easter 1916 including The Woodman Diary and Contested Memories: The Battle of Mount Street Bridge.
