National Library invites people to connect with locality via digitised photo collection

A NEW National Library initiative is inviting people across Ireland to connect and reconnect with their locality through its digitised collections.

The Library last week launched Timpeall na Tíre, an initiative that invites people to delve into the story of Ireland, as told through the Library’s rich and varied collections of digitised material.

It showcases the breadth of digital items in the NLI’s collections relating to the history of cities, towns, villages and townlands across the island of Ireland. It encourages people to connect and reconnect with the history, heritage and culture of their locality through photographs, pamphlets, maps, music manuscripts and prints and drawings. Organised by province, Timpeall na Tíre will focus on an individual county each week and highlight items relating to that county, offering a flavour of the kinds of items visitors to the online catalogue can expect and enjoy.

The campaign will open with Connacht, beginning in Galway. A video will conclude each province. Timpeall na Tíre is a bilingual series and the four provincial videos will be available in English and Irish.

The series will run from now until early 2022.

Director of the NLI, Dr Sandra Collins said: “At the National Library of Ireland, we have more than 125,000 items digitised in our online catalogue. “Every county and every area is represented, and the items are all freely available to explore and enjoy online. “Whether one’s interest is travel, sport, music, politics or social history, or simply a love of nostalgia and bygone times, the Library’s collections have something for everyone. I hope that Timpeall na Tíre will inspire people across the island to engage with the Library’s collections, and perhaps see their locality in a new light or learn something new about its history.

She added: “I encourage everyone to take the time to explore the online catalogue and see what gems they find.” Timpeall na Tíre builds on the success of Around the Island, the Library’s 2020 series that shared collections of photographs from each county across the island.

Visitors to the catalogue are encouraged to share any interesting findings or observations on social media, using the hashtag #NLIonline,or by sending an email to info@nli.ie.

RIGHT: A photo of the Sligo Pride parade in 2007 which is part of the National Library online catelogue.