NLI campaign invites people to connect with their locality through its digitised collections

The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has today (11.08.21) 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. Timpeall na Tíre 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. 

Items include a map from Monaghan, published between 1770 and 1840; a satirical print depicting Daniel O’Connell as a cat from 1865; a 19th Century drawing of Torc Waterfall, Killarney; a CIE travel poster promoting rail and coach tours in Dublin in the early 20th Century; and photographs from Sligo’s Pride parade taken in 2007.

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 Connaught, 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 August 2021 to early 2022. 

Commenting on the initiative, 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. 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.

The NLI’s online catalogue can be accessed via this link. For more information, visit nli.ie.

ENDS