Beyond 2022 - creating the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

Beyond 2022 is an all-island and international collaborative research project working to create a virtual reconstruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, which was destroyed in the opening engagement of the Civil War on June 30th, 1922.

The ‘Record Treasury’ at the Public Record Office of Ireland stored seven centuries of Irish records dating back to the time of the Normans. Together with 5 Core Archival Partners and over 40 other Participating Institutions in Ireland, Britain and the USA, the aim will be to recover what was lost in that terrible fire one hundred years ago.

On the centenary of the Four Courts blaze this year (30 June 2022), there will be the launch of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland online. Many millions of words from destroyed documents will be linked and reassembled from copies, transcripts and other records scattered among the collections of archival partners. It will bring together this rich array of replacement items within an immersive 3-D reconstruction of the destroyed building.