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Congratulations on release of Irish Revolution statements

The Military Archives, in collaboration with the National Archives, are to be congratulated for their digitisation of a substantial proportion of the Bureau of Military History collection.

Some 1,773 witness statements comprising over 35,000 pages, 42 sets of photographs and 13 voice recordings covering the revolutionary period in Ireland up to the Truce of 1921 are now freely available online.

Contrary to some erroneous media reports, the entire contents have not been digitised. Only a sample of the bureau’s voluminous Contemporary Documents collection was released online because of the understandable budgetary and time constraints.

Historians will be disappointed at the decision to redact an admittedly small number of witness statements. These restrictions are a disservice to historians, the general public and the bureau founders. When will full disclosure be granted? What is there to hide? Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan said the bureau’s goal is now accomplished with ‘distinction’. This comment is premature and can only be justified when all the redactions are removed in the interest of authentic and authoritative scholarship.

Ernie O’Malley’s notebooks and papers, held in the UCD Archives, are one of the several indispensable collections on the Irish Revolution (1913-1923). The IRA leader’s collection offers a riveting resource for scholars. Its detailed coverage of the Civil War, largely overlooked by the bureau material, is a significant advantage. Conducted on a shoestring budget, O’Malley interviewed over 400 veterans. His collection has yet to achieve the same media fanfare as the bureau material.

Philip McConway
Tullamore
Co Offaly

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